Lawyer Lyudmil Rangelov before Ivaylo Krachunov on the huge crime, corruption, theft and reforms
Lawyer Lyudmil Rangelov enjoys an impeccable reputation in legal circles thanks to his humanity and brilliant knowledge of the law.
He started his career as an investigator and then continued as a lawyer.
Over the years, he has protected numerous iconic figures from criminal circles, but undoubtedly one of them is the leader of the criminal world in the Balkans, Sreten Josic.
The BLITZ Vlast podcast sought out lawyer Rangelov to hear his opinion on hot topics about the frequent thefts and murders, about the judicial reform and whether Bulgaria should be constantly humiliated, giving it an example of the actions of the Romanian prosecutor’s office, for this – are they protected from the law Bulgarian citizens when they attack their homes, and they respond by pulling out pistols.
Here are some of the important highlights of lawyer Rangelov’s interview with the manager of BLITZ Ivaylo Krachunov:
– Why do politicians interfere so aggressively in the judiciary?
– Politicians are extremely aggressive in their behavior – to control the judiciary, and they succeed.
The laws and the constitution provide a good enough foundation for the judiciary to be independent. Perhaps there are doors to influence still through the parliamentary quota in the SJC and from there the SJC over all appointments to the judiciary, but this is more a door through which the principle of deterrence of powers is implemented – power deters power than a door through which the executive and the judiciary to enter the judiciary.
The main thing is that people are honest, responsible and competent. Legislation gives them enough opportunities to be independent.
– How can appalling domestic crime be curtailed?
– In the last 2 years, there has been such a turnover of political changes and instability that attention to crime has been dulled.
Constant changes at the high and middle levels of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not only detrimental to the fight against crime, but also irresponsible. These changes happen with every new interior minister. One of the first tasks of the ministers of the interior is to change all the heads of the regional directorates of the Ministry of the Interior, always with the next elections in mind. From there, changes follow at lower levels.
The chief secretaries of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and their deputies are constantly being replaced, and these are positions that must remain permanently over time in order to create trust and peace of mind among the employees, who also have expectations of career growth and stability.
– Do politicians want to spread an umbrella against their crimes with the frequent changes in the Ministry of Internal Affairs?
– In certain cases, politicians really want an umbrella with similar actions, but the shifts in the Ministry of Internal Affairs themselves automatically provide such an umbrella. This gives the possibility of impunity for politicians already for quite a long period of time.
– Your opinion on the murders of young men by their neighbors in Sofia in recent months because of scandals?
– Aggression in relationships between people is increasing. The main reason for this is the dissatisfaction that people feel with their way of life, they do not know and do not realize who is to blame for this, and they are aggressive towards a person who affects them very little.
The other reason for the increasing aggression is that the atmosphere of communication between people has deteriorated.
Aggression arises from the ongoing degradation in the educational, educational and sanctioning sphere of society. All this leads to the feeling of impunity, because the laws do not provide an opportunity to overcome domestic tensions. And that’s why with very small things that happened in front of the entrance of a block or inside it, people become mortal enemies, they start chasing each other and unfortunately they kill each other.
– Is Bulgaria threatened by mass murders similar to those in the USA, where children and students are killed in kindergartens and schools?
– My opinion is that this type of crime is foreign to our country. At the same time, murders occur daily. Quarrels, scandals and arguments, pulling out a knife, gun and other weapons…
But, for me, in Bulgaria there will not be such type of murders as those in the USA, we are primarily concerned with individual murders, not mass murders. Such is the psychology in our country.
– What is the chance that the guarantors and perpetrators of the shootings on the streets of Sofia from the end of the 90s and the first years of the new century will be revealed?
– It is possible that some information will appear on these cases, but it will be more hearsay than evidence.
I don’t think any of these murders can be solved after such a long period of time.
Any attempt to solve a murder, 10 years after it was committed, is possible only in the FBI films about the cold files, but in practice in Bulgaria it is not possible.
– How do you view the theory that the state issued an unspoken directive to the Ministry of Internal Affairs not to investigate the shootings because it was a settling of scores between gangs and gangs?
– This is a popular statement, which was rather derived from the literature, and it is convenient for the big bosses in the Ministry of Internal Affairs to say that it is about settling accounts, but it is absolutely inadmissible.
Indeed, there was such an atmosphere that the big ones were arguing and solving problems among themselves, and thus solving problems for the authorities who had to prosecute them. But murder is murder. Murders are the highest possible degrees of public danger of such an act. And it is in the interest of public safety to work as intensively as possible to solve every murder.
– More than 20 years ago, you took on the protection of Sreten Josic – criminal #1 in the Balkans. What are your impressions of communicating with him?
– Sreten Josic, in addition to being a major criminal authority, before and now some print or electronic media mention him. His name is also found in the forums, where he is cited as a person who can radically solve a problem – to order or commit a murder.
Josic was a very serious and composed person. Extremely self-controlled. He had a perfectly clear idea of both how and what he had done, and what could actually exist against him as evidence.
He was convinced that there was not much evidence against him, so he was calm.
– What conversations did you have with Josic, who was detained during an operation by the then Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Boyko Borisov?
– In my communication with Josic, an absolute constitutional principle was violated, which states that every lawyer can meet privately with his client. In practice, my meetings with Josic while he was in custody always took place under the actual and physical control of officers from the Counter-Terrorism Squad. Other officials of the Ministry of the Interior were also present. I did not object to their presence, and neither did he, because our conversations were as basic as between a lawyer and a person wanted for extradition.
Josic had no worries about being extradited to the Netherlands, he even calmly told funny stories. Serbian sense of humor is very good, maybe because of the way the funny words and expressions sound in their language.
Sreten was famous not only in the Balkans, but also in Spain and Latin America. It was probably the biggest crime boss in the Netherlands who was looking for him. I think so and from external signs, because there was hardly a case – for a person who possibly committed criminal crimes, a special plane was sent with a special squad from their security services, they transported him with 3 identical vans to the airport in Vrazhdebna, for not to know in which of them they are transporting him.
All the while, Josic had not just a helmet on his head, but a kind of spacesuit that covered his head to his shoulders, and his body was protected by a body armor. This is only done in very serious cases for very special individuals.
Thus equipped, Josic walked slowly up the stairs to the plane because he could not see where he was going.
– As a legend, a case is told about a ring with a diamond worth 100,000 dollars, which was taken from Josic during his arrest in Sofia. What is the truth?
– The truth is that he is detained by a special squad. He has resisted fiercely because he is a trained man. A search later seized a ring, which he claimed had a high emotional value to him, not the diamond and the amount it was valued at, $100,000.
Sreten was looking for the ring. On extradition, this ring did not go with him to the Netherlands. The ring was then found in the GDBOP. A very complicated procedure followed, which went through the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the end, Josic got his ring.
– Is Josic still dangerous for Boyko Borisov, who started moving around with guards after his arrest?
– Is Josic still dangerous? I know from the media how Mr. Borisov, when asked if he was afraid of Sreten Josic, answered: “I don’t know a living person who is not afraid of him.”
It is also known that Josic had read the death sentence to Boyko Borisov. But this is still stuff from 20 years ago. And so it’s hard for me to say whether that danger still exists.
In classic mafia circles, such omertas are for life and cannot be revoked unless both parties agree.
– I don’t believe there is such an agreement. Does this mean that the danger for Borisov is still real now?
– It is quite possible that it is so. I’m not ruling it out. Knowing the people where this threat came from…
Do the operative services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs currently have their own moles in the mafia and criminal groups?
What is behind the thefts of luxury cars from the mansions of the rich Bulgarians in the Dragalevtsi and Boyana districts of the capital and the Mutren raids?
How does aggression between politicians affect ordinary people?
See the answers to these questions in the interview of lawyer Ludmil Rangelov with Ivaylo Krachunov:
