Most common opinion in Bulgaria was that prostitution should not be legalised, Deputy Prosecutor-General Hristo Manchev said in his opening speech at a round table discussion on pros and cons of prostitution legalisation in Bulgaria in the context of human trafficking, organised by the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human.

Legalisation or criminalisation of prostitution had moral, economic and juridical aspects and was related to feelings of moral, honour and duty of society towards people involved in prostitution, Manchev said as quoted by mediapool.bg.

By declaring himself against prostitution, Manchev “officially entered the Interior Ministry choir, which has been following that refrain for several months,” mediapool.bg commented.

In February 2007, Interior Ministry and the National Tourism Board announced that they would start working on a prostitution law. The draft-law was to be completed in several months. It would include control over prostitution, elimination of street prostitution and the collection of taxes by the state over income from legalised prostitution.

Surprisingly in October 2007, Interior Minister Roumen Petkov and Prosecutor-General Boris Velchev opposed prostitution legalisation. “We have two opportunities, to say that flesh-trade is business or to say that it is a crime. We have to say perfectly clear that flesh-trade is a crime,” Petkov said.

Velchev said: “I think that the state can do without this money.”

By rejecting the legalisation of prostitution, the state officially encouraged funding of the criminal world, which earned a lot from prostitution, mediapool.bg said.

Manchev had pointed out that one of the main problems with prostitution was cutting off its relation to the criminal world and human trafficking, mediapool.bg said.

According to Manchev, 38 investigations of human trafficking had been completed in Bulgaria over the past couple of months. The victims in the trials were 76, seven of them were underage.

In Bulgaria, pimps and those who lend property for prostitution receive the most severe penalties. The women involved in prostitution were considered victims, Manchev said.

A number of foreign representatives took part in the discussion.

Focus news agency quoted Andri van Mens, deputy embassy secretary for asylum and migration affairs and the Judiciary and Internal Affairs at the Embassy of the Netherlands to Bulgaria, as saying that the policy for fighting prostitution was in the hands of municipalities. A system for legalisation of brothels should be introduced and their owners should receive a license. The license should be taken away in case of violations.

Legalisation of brothels would help eliminate exploitation, he said.

According to Thomas Peebles, resident legal adviser at the US Embassy in Sofia, said that prostitution was harmful and dehumanising and should be considered close to human trafficking. Legalisation of prostitution would lead to a much more difficult fight against human trafficking, he said.