BULGARIA:The statute of limitations in relation to the murder of dissident Georgi Markov was due to expire, writes Daniel McLaughlin
BULGARIA HAS unexpectedly decided to continue investigating the notorious "umbrella murder" 30 years ago of dissident Georgi Markov on London's Waterloo Bridge.
Bulgaria's statute of limitations on the murder case was due to expire yesterday, three decades after the writer and critic of communism died of poisoning by ricin, a tiny pellet of which is believed to have been fired into his leg by an unknown man wielding a specially adapted umbrella.
But Boris Naidenov, head of Bulgaria's National Investigation Service, said that because Markov's death may have been linked to an attempt the same year to kill another Bulgarian dissident, Vladimir Kostov, the file could remain open for longer.
For multiple attempted murders "there is a 35-year statute of limitations, which can be prolonged further if the case has been interrupted. So there is enough time and legal possibilities to search for the truth," Mr Naidenov said.
He also suggested powerful figures may still try to hamper the inquiry into the death of Markov, who fled Bulgaria in 1969 for Britain, where he regularly criticised his homeland's communist regime in reports for the BBC and Radio Free Europe.
"The investigation will continue . . . I will assign additional investigators to the case who are not biased. It is extremely important to get to the truth," Mr Naidenov said.
"It is in Bulgaria's interest to bring this case to a conclusion once and for all, to do away with the ghosts of the past. If someone has ordered a killing, he has to be identified and taken to justice."
According to accounts of the incident, Markov was waiting for a bus when he felt a sharp sting in his thigh. He turned to see a stranger fumbling with an umbrella that he had dropped, and who mumbled "sorry" before walking away.
The date was September 7th, 1978 - the 67th birthday of Bulgaria's communist dictator Todor Zhivkov, one of the Kremlin's most loyal Soviet allies and controller of the feared Darzhavna Sigurnost (DS), Bulgaria's ruthless counterpart to the KGB.
Markov developed a high fever and died in hospital days later without being questioned by police. An autopsy revealed a tiny metal pellet embedded in his thigh, which is believed to have contained the powerful poison ricin.
A recent investigation by Bulgarian newspaper Dnevnikidentified Markov's suspected assassin as an agent code-named "Piccadilly", who is thought to be a Dane of Italian descent called Francesco Gullino.
The DS archives, to which the newspaper only won access after a three-year court battle, show that Gullino underwent unspecified "special training" and received two medals, free holidays and $30,000 after Markov's death. He was reportedly questioned about the killing in Denmark in 1993, but released due to lack of evidence. His whereabouts are unknown.
Dnevnikalso claimed to have unearthed a secret agreement between Sofia and Moscow, under which the KGB would provide fast-acting poisons and devices for delivery to Bulgarian intelligence.
Bulgarian media outlets have reported that British politicians urged Sofia not to close the investigation into the murder, one of the most infamous of cold war crimes, at a time when relations with Moscow are at a low ebb.
The 2006 poisoning in London of Alexander Litvinenko, a former security service agent who became an outspoken critic of the Kremlin, has echoes of the Markov case. It, too, has not been solved, and Russia refuses to deport the person identified by Britain as the main suspect.
British police have visited Sofia several times in recent years to investigate aspects of the case.