Bulgarian prosecutor wants ultra-nationalist leader's immunity lifted

Bulgaria's chief prosecutor asked parliament Friday to lift the immunity of ultra-nationalist lawmaker Volen Siderov, who will probably face a probe for giving false testimony, inciting others to do so and obstructing justice, the prosecutor's office said.

If found guilty on any of these charges, Siderov, the leader of the Ataka party, could face up to five years in jail, the office said in a statement.

The move was prompted by an incident on April 7 when Siderov was involved in a car accident on the southern Trakia highway.

Siderov claimed he had survived "an assassination attempt" while the other driver accused Ataka deputy Pavel Chernev, of breaking his car window, puncturing his tyres, hitting him and threatening to kill him.

Chernev at first confirmed Siderov's report and testified he was driving the Ataka leader's car at the time of the accident.

But he then said he had given false testimony at Siderov's request to cover for the actual driver, Lyubomir Bakardzhiev, who looks like Chernev and has a criminal record.

Bakardzhiev later admitted to being the driver, in what parliament condemned as "a brutal act of hooliganism."

"This is a political errand," Siderov commented to BGNES news agency Friday.

Since squeezing into parliament in August his small ultra-nationalist formation has ridden on a wave of popular disillusionment, sparking public protests against the centre-left government.

Thursday, Ataka led 1,000 protesters against the signing of a Bulgarian-US agreement to establish military bases in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria, which hopes to join the European Union in 2007, faces harsh criticism from Brussels for its slow judiciary and failure to punish high-level corruption.

In an effort to show results, Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev has already asked parliament to lift the immunity of seven lawmakers on allegations of embezzlement and revealing military secrets.

Former prime minister and Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofiyanski, now an opposition lawmaker, also had his immunity lifted recently at Velchev's request over three embezzlement probes. Velchev's office also demanded the immunity of Ventsislav Varbanov, agriculture minister from 1997 to 2001, be lifted.