The State vs. Organized Crime: Media Reactions

The state seems helpless vis-à-vis organized crime. This conclusion was drawn up from analyses presented by jurists, sociologists, historians and journalists this weekend at RiskMonitor’s annual conference held in Borovets.

The media reacts differently to reports from the conference. The Trud daily newspaper emphasizes the information from the Commission for Establishing of Property Acquired from Criminal Activity that the Court has taken actions to forfeit 136 million leva acquired from criminal activity. The newspaper underlines the fact that the law does not regulate the deprivation of money obtained through malfeasance in office.

The Dnevnik daily newspaper highlights RiskMonitor’s comparative-legal study of legislation against organized crime in the Balkans. The study’s authors draw two major inferences: crime in the Balkans originates from the state and borders hinder the application of the rule of law rather than fight the Mafia.

The Sega daily newspaper quotes in details Krasimir Shekerdjiev, a judge from the Sofia Court of Appeals. According to Mr. Shekerdjiev a classic practice from other countries does not work in Bulgaria: in cases of plea bargaining the prosecution is not in a position to ensure the criminals’ testimony against their ex-bosses. As stated in the newspaper “the law does not contain mechanisms for motivating criminals to cooperate with the prosecution”. The same topic attracts the attention of the electronic newspaper Mediapool.