Nikolay Barekov is pouring champagne on himself at a resort for millionaires in the company of persons of interest, investigated for drug trafficking.
A few days ago, wannabe journalist-politician Nikolay Barekov threw in public space “a bomb”, claiming he had original documents that prove that the leader of the centrist Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party (GERB) and former Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, has committed serious crimes in the past. Barekov accused Borisov of the most serious offenses under the Penal Code, even mentioning murders. The “uncensored” politician (the word in Bulgarian also means obscene; Barekov is the leader of the party Bulgaria without Censorship – editor’s note) promised to forward all documents to the prosecution and called on Chief Prosecutor, Sotir Tsatsarov, to immediately launch legal proceedings against his former idol (Borisov – editor’ note). After his bombastic appearance on Nova TV, in the morning of July 27, Barekov published on his site two pages of documents, marked “Top Secret”, dated 15 years ago, in which Boyko Borisov’s name is mentioned as the new super boss of cocaine trafficking.
The Chief Secretary of the Interior, Svetlozar Lazarov, immediately denied the authenticity of the document and said that there was a similar document filed under the same number, but with different text and it lacked Borisov’s name. However, Lazarov did not show the original document, leaving a shadow of doubt, and opening the door for various interpretations and speculations. Of course, Barekov immediately seized the opportunity and used this semi-rebuttal to accuse Lazarov and the Interior Ministry of manipulations in favor of Borisov – former Chief Secretary and Prime Minister.
Bivol is the only Bulgarian media that has published authentic documents from various sources (secret diplomatic cables, disclosed by WikiLeaks, the US report of Jeff Stein, and parts of the “Buddha” file), proving Borisov’s criminal past, even when he was still PM and the most powerful man in Bulgaria. Then media, controlled by shady lawmaker and businessman, DelyanPeevski, and especially the TV channel, whose boss at the time was Barekov – the current leader of Bulgaria without Censorship – were Borisov’s staunchest defenders and propaganda troubadours. Records from the recent past exist and they are the best proof of these public and journalistic ethics.
The analysis of Barekov’s document that we propose here is based on formal and semantic features, which point to conclusions of falsification and manipulation and provide the basis for identification of future fakes and discrediting attempts.
A single copy
The document consists of two pages written on a typewriter. These are numbered sheets from a classified notebook of a field agent, coded as number 15213, from the Regional Unit for the Fight against Organized Crime (RZBOP) in Burgas. Moreover, the typewritten text on the document has stamps and written resolutions.
1. The purple stamp of the Regional Directorate of the Interior Ministry (RDVR) in Burgas on the top left is under number 2284 of March 17, 1999, where the 17 is very pale, and the numbers 2284 are handwritten, at a slope of 15 degrees, compared with the rest of the text. SINGLE copy is handwritten and clearly written. RDVR Burgas does not have such purple stamp; it should be red, experts consulted by Bivol firmly insist.
2. Above the purple stamp, there is handwritten text: “To be filed in archive “B” – 18”, with illegible signature. There are no name and date under this resolution, which is not possible under the rules for handling classified documents.
3. Below the purple stamp, there is a resolution, dated March 18, 1999, with the signature of the Head of RZBOP Burgas at that time – Diko Kiryakov (who has died 10 years ago), intended for the Head of Group 01 of RZBOP Burgas (Terror and Drugs), Georgi Homondozliev. The resolution states that the information must be submitted on March 25, 1999 in (not legible) notebook and a copy of the report must be given to the Head of Group 01, i.e. stay available for use to Homondozliev himself.
This resolution of Diko Kiryakov is authentic and has a signature. It conforms to the rules for designation and is a very important starting point because other aspects of the document indicate that either this resolution was not obeyed (which is absurd), or the document was manipulated, or a copy of the single copy was made illegally at that time, a little before it was properly filed in the classified documents archive of RDVR Burgas.
4. The implementation of the resolution should happen in the following way – at the end of the document, on the second page, left bottom, below the typed text beginning with the words “single copy” a new text must be added: Additionally reproduced in duplicate, according to the resolution. Copy 2 for the Head of Group 01 RZBOP. The name of the clerk performing the procedure is added / e.g. “reproduced by …….” /; in the purple stamp the text SINGLE is crossed and 1 and 2 are written respectively with numbers on the respective copy and it is described below where every copy went. All these operations are done in the classified documents archive unit and the code of the field officer, who does the typing, is listed. The name (code) of the employee, who did the reproduction, is mandatorily written as well. None of this, however, can be found on the second page of the document or on the purple stamp.
5. The red stamp of the Interior Ministry, where it is written #3 from April 22, 1998, is another definite proof that this is a manipulation. First, the stamp bears a date from 1998, and not 1999, which is, who knows why, handwritten with a blue pen. There is no way a document can be filed with the Interior Ministry in Sofia a year before it was drafted in RDVR Burgas! The second fact is even more important – a third copy cannot exist for same reasons as the second copy – the reproduction is not reflected anywhere and that cannot happen under the rules for classified filing. Assuming hypothetically that a second copy was made somehow, under Kiryakov’s resolution, it is absurd to officially make a third copy as a similar resolution for its preparation is not stated anywhere in the published document. Without clearly identified personal resolution of a senior official in the hierarchy of the Interior Ministry to prepare a copy for an exact receiver, such cannot be produced and cannot exist as the rules for handling classified documents require. In other words, there is no way such document could reach the Interior Ministry in Sofia and be legally filed.
6. It is especially important to compare the color of the two stamps. Assuming that they were made on the same document, they should be red. It is possible that one is purple and the other bright red. The difference in color indicates that the second red stamp of the Interior Ministry, on the right, was not stamped on the original, but on a color copy of the original, which has changed the color of the first original stamp of RDVR Burgas. A similar effect can be obtained if the original copy was black and white and subsequently, an attempt was made to redden the Interior Ministry’s stamp on the top of the page through a computer program.
7. At the end of the second page, at the bottom right, there is a lengthy handwritten text with a distinct shadow profile of letters. It describes the country’s border crossings by (criminals – editor’s note) Hristo Asenov AKA Bazata and Georgi Iliev. A similar graphic effect occurs only when there is tampering through the use of a graphics computer program and it cannot be originally produced when one is writing with a pen. This text, however, has absolutely no details – no signature or date. Its existence in an original classified document of this kind is unthinkable.
Intercepted Individuals
The definite conclusion so far is that nothing has met the requirements for generating and handling classified documents. Such set of breaches is impossible in an original document. The manipulation is confirmed by the semantic analysis of the text as well:
8. Mladen Mutafchiyski is described in the list of intercepted individuals on the second page of the document and there is not even a word about him in the main text. On the other hand, the name Plamen Dishkov AKA Kela is missing from the list, while he is described in the text in detail. This absurdity has no other explanation, but the possibility that the intercepted individuals were referred to in a text different than the one on the first page. It should be noted that only those for whom there are criminal records can be described as “intercepted individuals”. Such record on Boyko Borisov existed in Burgas as early as 1995 at the Business Crimes Police over the factory for contraband cigarettes in Kraymorie, as well as in the Central Unit for Combatting Organized Crime (TSSBOP) where he was recruited as agent “Buddha” and a case for operative surveillance (DON) “Buddha” was filed against him as a person of interest connected to criminal and organized crime groups.
9. According to recollections of operative officers from RZBOP Burgas, at that time (1998-1999), Boyko Borisov’s name never leaked in illegal drug investigations, but only in those for smuggling and violation of the embargo on fuel against former Yugoslavia. He was not “shining” with anything particular then and was simply considered a person who worked on racketeering orders in the periphery of the organized crime group SIK.
The above analysis generates two main leads in the manipulation of this document:
A. An illegal copy has somehow left RZBOP Burgas before being filed in the classified documents archive.
B. The document was copied in 2003 when, according to the Interior Ministry, it was removed from the archives of the Unit for Combating Organized Crime (BOP).
In both cases, the copies were tempered with, and probably the header and the footer of the text were preserved, while the content was typed on a typewriter and was inserted later as was the handwritten text below the line.
WHO Does Not Want to Categorically Refute Barekov’s Document?
A careful examination of the font and the text itself can bring to light other evidence of manipulation. Some of it is visible to the naked eye such as discrepancies in the spelling of identical reproducing texts – agent PLAMEN is capitalized in the header and is written in lowercase in the text, where the letter p was changed and capitalized. After “reg” there is no point in the header, and there is one in the text. The header says “year (abbreviated in Bulgarian – editor’s note) 1998” and the text has no abbreviation for the word year. If these texts were typed at the same time and by the same person, a professional with extensive experience, then such differences in an official text are definitely weird.
It would be the easiest and the fairest to the public for the Interior Ministry to declassify the original document and submit it as irrefutable proof of manipulation, instead of retelling it before media. This would finally bring an end to the so-called project “Barekov” as well.
The fact that the declassification is not happening shows that someone else needs this project. It is in someone’s interest to maintain the shadow of doubt so that society cannot categorically distinguish the true from the fake, and the pathological outbursts of the former journalist are needed to obscure and discredit the real and proven information about the criminal past of Boyko Borisov AKA Buddha.
Is Barekov Speaking on Behalf of agent “Plamen” or Is “Plamen” Speaking on Behalf of Barekov?
In a statement to the media, Nikolay Barekov made a verbatim admission about the said agent “Plamen”. He (Plamen – editor’s note) is “alive and well and hopes to soon be able to testify before the prosecution.” This means that Barekov knows who “Plamen” is; has met and spoken with him personally and even knows in advance that “Plamen” is “hoping to testify” – incredible admission (it is unclear what motivated it) of direct links with potential witnesses in the prosecution’s investigation.
Barekov’s mention of the agent’s personal data, such as his initials DP, actually eliminates his undercover and exposes him to direct and huge real risk for his life and that of his family.
Thus, with this irresponsible talk, Barekov is actually in violation of the law on classified information because the said documents were not and are not declassified at the moment. It is mandatory for the prosecution to launch an investigation. How come the leader of Bulgaria without Censorship has received the documents anonymously in a white envelope in his office on one hand, and on the other he revealed who the coded informant is and even dared to make statements to media on his behalf!? If tomorrow, God forbid, something happens to “Plamen” and he is silenced forever, it would be very easy to accuse Borisov, and indeed eliminate an important source that can validate the falseness of the document leaked by Barekov – “two birds with one bullet”.
Bivol is asking resigned Interior Minister, Tsvetlin Yovchev and Chief Interior Secretary, Svetlozar Lazarov, if they have held talks with “Agent Plamen” and with field officer 15213 from RZBOP Burgas? We know that they are both alive and well, living in the city of Burgas and are available for a meeting. Our professional experience over the years makes us aware that forgery in documents, leaked by Barekov, can be easily and quickly established, if there is a will.
We don’t exclude the possibility that Barekov’s sudden bustle in accusing his former political idol of being a cocaine kingpin and murderer is staged by cops with the goal of political blackmail. Otherwise, media or journalists that received such information must remain silent until they verify the authenticity of the documents beyond reasonable doubt. If they are certain that they are authentic and not fake, they have to publish everything without exception and without “cooking” or filtering information; at least these are the principles of professional journalism. However, they have never applied to Barekov, thus we are witnessing a badly contrived attack for political discrediting. At present, the entire senior cop “elite”, “implanted” in Bulgaria without Censorship, is coming forward in media to “prove” the authenticity of that “document”. Yovchev’s and Lazarov’s semi-denial, silence and avoidance to release the original documents actually fuel this strategy.
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