Every time there is a scandal in Bulgaria, the country's Prosecutor-General's office has to act like a fire department, Prosecutor-General Boris Velchev told journalists on October 29 2009.

The pressure on prosecutors has been going on for years, he said in relation to the continuous stream of tip-offs that he has been getting from the new Cabinet about deals and alleged wrongdoings by the previous government and former prime minister Sergei Stanishev.

The latest scandal related to whether Stanishev, while prime minister, had been following the rules on handling classified information. Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said that there were between nine and 10 reports with classified information missing from Cabinet records.

One such report was done by the State Agency for National Security (SANS) in October 2008 which, according to Borissov, Stanishev did not return to SANS after being sent it, as procedures required.

The report, said to have contained data about former government officials being involved in corruption, appeared on October 24 2009 in the hands of a SANS former employee who handed it to Borissov. A few days later, it was published on the internet, followed by another report.

After being questioned by prosecutors on October 28 2009, Stanishev told journalists that he had returned the report to SANS. However, Stanishev declined to say whether he had signed under the protocol for returning the report to SANS, as procedure requires, or whether he had just sent it back without any written record.  If this last scenario was true, this would have been a breach of regulations.

On October 29 2009, Velchev said that there were indeed between nine and 10 documents with classified information missing from the Cabinet records, but an inquiry into whether this was a result of mismanagement or bureaucracy was still proceeding. He said that prosecutors needed about 10 days to establish the facts.

Velchev said that the leaking of reports to the media was "not normal", and said that people should ask why important documents such as these were still being done in hard-copy form instead of on password-protected CDs, which would enable a record to be kept of who had read the documents.

"Until we take some measures to protect classified information, leaks will continue," he said. "For us, it is nothing new to have the Prosecutor-General's Office involved in a circus. We are used to it, which doesn't mean we like it," Velchev said.

Velchev said that no one could set deadlines and ultimatums for prosecutors to do their job. This was a reference to Stanishev's words that Borissov was pushing prosecutors to press charges against him.

"If there is enough evidence, I would not hesitate to press charges against Stanishev and request the removal of his immunity from prosecution as an MP," Velchev said.