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Bulgaria
Suspects initially freed under operation 'Killers' are re-arrested
Bulgarian police have re-arrested two suspects initially detained under The Killers operation regarding the murder of Yuri Galev but later released through lack of evidence, Bulgarian media reports said on August 24 2010.
Early on August 23, authorities detained people suspected to be involved in the murder of businessman Roumen Rachev in the towns of Samokov and Cherven Bryag.
Among them was another individual, also arrested in the town of Samokov, but not part of the original group, hunted down under The Killers operation.
The latest police action was carried out under the guidance of the district prosecution office of Shoumen. Three of four people initially detained and subsequently released by the Sofia Court of Appeasl under The Killers operation are now once again behind bars on different charges.
Bulgarian law enforcement agencies arrested about 20 people on July 23 in what Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov termed "Operation Killers". Raids conducted nationwide targeted criminal groups specialising in assassination, the Interior Ministry said.
The alleged murder-for-hire group arrested in Bulgaria on July 23 2010 was involved in a plot to assassinate Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, mass-circulation daily 24 Chassa said on July 25.
The newspaper claimed that about six or seven months ago, United States services warned their Bulgarian counterparts of a plot against Borissov which, according to the daily, involved "disgruntled businessmen".
Borissov’s administration, in power since July 2009, has initiated a series of high-profile arrests of groups allegedly involved in organised crime, actions acknowledged in a recent European Commission report on the state of Bulgaria’s fight against organised crime and corruption.
Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told a news conference that there was evidence that five people initially arrested in the "Killers" operation had been involved in various murders within Bulgaria. Automatic rifles and large amounts of ammunition were seized during the operation.
Media reports linked the group to the murder of Yuri Galev, a Samokov town councillor and football club boss who had been involved in various controversies.
Among those arrested was Petar Stoyanov, a senior figure in the world of sumo wrestling in Bulgaria.
However, due to "apparent lack of evidence", many of the arrested "killers" were later released. Accordingly, Police Chief Commissioner Kalin Georgiev expressed his anger and frustration at the Bulgarian judiciary decision after the Bulgarian Court of Appeals decided to free almost all of the suspects that were arrested during the high profile operations "Killers" and "All Trumps".
"There is nothing more to say about this really. They are having a laugh, this is an insult to me, my colleagues and our work," the top police officer said. "We are all emotionally affected by this. How am I supposed to motivate my colleagues to do their job properly after a decision like that?"
"Interior Minister Tsanko Tsvetanov and myself have been involved in the planning and the execution of both operations. We are utterly convinced that we have more than enough evidence, considering the level of organisation of both criminal organisations," he added.
"Considering the amount of evidence collected – 13 volumes of information, it is ludicrous that they have decided to release these people on 1000 leva bail, considering we found 20 000 leva in cash in one of those organisations alone," Georgiev said.
Interior Minister Tsvetanov, who was equally angered by the decision of the courts, said that the release of the suspects from the high-profile cases "Killers" and "All Trumps" would have serious consequences.
"I have always hoped that there will be change in the judicial system for Bulgaria to drag itself out of the hole that it has been stuck in for the past 20 years," he said. He also added at the time that the "Mafia has its own country".