Bulgaria anti-mafia court opens

(SOFIA) - A special Bulgarian court set up to tackle cases of organised crime opened Tuesday after repeated calls from Brussels for swifter sentences in anti-mafia trials, its chairman Georgy Ushev said.

The court -- which begins operations after a six-month delay -- will tackle organised crime cases such as kidnappings, money-laundering, EU funds fraud and human trafficking.

Between 70 to 80 cases are expected to be transferred to the tribunal in the coming days, with the number expected to rise to 300 a year as prosecutors conclude investigations and bring more cases to court, Ushev told national radio.

The new tribunal was set up as a key instrument in Bulgaria's crime-busting strategy following severe criticism by the European Commission of its failure to wrap up trials and put well-known mafia bosses behind bars.

However, its start was delayed by six months because of short staffing and lack of finances.

The tribunal also became a major bone of contention in parliament as well as among lawyers and human rights groups, who warned that it might become a tool for political repression.

This prompted lawmakers to drop initial plans for the court to also hear cases of high-ranking abuse of power, embezzlement and other corruption allegations.

Bulgaria, which joined the European Union in 2007, was placed under special monitoring by Brussels and forced to introduce extensive judial reforms to improve its slow and inefficient fight against anti-crime.

But four years on, the latest EU monitoring report in July still found "serious deficiencies in judicial practice" that led to a high number of acquittals in cases of high-level corruption, fraud and organised crime.

A recent report found that between January and October 2010 the prosecution lost an average 17 percent of cases against organised crime, 13 percent of the trials against EU fund fraud and 10 percent of money-laundering cases.

The average general acquittal rates in Bulgarian courts are between three and four percent.