Ex Conflict of Interest Commission Chief To Spend 3.5 Years in Prison

The Sofia City Court sentenced Filip Zlatanov, former Chair of the Commission on Prevention and Ascertainment of Conflict of Interest (CPACI), to three-and-a-half years in prison.

The trial, which started on March 31, involved a covered-up probe of President Rosen Plevneliev and delayed decisions on two other cases, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio.

Zlatanov requested fast-track proceedings.

The prosecuting authority demanded a 3-year suspended sentence with 5 years of probation for the former Chair of CPACI.

In mid-July 2013, Bulgaria's prosecuting authority pressed charges of malfeasance in office against the Chair of CPACI, with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Borislav Sarafov citing excerpts from a "very interesting notebook" seized from Zlatanov's desk, indicating that he had received instructions about the progress of certain cases.

"Zlatanov complied with the instructions – to strike, to postpone, to delay, and even to conceal cases," Sarafov stated then, adding that the people mentioned in the notebook included Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev, as well as E.D., MP of GERB, I.F., B.B., and Ts. Ts.

The people behind the initials are believed to be Iskra Fidosova, a leading figure in center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) and former Chair of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Boyko Borisov, GERB leader and former Prime Minister, GERB Deputy Chairman and former Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, and GERB MP Emil Dimitrov.

Borisov and Tsvetanov firmly denied involvement.

The scandal led to Fidosova's resignation as lawmaker.

Zlatanov adamantly rejected reports that the notes in his infamous personal...