Sotir Tsatsarov

The Sofia Appellate Court has temporarily suspended the embezzlement case f against former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov due to the immunity from prosecution he acquired after taking an oath of office as MP.

The Lesovo border crossing between Bulgaria and Turkey was opened after a 15-hour operation against corrupt customs officers, said the Prosecutor's Office.

The operation, which started shortly before midnight on November 2, was coordinated by Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov and Vladimir Pisanchev, head of the National Security Agency (DANS).

Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov is to submit early in November demands that seven lawmakers who were sworn in this week be stripped of immunity.

Tsatsarov added Thursday he would also request the immunity of a MEP, the Bulgarian daily Sega reports.

The Chief prosecutors stopped short of giving names, provoking much speculation as to who the lawmakers are.

A special police operation against persons residing in Bulgaria without authorisation is underway on the territory of the country.

The operation was ordered by Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov and caretaker Interior Minister Yordan Bakalov, according to reports of the Interior Ministry.

Sergey Stanishev, leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES), has said he will insist that he be stripped of his immunity from prosecution on the basis of his status as an MEP as soon as possible.

Stanishev stated his opinion on Facebook in response to an earlier announcement by Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov that he would demand his MEP's immunity.

Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov will demand the stripping of the immunity of the Ataka leader Volen Siderov and the GERB deputy leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Tsatsarov told journalists.

He will also request the stripping of immunity of former Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Sergei Stanishev who is currently an MEP.

Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov has said experts from abroad will be hired to investigate the explosion at the Gorni Lom ammunitions plant on October 3.

The Midzhur factory was leveled to the ground by an explosion which killed 15 and wounded three people who were working there at the moment.

There is not a single proof supporting the theory that the deadly blast that killed 15 people in the Midzhur explosives factory in Gorni Lom was a sabotage, said Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov for the Focus news agency.

Tsatsarov also said the investigation was proceeding, checking all possible versions.

A 15-strong team from the National Investigative Service is to have access to the area where an explosion demolished an ammunition factory in Bulgaria's north-west, killing 15 people.

This is the first time anyone, except for a fire-brigade unit using special equipment, will enter the site after the 24-hour ban was lifted on Thursday, 21:00 EEST (19:00 GMT).

Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov has said he is personally committed to the probe into the explosions that razed the Midzhur factory with 14 to 15 people feared dead.

Tsatsarov also denies previous information that the prosecuting authority has granted rescuers access to the site of the incident, his spokesperson told Focus News Agency.