19 Oct 2010 / 04:04
A Bulgarian court has acquitted Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the country's ethnic Turkish party, in a conflict of interest trial.
Boryana Dzhambazova
A three-judge panel of the Supreme Administrative Court ruled on Monday that Dogan, who is the leader of the ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms, had not violated local conflict of interest regulations.
In the ruling, which can be appealed, the judges found that the consulting contracts which prompted the trial were signed before the conflict of interest regulations came into force.
The court also said that there wasn’t sufficient evidence that Dogan’s private interests had influenced his professional duties as a member of the parliament.
This trial has been one of the most high-profile cases against a top politician in recent months in Bulgaria, which is struggling to root out endemic corruption.
The trial against Dogan began in September after the Parliamentary Anti-Corruption Committee brought the case before court. It alleged a conflict of interest related to some EUR 1 million in payments made to Dogan for consultancy work on four hydro energy projects.
The contracts were signed in 2008 when Dogan’s party was a junior partner in the previous Socialist-led government.
Marina Mihailova, one of the three judges trying the case, filed a dissenting opinion.
In the opinion, she wrote that there was indeed a conflict of interest, as Dogan did not have the necessary qualifications to be a consultant for the hydro energy projects under question and he had been hired because of his position as a member of the parliament and his party's participation in the government at that time.
Valentin Nikolov, chairman of the Parliamentary Anti-Corruption Committee from the far-right Ataka party, said it was likely that the Committee would appeal the court’s decision, which he described as “surprising”.
Kamen Kostadinov, a member of Dogan's Movement for Rights and Freedoms, told local media that he is very pleased with the court’s decision.
balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bulgarian-court-dogan-in-no-conflict-of-interest
Boryana Dzhambazova
A three-judge panel of the Supreme Administrative Court ruled on Monday that Dogan, who is the leader of the ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms, had not violated local conflict of interest regulations.
In the ruling, which can be appealed, the judges found that the consulting contracts which prompted the trial were signed before the conflict of interest regulations came into force.
The court also said that there wasn’t sufficient evidence that Dogan’s private interests had influenced his professional duties as a member of the parliament.
This trial has been one of the most high-profile cases against a top politician in recent months in Bulgaria, which is struggling to root out endemic corruption.
The trial against Dogan began in September after the Parliamentary Anti-Corruption Committee brought the case before court. It alleged a conflict of interest related to some EUR 1 million in payments made to Dogan for consultancy work on four hydro energy projects.
The contracts were signed in 2008 when Dogan’s party was a junior partner in the previous Socialist-led government.
Marina Mihailova, one of the three judges trying the case, filed a dissenting opinion.
In the opinion, she wrote that there was indeed a conflict of interest, as Dogan did not have the necessary qualifications to be a consultant for the hydro energy projects under question and he had been hired because of his position as a member of the parliament and his party's participation in the government at that time.
Valentin Nikolov, chairman of the Parliamentary Anti-Corruption Committee from the far-right Ataka party, said it was likely that the Committee would appeal the court’s decision, which he described as “surprising”.
Kamen Kostadinov, a member of Dogan's Movement for Rights and Freedoms, told local media that he is very pleased with the court’s decision.
balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bulgarian-court-dogan-in-no-conflict-of-interest
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