Bulgaria ex-IntMin Denies Involvement in Illegal Wiretapping

Former Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev has refuted allegations that the previous elected government snooped on protesters during the mass anti-government demonstrations in the summer of 2013.

Yovchev, who appeared at the Sofia Investigation Office on Wednesday morning to be questioned over his supposed participation in the so-called "Worms" affair, said no such activities had been carried out by his cabinet, according to Darik Radio.

He was Interior Minister in the team of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, who headed a socialist-liberal coalition which was formed after the May 2013 early elections and which was in office from end-May 2013 to August of last year.

On June 14, 2013, the appointment of MP Delyan Peevski as head of the state security and counter-intelligence agency DANS led thousands of Bulgarians to the streets of Sofia and other cities, and smaller-scale demonstrations continued for weeks and even months, mostly in front of Parliament in the capital Sofia.

Protesters have repeatedly claimed they were eavesdropped in the months of demonstrations, and recently an accusation was hurled by the current junior coalition partner Reformist Bloc (RB) and later by judiciary officials, including Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov.

The "Worms" affair resulted in the removal from office of Vladimira Yaneva as Sofia City Court chair. Yaneva is facing a probe over whether she signed documents to permit the use of special intelligence devices to wiretap on protesters.

An official of DANS, Todor Kostadinov, was later indicted over his alleged involvement.