BULGARIA: COURT HEARS APPEAL OF JEWISH PROPERTY

UNCLAS SOFIA 000068

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SOCI KTIA BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIA: COURT HEARS APPEAL OF JEWISH PROPERTY
RESTITUTION CASE

REF: 05 SOFIA 1318


1. (U) SUMMARY. A five member panel of the Supreme
Cassation Court (SCC) held a hearing January 17 on the
Bulgarian Jewish community's appeal regarding restitution
of the disputed Rila Hotel (reftel). The Jewish community
organization Shalom is appealing a July 2005 decision on
grounds that it contradicts two previous decisions on the
same case. The Court is expected to either reject Shalom's
appeal or return the case to a lower court sometime in the
next two months. Regardless of the court's decision,
President Parvanov is on record as supporting compensation.
END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Despite a 1992 decision in Shalom's favor, the Sofia
Regional Court in 2002 rejected the Jewish community's claim
to the Rila Hotel, which was built on property seized from
the community by the Communist government. The Sofia
Regional Court's decision was later upheld by the Sofia City
Court in 2004 and confirmed and enforced by a three-member
panel of the Supreme Cassation Court in 2005. Shalom
initiated a special reversal procedure by noting that the
Sofia Regional Court's decision contradicted two previous
court decisions issued by the Supreme State Arbitration in
1992 and the Supreme Cassation Court in 2003 (which also
went against Shalom, but for different reasons).


3. (U) The January 17 hearing, attended by an Embassy
representative and an attorney for the JOINT Distribution
Committee, was a low-key event. Shalom, represented by
attorney Joseph Geroof, presented its request in writing and
briefly outlined the main points to the judges. The lawyers
for the defendants replied in similar fashion. The judges
asked no questions. Although the hearing was open to the
public, there was no press.


4. (U) Prior to the hearing, John Rupp, a lawyer assisting
Shalom in the case, and Robert Djerassi, deputy director for
the American Jewish JOINT Distribution Committee in
Bulgaria, met with the DCM to discuss the appeal. Neither
were optimistic the Court would rule in their favor. Rupp
told us Shalom is considering two other options if the
latest appeal is unsuccessful. One is the European Court of
Human Rights. Another option would be to pursue a case in
the U.S. courts with the Bulgarian government as the
defendant. Rupp said this could be an irritant in the U.S.-
Bulgarian bilateral relationship, but also may encourage the
GOB to make progress on compensating the Jewish community
for the property.


5. (SBU) COMMENT. Despite Bulgaria's excellent overall
record on restitution cases, we continue to have doubts
about the likelihood of the current five-judge panel
deciding this case fairly based on its merits. The
Bulgarian judicial system is notoriously susceptible to
outside influence, and in this case the outsider is one of
Bulgaria's most influential: businessman and racketeer
Vasil Bozhkov (a.k.a., The Skull),the man behind the
company that currently owns the Rila Hotel. Nevertheless,
we are encouraged by President Parvanov's statement in
Washington last November that the government should find a
way to compensate Shalom if the issue cannot be resolved in
an appropriate manner by the courts. Parvanov, however,
would need to persuade the current government to support
this idea. To date, we have seen little movement from the
presidency in this direction.

BEYRLE