Balgarianovinite.com Constitutional Court Judge Desislava Atanasova may have used both her personal and diplomatic passports for travel, which was improper, Minister of Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev said in a television interview on Sunday. Demerdzhiev was commenting on flights involving MRF Chair Delyan Peevski and Atanasova.
Demerdzhiev said some passengers also raised questions, as did the funding of the flights and the way the aircraft were provided. Among the passengers, he named lawyer Angelov, who figures in the Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank) affair.
The Interior Ministry’s Internal Security Directorate is checking whether data on Atanasova’s travel was altered in the systems or whether this resulted from actions by Interior Ministry employees. Demerdzhiev urged Atanasova to be more precise when presenting facts and circumstances. “Since this is so important to Atanasova and Peevski, we will present all the facts in full and everyone will be able to draw their own conclusions,” Demerdzhiev said. He said Atanasova’s personal passport was returned and destroyed in April at her request, which had various consequences. “We will do everything possible, obtain all the information, including from our international partners, and clarify all the facts,” Demerdzhiev said.
Demerdzhiev said the checks were prompted by highly detailed reports. “The unhealthy interest shown by Peevski’s lawyer, MP Hamid Hamid, who is taking a close interest in the names and positions of the specific employees working on the case, is inexplicable to me. It suggests an attempt is being made to put indirect pressure on these people,” Demerdzhiev added.
The flight case began with checks into private flights taken by Peevski, including routes, final destinations, passengers and funding. Demerdzhiev said in Parliament that Peevski had made 227 departures from Sofia Airport since 2018, including 181 by private aircraft, and that joint bookings with 81 other people were being checked. During the same hearing, Demerdzhiev said Peevski and Atanasova had travelled together from Sofia to Dubai on April 5, 2024, before later correcting part of his comments and saying the anti-organized crime report he had relied on contained an incorrect date.
Atanasova denied the claim, saying she travelled from Sofia to Istanbul and back on scheduled Turkish Airlines flights and remained in Turkiye between April 5 and 8, 2024. The dispute later focused on discrepancies between Interior Ministry and Border Police data, with Yes, Bulgaria Co-chair Bozhidar Bozhanov saying the first step was to establish which registers had been checked, where the discrepancy had come from and whether any register had been manipulated. Demerdzhiev later said investigators were also checking flight funding, market-rate pricing, possible sanctions-related violations, differing entries and deleted records, adding that many more flights matched in terms of dates and passengers. Interior Minister Demerdzhiev Says Constitutional Court Judge Atanasova May Have Used Two Passports in Peevski Flight Case 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-07-05 19:55:45 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law