Four police officers have been dismissed by Interior Minister Mihail Mikov for their actions that were "in breach of the ethical rules for behaviour", the ministry said in a December 4 2008 statement.

The most senior of the four dismissed police officers is the head of regional police department in the small Black Sea resort town of Primorsko. "On August 5 2008, the police officer became a witness of a murder in bistro Bohemia in the town of Bourgas, but instead of taking the necessary measures to detain the murderer and notify the police, he left the crime scene," the statement said.

The statement did not name the police officer in question but, as The Sofia Echo has previously reported, he is Krassimir Dimov. Days after the incident, Dimov filed his resignation, but it was refused and an investigation was launched against him. Allegedly, the murderer and Dimov were close friends, Bulgarian news agencies speculated back then.

The other three dismissed police officials include a Sofia-based junior police officer who was missing from work between September 17 and October 1 2008 without presenting a reason. A policeman working at the Kalotina border checkpoint with Serbia was dismissed for having asked and received a bribe of 230 euro from the driver of Serbian vehicle entering Bulgaria. The money was found in policeman's possession although border policemen are not allowed to carry such sums of money while on duty.  

The fourth dismissed police official worked for Transport Police in the Black Sea city of Varna. On September 28 2008, he caused a traffic incident while driving his personal motor vehicle. Blood tests showed that he was driving under the influence of alcohol, the statement said.