THE BULGARIAN CABINET APPROVED DRAFT ANTI-TERRORISM LAW

Bulgaria’s Cabinet approved a draft anti-terrorism law on 6th of July.

From the parliamentary rostrum, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov described as unjustified the criticism about the negative effect the law may cause to the work of the military.

The Prime Minister recalled the effect which the presence of the military at the border had and explained that the country had to be prepared in case of a real threat of a terrorist act or immediately after that.

The aim of the darft law is to create an effective mechanism for interaction between institutions in response to potential terrorist threats. It sets out three levels of threat and four levels of countermeasures.

It foresees the Council of Ministers to carry out general management of the counter-terrorism activities and to adopt a strategy and a national plan.

The National Counter-terrorism Center is located at the State Agency for National Security (SANS). The draft regulates the participation of the armed forces in combating terrorism and management of the consequence after terrorist acts. It provides for the functions of local bodies and structures in this process.

The draft gives far-reaching powers to the Ministery of interior, SANS, and the military and empowers them to enter any premises, to impose whatever measures they consider appropriate, including destroying property during anti-terrorist operations. In case of a threat of a terror attack, the antiterrorists are empowered to seize personal ID documents, restrict people’s access to internet, change of location. The armed forces will have the right to carry out searches, to check objects and use weapons.

The draft provides for, if necessary, the antiterrorists to tap conversations of suspects for a period of up to 3 years, instead of the current period of 3 months. It obliges mobile phone operators to provide immediate access to traffic data in case of direct risk of a terrorist act.