The Bulgarian implementation of the European Data Retention Directive should precisely meet the requirements in the EU directive, Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov said in a media statement sent out by the President's press office.

With his statement Purvanov supported Interior Minister Mihail Mikov in his criticism of the recently accepted amendments to the Law on Electronic Communications. According to Mikov, the amendmends tied the hands of police and the Interior Ministry and would make effective prosecution of serious crime impossible.

The currently accepted amendments to the Law on Electronic Communication would not allow the use of retained data for the investigation of crimes such as pimping or the distribution of child pornography, both generally accepted as disturbing and serious crimes, but not defined as such in the Bulgarian law, the media statement said.

Despite his criticism, Purvanov signed the promulgation of amendments accepted by Parliament on February 19 2009.

According to Purvanov, the requirements of the EU directive said retained data "should be available for investigation, detection and prosecution of serious crimes."

As The Sofia Echo reported earlier the use of the term "serious crime" in the original English text of the EU directive has been translated into Bulgarian as "сериозни престъпления," (seriozni prestapleniya) meaning serious crimes, but more in the sense of felonies.

In Bulgarian law, however, no definition for serious crime in this sense exists. Bulgarian law instead defines serious crimes as "тежки престъпления" (tezhki prestapleniya) as crimes punishable with a minimum of five years imprisonment. It is precisely this latter term that has been used in the amendments approved by Parliament.

Besides the restrictions on scope, Purvanov said, the requirements to obtain access to retained data would also create "difficulties and a complicated procedure for the use of these data, even when it comes to detecting and preventing serious crime."

The law ought to provide a better balance between protecting the privacy of individuals and at the same time provide effective means to fight organised crime, Purvanov said.