Bulgarian ex-minister gets 4 years in jail

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — A former Bulgarian interior minister has been sentenced to four years in prison for obstructing an investigation against a senior police official.

The Sofia City Court on Thursday sentenced Tsvetan Tsvetanov on charges of “obstruction of justice by refusing to authorize wiretapping as part of a police investigation” in 2011, when he was in office.

According to prosecutors, Tsvetanov failed to follow a court order to authorize the use of wiretaps against Orlin Todorov, the regional head of a police unit for combatting organized crime, thus preventing the collection of evidence against Todorov.

Tsvetanov denied any wrongdoing and his attorney said that the sentence will be appealed.

Tsvetanov served from 2009 to 2013.

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