Election holds up key EU fraud trial in Bulgaria

(SOFIA) - The trial of nine Bulgarians charged with embezzling millions in European farm aid has been postponed because one of the accused is a candidate in July 5 general elections, the court said Wednesday.

The case, already delayed repeatedly, is seen by Brussels as a key test of Bulgaria's ability to prevent misappropriation of EU money and ensure speedy trials.

The reason for the new delay Wednesday was the candidacy of Ivan Ivanov in the upcoming vote, the court in Sofia said.

Under the Bulgarian constitution, all official candidates in an election are given immunity, which they retain until the end of their term if elected.

The suspects are to face trial as a group, meaning all nine will see a postponement as a result, court officials said.

"The whole trial is held up until the candidate's immunity is dropped," the court said in a statement.

The group, allegedly headed by businessman Mario Nikolov, is accused of siphoning off some 7.5 million euros (10.4 million dollars) in European aid by buying second-hand equipment for the food industry and using fake documents to present the goods as new.

The revelations prompted the European Commission last year to freeze over 800 million euros of farming, road and regional development aid destined for Bulgaria after it joined the bloc in 2007.

European parliamentary elections on June 7 and the upcoming general election have already allowed several suspects in Bulgaria to escape trial for now.

Two brothers, suspected of heading a criminal group in Dupnitsa, in southwestern Bulgaria, were freed from custody Wednesday so they could take part in the July 5 vote.

The embezzlement trial of the former director of the insolvent Kremikovtzi steelmaking plant, Alexander Tomov, has also been put on hold as he was a candidate in the European election and is again running in the national vote.