The drivers of all three buses with migrants, intercepted yesterday, have been arrested. Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated, and the materials have been handed over to the prosecutor’s office. This was stated by the Acting Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Demerdzhiev to journalists in Gabrovo.
He announced that they are for today two meetings organized – between the Deputy Prosecutor General and the heads of services in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as between the Minister of Defense Dimitar Stoyanov and Ivan Demerdzhiev. The reason – increased migrant pressure, determination of new actions on the frequent cases, as well as securing the border with Turkey.
First we need to be aware that we are not talking about “one chapter”, but about organized crime, which operates from Turkey to the last European country, specified the interior minister and added that the route passes only through Bulgaria.
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The Attorney General must be aware, and if he is not, I will explain to him once again that the task of the Ministry of Interior is to stop secondary movements on the territory of the country, as well as on the border. The reason for this comment by Ivan Demerdzhiev was yesterday’s statement by Ivan Geshev that at the moment “we are playing vigilantes and Apaches and chasing them on the roads of Bulgaria”, explaining that uncovering criminal networks is the job of the security services and is not the authority of the prosecutor’s office.
Each institution must be responsible to the subject, a the owner of the crashed bus was searched on January 4 and handed over to the prosecutor’s office, pointed out Demerdzhiev and urged “let everyone fulfill their functions and not make comments”. All authorities must join their efforts, including the legislature, which during the 48th National Assembly did not support us with the amendment of 3 texts that affect illegal migration, Demerdzhiev pointed out.
Regarding the border with Turkey, he added that the difficulty there comes from the fact that 110 km of the border is not secured. Last week we spoke with representatives of the EC, who will help secure these kilometers, procure cars and fill the staff of the Border Police. Stopping the migrant pressure is a priority, especially for our entry into Schengen, the interior minister said.
Earlier, Dimitar Stoyanov announced that the Ministry of Defense is ready to deploy more military personnel at the border and indicated that at the moment about 240 participate in joint patrols on guarding our border.
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Otherwise, Demerdzhiev is in Gabrovo to accept the report on the activities of the Regional Directorate in the city for the past year and to make an action plan regarding the upcoming elections.
We know what the risk sections are across the country, we know which are the sections in which the result was reversed, which are the ones with an unprecedented number of preferences, assured Demerdzhiev. It is there that we have concentrated special attention, our work started further back in time, the work must be preventive and I believe that this will help us to counteract the violations, he added.
We all know that the paper ballot motivates those who distort the vote and this is the reason to take more serious measures, Demerdzhiev pointed out. I assure those people who engage in these practices that we know them and that we will do our best to counter them effectively, threatened the interior minister.
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Minutes after Ivan Demerdzhiev’s statement The prosecutor’s office in Stara Zagora gave a briefing on yesterday’s cases involving captured migrants.
According to the district prosecutor in Stara Zagora, Dicho Atanasov, there are two pre-trial proceedings initiated – one is in the District Prosecutor’s Office – Stara Zagora for illegal human trafficking, and the second is in connection with the crashed AM “Trakia” bus.
The purpose of the briefing was to provide clarity, since for the second day now, heterogeneous information is circulating in the media space. Yes, though some data provided by the prosecutor’s office contradict those of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
According to the state prosecution the driver of the crashed bus is still being sought and was not captured, as Ivan Demerdzhiev reported.
“Yesterday around 5:00 a.m., a signal was received about an accident on AM “Trakia”. The vehicle was overloaded, there were 45 Afghan citizens inside. The bus was designed to carry about one and a half tons of cargo, and at that time it was loaded with about 3.5 tons,” said the district attorney.
The rear tire of the bus burst, which led to the diversion of traffic and the accident. There are conflicting reports about the identity of the driver and we hope that this person will be identified in the coming days, Dicho Atanasov pointed out and added that the law provides for imprisonment from 3 to 15 years.
About 10 refugees are questioned as witnesses, they indicate that they are posted in a wooded area after our border with Turkey.
“It was established that there was complicity with persons transported in another van, in the area of the city of Pernik. But it was empty, this van and the one that crashed have a common connection,” it became clear at the briefing. We remind you that yesterday three buses were intercepted – one on the Trakia highway with Afghan refugees, one crashed, again on the Trakia highway, and one empty bus near Pernik.
The owner of the crashed minibus is a person with a low social status from Blagoevgrad, who speaks for himself that he is a fictitious owner, according to the prosecutor’s office. The other bus is owned by a Sofia company, which has resold its assets to other persons, they to others and we are still establishing the details, the prosecutor’s office says.
First van established yesterday so far there is no evidence that it has anything in common with the other two. It turns out that the two arrested men, about whom we reported yesterday, did not drive the crashed bus, but the first bus, arrested on AM “Trakia”.
According to their testimony, it is clear that aAfghan nationals resided in Istanbul and 10 days ago they contacted Turkish channel operators and agreed with them for 3000 euros to reach Serbia. These 46 migrants leave Istanbul, reach the border with Bulgaria and they pass it with the help of stairs. They walked for about 3-4 days and after reaching an asphalt road, they were picked up by the two arrested and accused men.
They point out that an acquaintance from Stara Zagora offered them a total of 20,000 BGN, to transport migrants from Karnobat to Sofia. The two agree and on February 25 and 26, the third person in question transports the two men to Karnobat, where the “Iveko” bus is waiting for them along with the migrants. On the way to the capital of AM “Trakiya” they were stopped, they did not resist. They were detained for 72 hours, charged, and a lawsuit is pending for their permanent detention. The third person has been identified and will be summoned for questioning.
