DPS MP Kalin Stoyanov has hit back at interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev, who spoke of "institutional umbrellas". In a statement from the DPS press office, Stoyanov accuses the minister of corruption, of owning 411 properties linked to him and his family, and of using planted witnesses against people from the party.
"Today, once again, we see how true the saying is: 'The thief cries: "Stop thief!"'," Stoyanov said.
The MP said Demerdzhiev is the only serving minister in the history of the interior ministry to face a corruption charge. He believes the minister is likely using his post to delay the case in which he is accused.
Stoyanov called the extra agreement worth 82m leva (about €41.93m) that Demerdzhiev signed under the public contract for the new identity documents scandalous. He suggested these were the kind of umbrellas the minister had in mind.
Stoyanov claims the prosecutor's office has "opened a huge umbrella" over the minister. He says Demerdzhiev is quietly looking for ways and people to end the criminal case against him, through the networks of Pepi "the Euro" and Martin "the Notary".
The properties are registered in the names of Demerdzhiev, his family members, and people and firms linked to him, the MP said. He added that they are in expensive, sought-after areas. DPS has sent complaints to several institutions. The party wants them to check how the properties were bought and paid for, why the real price is far higher than the one in the documents, and how farmland became building land.
There has been no reply for more than three months. Stoyanov called this the "humiliating silence of the institutions" and a huge institutional umbrella over the minister himself.
The MP also claims that Demerdzhiev uses people with criminal records as "Kosharevo-style witnesses" in fabricated cases against people close to DPS. According to Stoyanov, the minister personally sorts out their problems with the interior ministry, the prosecutor's office and the courts. In return, he says, they give false testimony in pre-trial proceedings and files against opposition figures.
"When the facts speak, even the untouchable and institutionally protected Demerdzhiev owes answers!" Stoyanov said.
In the coming days, DPS will formally ask how far the checks on its complaints about the properties have got.