In a coordinated operation, police and prosecutors are conducting searches at a total of seven locations to secure evidence in relation to distribution of child pornography, Sitel reported on Thursday afternoon. Services in Struga, Bitola, and Strumica are seizing computers, laptops, phones, and other electronic devices.
There are no official details yet on how many people are covered by the searches, but according to unofficial information, one of them is the head of the Bulgarian association “Strumichka Petorka” (“Strumica Five”), Borche Kosteski from Struga, who also has his own podcast on the B2 Kanal channel on YouTube.
Bulgarian media, mainly citing information from media in North Macedonia, have already published photos of Kosteski together with Kostadin Kostadinov, the ultraright pro-Russian Bulgarian politician. Media have also reported on a connection with Viktor Stoyanov, founder of the Foundation “Macedonia”.
Official details are expected after the searches are completed. However, Kosteski denied he’d been arrested, adding that there was a smear campaign.