Rousse police have arrested the mayor of the village of Vetovo for demanding and accepting a bribe in connection with the auction of municipal land, Bulgarian language Sega daily reported on February 6 2009.

Reihan Habil, from the Turkish ethnic Movement for Rights and Freedoms party, was arrested in a restaurant in Rousse with 2000 leva in his pocket after the businessman who gave it to him alerted police.

When the 35-year-old businessman found out about the land sale, he contacted the local administration for more details. They suggested he meet up with mayor Habil, who apparently hinted that for an initial "deposit" of 2-3000 leva, the deal could be arranged. The remainder of the fees would be negotiated later.

Habil has been detained for 72 hours and is being charged on grounds of involvement in an illegal transaction while in office. He could be sentenced for up to six years or ordered to pay a fine of up to 5000 leva.

The same mayor attracted media attention four years ago. At that time he and other municipal clerks were tried for mismanagement of funds allocated to Vetovo municipality in the aftermath of devastating floods. The Minister of Emergency Situations, Emel Etem, awarded 200 000 leva towards the reconstruction of seven sites; in addition the Beli Lom riverbed was supposed to be cleaned up, as well as four streets in Vetovo.

A subsequent audit revealed, however, that only 50 000 leva had been utilised. Rousse prosecutor's office brought an accusation against Habil and eight more people for issuing documents certifying the completion of particular projects when, in reality, nothing had been accomplished.

As a result, 10 per cent was deducted from the salaries of the clerks convicted for a period of six to 10 months, although all of them retained their positions.