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Anastasia Balezdrova

"The investigation of the case continues. Now we cannot provide information about its development," stated the press office of the police station in Attica for GRRreporter. At the same time, scenarios of who and why the chairman of the organization Bulgarian Community, Rosen Hristov, was killed are being discussed in the immigrant community in Greece.

"Yesterday, I came out to get some information about the case. The office of the organization was closed. In one of the Bulgarian establishments, a man who I did not know asked me if I know anything more. I told him what we knew until yesterday. Then he told me that about two days before the death of Rosen, who had been killed on Thursday evening, he had seen the deputy chairman of the organization Emil with a swollen and bruised eye. Emil told him that he had had a fight with Rosen. This surprised me very much because Rosen was not that kind of person. He did not react in an aggressive manner to either insults or threats. The man said that Emil worked in the company of Rosen’s son-in-law. This is about his sister’s husband, who is a Greek and has a transport company. So, he owed some money to Emil. They were in Rosen’s sister 's house and quarrelled on this occasion. Something happened, I do not know exactly how, but Rosen was challenged, he got up and punched Emil in the eye. Then, they fought. I learned this yesterday from this person, who had spoken with Emil personally. I think police should know about the case, about what had happened at the home of his sister. If she has not mentioned it, maybe there is some reason for that," Dilyana Bairaktarova - the publisher of Bulgarian Voice newspaper - said to GRR reporter.
 
She is the creator of "Compass" - immigration news agency "on Facebook. Bulgarian media quoted the centre as the author of a text containing charges against the killed Rosen Hristov of "fraud, theft, rape, beating Bulgarian women and trafficking of women." Dilyana Bairaktarova firmly refused to have any connection with the article posted on the webpage of the social media. "Not only did I not write it, but I have not spoken about these things," was her emphatic reply. She added that the page was created about a year ago "on various activities carried out in order to provide information and help the Bulgarians in Greece."

Dilyana Bairaktarova did not know anything about the apartment, where the body of Rosen Hristov was found. "He did not live there. Most of the time, he came and slept in the office of the organization and often slept in the truck with which he worked. I drove him by my car to the truck to sleep there. There was a lodging, in which Bulgarians usually slept. He accommodated them there because they had no shelter. Rosen was trying to help these people to find jobs and settle. I knew it was an old house, but I do not know the address. He provided food and shelter even in the office, where he had placed beds in the semi-basement of the office.

So, I think the woman Rosen met that night to accompany her in her attempts to find a job may not be the woman with whom he lived and met in this lodging. I think this would not necessarily be the wanted woman with whom Rosen met as Emil claims. Perhaps Rosen met Emil in the office of the organization on Sokratous Street. Then he went out with Stefka to take her for a meeting and then he went to Haidari. I know that very well, because the door of the building, where the office is, is closed every night at 10.00 pm and when Rosen was late, he could not go back there. That is why he slept in the truck or apparently, in this lodging. Anyway, the last person who saw him and talked to him was Emil."

Dilyana describes Rosen as an "enthusiast" who wanted to do many, good things. And he felt sorry that he was being constantly reproached. The last time Rosen and I worked together was two years ago. We organized the concert of Toni Dimitrova. He helped me a lot and I am very grateful. He was a helpful person and helped people a lot. I would say he was a broad-minded and trusting person. Even when we were working on the organization of the concert, I warned him to be careful and not to be so trusting, because while he was at work, the office of the organization was open all day long. All kinds of people came and did what they wanted.

Like every other person engaged in public activity, he also had his weaknesses and sometimes was naive like a child. But at the same time, he was a stubborn person and has gained the name of the organization - Bulgarian Community. Other organizations were also established here. Aside from ours and his, the others were born and died. Actually, we are two active organizations here. Even assuming that it was just cultural activity, we did something for the Bulgarians here. We have had disputes in our work, and about publications, we posted. We published opinions of his opponents and they were mostly the reasons for our disputes but he was not angry and waved it away.

Rosen was not hot-tempered. To the contrary, he could be called a diplomatic person. He was the subject of much criticism especially in the early years of his activity. The organization was founded a few years before his arrival to Greece. When Rosen was elected chairman, two of the founders remained on the board, and then tried to remove him, saying that he was not appropriate for the position of chairman. But Rosen managed to overcome all these things.