Brothel versus "Party House" - this was reported to us by residents of the center of Sofia, living opposite the National Assembly - the former "Party House". People complain that for the third year in a row, a paid love business has been flourishing in one of the apartments of the residential building. The priestesses of love and their clients made noise, violated hygiene and bothered the residents, bTV summarized.
A story about prostitution, its regulation in our country and the obstacles to seeking responsibility for pimping and renting out properties for business.
An apartment in a central residential building in the heart of Sofia - located meters from the National Assembly. They are separated only a few meters from the capital's "Knyaz Alexander Dondukov" Boulevard. According to the neighbors in the building, a business with... paid love is flourishing in the apartment on the third floor.
"A brothel opposite the party house? No, it doesn't sound far-fetched. This is the very reality. And the bad thing is that given that the National Assembly is across the street and is surrounded by cameras, no measures have been taken so far. All that remains is for them to invite someone from the National Assembly and make the connection absolute," says Nikolay Berov, a resident of the building across the street.
Lawyer Nikolay Berov works in his office in the building. There are also offices in it - of the “Federation of Consumers in Bulgaria“ and the “Child Development“ association. Nearly 30 people live in the other apartments. People have reported to the police several times that the property is being used for prostitution.
"For more than two years, people unknown to us have been moving in, bringing in different women and being visited by different citizens, mostly foreigners and Arabs. It is unacceptable for us too. The dirt and noise are extremely bad. Apart from that, most of the residents complain that the building constantly smells of marijuana and other substances that are probably being used", says Berov.
The problem for people is mainly in the chaos, dirt and noise, which, according to them, accompanied the suspicious activity around the clock.
"They are dirty and extremely rude and aggressive! There was vomiting in the elevator," says Petar Petrov, a resident of the building opposite the parliament.
"The first time I found out was when two transvestites appeared who were staying there. Men dressed in women's clothes with lipstick, who behaved quite frivolously. They were screaming, including in the streets," says Kalin Rusev, also a resident of the building opposite.
"The other day, when I was leaving there with my friend, another lady, who was definitely no more than 13-14 years old. And in front of my friend, I shout "good day", she shouts "Oh, hello". Now I had to explain how she knew me.
To establish the facts, we are conducting a check with a hidden camera. In early December, our undercover reporter spoke to this woman, who regularly enters and exits the apartment. We wait for her in front of the entrance after she's done some shopping at the nearby store.
- Excuse me, did I talk to you about the ad earlier?
- Yes, tell me.
- Well, I'm looking for a girl here, I've been here before.
- Which girl? I also have a colleague upstairs.
- Borislava one?
- Do you want to fuck with me?
- Well, I want to fuck with you too, but how much is it?
- Come on! Tell me. It depends on how long you want it for.
- For half an hour?
- For a partner it's 80 leva.
- 80?
- Yes.
- Are there others - another girl?
- Yes, there are, we'll have a threesome.
- Oh, wait a minute, I didn't park properly. Can you wait for me?
- Well, if you want, go up to the third floor.
We politely decline the offer for another time. On Christmas Eve, the young woman again offers her services to another undercover reporter. We're back inside - in the apartment opposite the parliament.
- How long should I give you a price?
- Well, tell me.
- How much is an hour, roughly?
- An hour, as a rule, costs me 150.
- For sex?
- Yes. 150.
- Just a blowjob for 15 minutes.
- It's 50 leva.
50?. Okay. The money now?
- Now.
- Wait, my wallet is probably left in the car
We don't get to consume the service. We are following the chain of owner-tenant. Officially, the owner of the apartment with the suspicious activity is a doctor from Sofia - Dr. Doganov. In a telephone conversation, he tells us that he has long since moved away from the property and did not know what was going on there. He handed it over to the care of a host - his colleague and rented it out to another person - Georgi Chanev. Chanev, in turn, sublet it for a long time through the short-term rental platform, and the clients changed often. Until December, when a contract was signed with long-term tenants. We are contacting Chanev.
"I have a rental contract with these people, they are full members of the condominium with all the pros and cons. What they do and what they don't do there is their business", says Georgi Chanev.
When we asked Chanev if he knew what the tenants of the apartment were doing and whether they were offering paid love, he wanted to interrupt our conversation. We also contacted the landlord of the property, named Hashim. He told us that he was aware of the reports of prostitution, but so far he had no evidence, and when he saw such, he was ready to request the termination of the rental contracts.
The law that regulates prostitution and pimping in Bulgaria is the Criminal Code, adopted back in 1968, during the years of "mature socialism". Since then, it has been "revised" dozens of times, but to this day it does not provide for punishment for someone who sells their body. However, it is a crime if someone else persuades you to prostitute yourself and profits from this business - the so-called pimping. Systematically providing a place for prostitution is also a crime.
"Providing housing for debauchery or drug use is prosecuted by law and penalties of 2 to 8 years in prison are imposed. Because of this, I personally contacted the head of the 5th district administration twice. At a time when there were other citizens in this apartment, an inspection was carried out twice, but unfortunately there were absolutely no results. They did not even establish on what grounds these citizens reside in this apartment," says Nikolay Berov.
Proving and punishing someone for renting out property for a paid love business in our country actually happens rarely, say lawyers familiar with the practice. The reason is in the scheme that creates a chain of re-letting of the property, which in many cases blurs responsibility, says lawyer Georgi Koev.
"The intention that the person knows to whom he is giving it and for what exact purpose, is difficult to prove. He can always say, some good girls came and rented a room and they pay me regularly and how can I know what they are doing there. In general, our legislation is outdated or inadequate to the conditions that require it," says Koev.
In countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Greece, prostitution is fully legalized, the love workers are registered and pay taxes. When something is in the light, it would work with clear rules, in specific places designated for the purpose, without disturbing or interfering with ordinary citizens, believes lawyer Koev. There is no such regulation in our country.
"It could be that if there were some regulation, it would protect the rights of everyone. Both the residents and the people who deal with it, and some economic interest, etc. If you have to build a dentist's office, everyone's consent is required. Entrance, condominium. But if you have to build a brothel, no one announces to you that it will be like that, and that is why it is not prohibited. That is, the consent of everyone else is not required - Entrance - Condominium. It simply did not fall within the scope of the law, within the limits of the law," says Koev.
With public control - this is how people in the Middle Ages actually managed prostitution. In the French city of Carcassonne, for example, back in the 14th century there was a brothel in a building rented by the city government. There were strict rules for registering working women and requirements for regular medical examinations. The name of the keeper of the house, Madame Huguet, is found in court documents from several cases of fines for complaints by citizens that unregistered prostitutes, as well as those with illnesses, were working in the brothel. The sick were immediately removed for treatment. This is how most brothels in medieval France, Italy, England, and the Netherlands operated, and prostitution, although a sin, was socially tolerated, due to the understanding that it could not be eradicated. Even the church accepted it as a tolerable evil. It was believed that without a brothel in the city, male passions and desires would dishonor decent women, break up families, and disrupt order. And, for centuries, a percentage of the profits went to the city governments.
Bulgaria is among the countries in which prostitution has never been regulated. However, it has always existed - in the shadow economy, in secret love rooms, discreetly, and sometimes – not quite.
"A boy and a girl started shouting upstairs, apparently underage, in my opinion. I asked them politely, Sunday afternoon, not to shout if possible. One of them threatened to shoot me", says Kalin.
The complaining residents of the building next to the Triangle of Power still hope that the state will pay attention to their problem after this report. So do the landlords of the property, who say they don't know what's going on inside. There are no official figures on the number of priestesses of love in our country, but unofficial sources claim that their number inside the country exceeds 8 thousand. Prostitution in our country remains in the gray zone - neither prohibited nor regulated. And while the law is silent, the conflict between “personal business“ and the right to a normal life continues.