Strasbourg could condemn us for the 'strangely rich'
07.12.2009Interview with Yonko Grozev
24 Chasa Daily, 7 December 2009
Adopting a new law for asset recovery in Bulgaria is justified, says Yonko Grozev in an interview for "24 chasa" daily. Similar laws are at work in the advanced Western European democracies. In these countries, however, the necessary condition for civic forfeiture is to first prove criminal activity and its connection with the assets to be forfeited. Only after that the burden of proof can be reversed. The Bulgarian draft law does not provide for such a requirement. Instead, the asset recovery agency jumps straight to this second stage, the civic forfeiture itself. Hence, no suprise if sooner or later every Bulgarian will have to prove the lawful origin of her assets. This involves the risk of having the European Court of Human Rights decide there is a serious violation of the right to fair trial.
Read the full text of the interview (in Bulgarian).
