Dimitar Gavazov, mayor of Sungurlare, and Radoslav Revanski, mayor of Belitsa, were charged this morning with criminal conspiracy to trade in influence. They can be held for 72 hours. Prosecutors will ask a court to keep them in custody.
A court could rule on pre-trial restrictions today, but this has not been confirmed.
How it all started: DPS to alert European institutions over detention of three of its mayors
Earlier today, the DPS party said it would alert EU institutions over the detention of three of its mayors. The mayors of Sungurlare, Belitsa and Kardzhali were arrested one a day on three days in a row.
The third person charged in the case is Hristo Shirokov. He is under house arrest in a separate case, over membership of an organised crime group. That group is being investigated for tampering with water meters and extorting hoteliers on the southern Black Sea coast.
The investigation says the conspiracy began in early 2024 in Sungurlare municipality and lasted more than two years. It is not clear how the alleged influence trading worked or which public procurement contracts are involved.
Officers from the GDBOP organised crime unit and the DANS state security agency searched administrative buildings and private addresses in Sungurlare and Belitsa. They seized many documents on public procurement in both municipalities, and witnesses were questioned.
The DPS parliamentary group will refer alleged political pressure on Revanski to the acting prosecutor general. The party says Nikolay Shushkov, director of the Customs Agency, insisted that Revanski join "Progressive Bulgaria" in return for a promise of political cover and protection. DPS wants prosecutors to check whether this pressure is linked to the GDBOP operation in which Revanski was detained.
Shushkov is on a business trip and will respond to the claims when he returns.