5.  The applicant was formerly a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party (“BCP”), in which he held the position of Secretary of the Central Committee of the BCP (1976-1986) and was a Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the BCP (1977-1988). He was also a Member of the National Assembly (1974-1990), the Minister for Industry and a Member of the Council of Ministers (1984-1986) and the Bulgarian Ambassador to Norway (1989-1990). 6.  The applicant contended that following the democratic changes of 1989 the authorities started to systematically intimidate and harass both him and his family. In particular, despite continuing to have immunity as a Member of the National Assembly, his family residence had been searched, an inventory of all their possessions had been made and several restrictions had been placed on their real property. Fearing further intimidation, reprisals and possible unjustified prosecution by the authorities the applicant left the country on 14 April 1990. Thereafter he resided in Vienna, Austria. 7.  Preliminary investigation No. 3/92 was opened on 9 July 1992 by the Chief Prosecutor's Office against all the members of the Bureau of the Council of Ministers and the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the BCP for the period between 1981 and 1989. A total of twenty-two persons were charged, on an unspecified date, that during the said period they had participated in the adoption of decisions to provide financial assistance or extend loans, totalling 243,537,000 old Bulgarian levs (BGL), to (a) foreign countries, in respect of the Government, and (b) foreign political parties, in respect of the BCP. The decisions in question had been adopted by the Bureau of the Council of Ministers, the Secretariat or the Politburo of the Central Committee of the BCP. These persons, including the applicant, were charged under Article 203, in conjunction with Articles 201, 202 and 282, of the Criminal Code for having misappropriated, in concert, the aforementioned funds. It was contented that, in breach of their official duties, they had facilitated the misappropriation with the aim of obtaining an advantage for a third party, thereby causing considerable economic damage to the country's economy. In view of the very large sums involved, the offence was qualified as being very serious. 8.  In respect of the applicant, the initial charges against him were also under the above quoted provisions of the Criminal Code. It was contended that between 1981 and 1986 in his capacity of an official, Political Secretary of the BCP, and in concert with another ten officials, members of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the BCP, he had misappropriated public funds and property (BGL 8,171,347; 200,000 convertible Bulgarian levs; 2,175,500 United States dollars; 8,000 tonnes of wheat; the value of organising a summit; sixty airplane tickets; 20,000 tonnes of oil; properties given to Ethiopia; training of fifty officials from Mozambique, thirty officers and thirty cadets from Ghana; and, training, accommodation and employment for thirty Turkish nationals), which had been entrusted to him for safekeeping and management and which represented a very serious offence and for a very large amount. In addition, it was claimed that in order to facilitate the aforesaid offence the applicant had perpetrated another offence – that in his capacity as an official, Secretary of the Central Committee of the BCP, he had violated his obligations as such and had exceeded his authority with the aim of obtaining advantage for himself and for a third party and had caused severe damages, which was qualified as being a very serious offence. 9.  The criminal proceedings continued in the absence of the applicant due to the fact that he was residing in Austria at the time. On an unspecified date, he retained a lawyer to represent him before the investigating authorities. 10.  On 23 July 1992 the Chief Prosecutor's Office ordered that the applicant be detained on remand, but the order was not enforced due his absence from the country. On an unspecified date the applicant was placed on the list of persons being sought by the police. 11.  In a decision of 7 January 1993 the charges against the applicant were amended and the order for his detention was maintained. 12.  On 1 October 1993 the Chief Prosecutor's Office sent a letter to the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Austria requesting it to detain and extradite the applicant to Bulgaria. The applicant was detained by the Austrian authorities on 9 December 1993. 13.  On 8 December 1993 the applicant requested political asylum in Austria. 14.  He was released by the Austrian authorities on 15 December 1993. 15.  On 6 January 1994 the Chief Prosecutor's Office sent an official request to the Republic of Austria seeking the applicant's extradition to Bulgaria. 16.  In a decision of 5 May 1994 the Vienna Court of Appeal refused the extradition request. It found that the actions of the applicant were in conformity with the Bulgarian Constitution and the laws at the time in question and that the payments from the State budget to third countries and organisations were approved by decisions of the Council of Ministers and acts on the State budget. Moreover, the applicant's actions were deemed not to contravene the principles of international law and human rights. In addition, the Vienna Court of Appeal found that the applicant had been acting in conformity with his rights and obligations as an official who could decide on the allocation of State funds, which he did not undertake on his own, but as a member of a collective body, for which he was not individually culpable. 17.  The criminal proceedings against the applicant continued. He contended that no further investigative procedures were conducted thereafter and that on at least four occasions the criminal proceedings had been stayed for undetermined periods of time. The last such occasion had been on 28 May 1995 when the Chief Prosecutor's Office stayed the proceedings because two of the defendants had become members of the National Assembly and had obtained immunity from prosecution. 18.  On 3 June 1999 the applicant's lawyer filed a request with the Chief Prosecutor's Office demanding that the criminal proceedings be terminated. She referred to the findings of the Court in the case of Lukanov v. Bulgaria (judgment of 20 March 1997, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1997‑II, pp. 529-547) which had examined the same criminal proceedings and had found them to be deficient because the actions of the defendant had not constituted an offence under domestic legislation. In addition, the applicant's lawyer referred to the Government's undertaking before the Council of Europe to avoid similar such violations in the future (Resolution DH (98) 203 adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 10 July 1998 at the 637th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies). 19.  On 15 June 1999 the criminal proceedings against the applicant were reopened by the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office and the case was remitted for further investigation to the Specialised Investigation Division. 20.  On 24 August 1999 the applicant's lawyer filed a second request with the Chief Prosecutor's Office demanding that it rule on her previous request of 3 June 1999. 21.  On 17 September 1999 the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office rejected the request of 3 June 1999 as it considered that it could not rule on its merits before the criminal proceedings had been completed. 22.  In a decision of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office of 28 January 2000 the criminal proceedings against the defendants in case No. 3/92 were terminated and, inter alia, the order for the applicant's detention was rescinded. It found that the actions of the defendants, including the applicant, did not constitute an offence under domestic criminal legislation at the time of the events. In particular, the funds in question had always been included as expenditures in the State budget, the decisions were adopted without exceeding the powers granted thereto under the existing legislation and the provisions of such aid was in harmony with the State's international obligations. Reference was made to the decision of 5 May 1994 of the Vienna Court of Appeal to refuse the applicant's extradition and the Lukanov judgment (cited above) where the Court had found in respect of the same proceedings that:
“...no evidence has been adduced to show that [the] decisions [for grating aid] were unlawful, that is to say contrary to Bulgaria's Constitution or legislation, or more specifically that the decisions were taken in excess of [their] powers...” (ibid. § 43). 23.  On 27 March 2000 the Sofia Court of Appeals confirmed the decision of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office to terminate the criminal proceedings against, inter alia, the applicant and the said decision became final.