Specialized training for prosecutors, judges and investigators was held in Blagoevgrad
On October 1, 2020, in hall "22 September", city of Blagoevgrad, specialized training was held on topic "Opportunities to improve the investigation and confiscation of property from trafficking in human beings through the use of the Internet and open sources". The event is implemented in partnership with the Local Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings – city of Blagoevgrad and the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, with the support of “Hans Weidel Foundation Bulgaria” and the U.S. Embassy in the Republic of Bulgaria.
The opening ceremony was attended by Mrs. Dobriana Petkova - Secretary of the National Commission, Eng. Rumen Tomov - Mayor of Blagoevgrad Municipality, Mr. Lyuben Mile - Deputy Mayor for Public Policy, Security and Sport and Chairman of the LCCTHB – Town of Blagoevgrad, Mrs. Syika Mileva - spokeswoman of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Bulgaria, and moderator of the event was Mrs. Lyubka Kostadinova - Secretary of the Local Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings – town of Blagoevgrad.
The target group of the training were prosecutors, judges and investigators, and the lecturers of the sessions were Federal Prosecutor Jessica Kim, Permanent Counsel for Legal Affairs at the US Embassy in Sofia and Bucharest, Mr. Ivaylo Angelov, Head of Specialized Unit 01 at the National Investigative Service and Mr. Nikolay Kolev, Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Assets - Veliko Tarnovo.
The event was also attended by experts from the Administration of the National Commission and representatives of the US Embassy in Bulgaria.
In the first panel, federal prosecutor Jessica Kim presented questions about the use of electronic evidence in investigating crimes and the methods of collecting them.
The second panel was led by Mr. Ivaylo Kolev, who focused on the topic of specifics in the collection and verification of electronic evidence in the investigation of trafficking in human beings according to Bulgarian legislation.
The third part of the training was led by Mr. Nikolay Kolev. He presented the topic of civil confiscation as a way to counter trafficking in human beings, as well as a specific case of practice.
The event was closed by Mrs. Dobriana Petkova and Mrs. Lyubka Kostadinova and the participants expressed their satisfaction with the presented panels.
The main objective of specialised training was to support the process of successful investigation and countering trafficking in human beings by encouraging the use of data from open sources and the internet to identify and confiscate criminal property, maintaining that this is a key component in the fight against criminal activity.