Български
EnglishIn an emotional conversation, OFFNews editor-in-chief Vlado Yonchev talks about his 25-year friendship with the wanted Ivo Kalushev, categorically rejecting the insinuations of a sect and pedophilia and expressing confidence that the tragedy happened because the group became an inconvenient witness to trafficking near the Serbian border, filmed with their drones.
The acquaintance with Ivo Kalushev and “Ekstremno.com”
Host: Hello! Today we will talk about the mystery around the case with the Petrohan lodge. We will talk with Vlado – Vlado Yonchev, our editor-in-chief. Vladi, you are quite emotionally connected to the topic. First of all, I want to ask: since when and how do you know Ivo Kalushev and the people around him?
Vlado Yonchev: I’ve known Ivo for more than 20 years, it’s probably been over 25 by now. Back then he had made a website and forum called “Ekstremno.com” (extremno.com), and it became a kind of gathering point for the caving community. At that time there was talk that some “Caves Act” was going to be made, which worried us. We thought it would harm the caves, and some resistance against that law started to form, and Ivo, quite naturally, became its leader. And then it wasn’t only virtual conversations – we met, we discussed. I suppose that’s how we got to know each other, if we rewind the tape back.
Host: When was the last time you saw Ivo Kalushev?
Vlado Yonchev: I can’t remember. I remember that once I saw him near Petrohan when I was hiking in that mountain. Maybe that was the last time. Before that we used to meet, but apparently that was earlier, around the topic of the Studena reservoir, which ran out of water there, and we were discussing why it had run out of water. And now, when I looked back at what we last commented on on Facebook – some time ago a spring near the village of Iskrets dried up and we discussed theories, you know, about why it might have happened.
Conspiracy theories and smearing the victims
Host: And the more the institutions talk, the more unclear the whole story becomes. In your view, why are these conspiracy theories appearing? Does anyone benefit from pushing such conspiracy theories?
Vlado Yonchev: So, when these conspiracy theories started, I thought that we cavers are a sufficiently different community and most people probably don’t even know such people, and that’s why they’re talking that nonsense. I hoped that little by little things would settle. And I myself held back a lot from speaking or commenting on anything about this case, precisely because it’s clear to me that the cops realize they know very little, and I didn’t want them to be misled by some of my comments. Because I myself also know little – I’m recounting memories from conversations with Ivo years ago, but I don’t know anything about the specific incident.
At some point, however, it seems to me that the police are not looking for the killer. They are not trying to establish the truth; an operation to smear the victims is underway. And it somehow looks to me like the goal is to accuse them of all sorts of sins so that nobody asks who the killer actually is.
Host: Is there any basis for suspicion about a pedophilia scandal?
Vlado Yonchev: In my opinion – no. So where did this start? Where did this pedophilia story start from? Well, I don’t know where it started. I have a few suspicions about how it occurred to them to launch it. One is that there was always a large group of people around Ivo. In these large groups there were often youths, there were children. In fact, as someone who has been on caving courses, alpine courses – that’s common practice. You can’t learn to go into caves or climb rocks if you’re not on some kind of course. And Ivo was perhaps the most legendary caver and certainly the best teacher and organizer of such courses.
So – caving courses, alpine courses, orienteering courses, survival courses, things like that. That’s what he’s been doing as long as I’ve known him. Back then, on that “Ekstremno” website, there was also an adventure school called “Rouk”, and it had young people, more like children, teenage youths who want to become cavers, want to become climbers. If it started from that – for me that’s the only explanation.
The other thing it could be – we only learn this today – there is a report that was sent to the prosecution. It seems to have been written by the grandfather of some child, and it is primarily against his daughter. In that report to the prosecution he complains that his daughter sent the child to Petrohan, and he is against it. He made a scene, filed a complaint: “What is an eight-year-old child doing in that lodge at Petrohan?”. But the daughter – the child’s mother – came to him and said: “Are you crazy? Withdraw that complaint! What are you embarrassing yourself for? My father and I, and the child’s father, sent him and we vouch for him.” Basically, in my view, this is the only document on which the whole theory is built.
And one more thing. For so many years, given that you earn your money mainly from this kind of courses, lessons – if there had been even one suspicion, all of this would have collapsed. One parent complaining even once! And what do we hear from the prosecution? That the parents refuse to cooperate. That is, we invented false testimonies, but they won’t sign them, unlike that one from Varna.
Is the group a sect?
Host: There is also talk of a sect, and it is not just anyone saying it, but the chief prosecutor.
Vlado Yonchev: So now… I suppose that if some ordinary citizen hears us talking about caves and what interests us, it’s true we might look like a sect to him. I myself have a passion for caves, for discovering new holes, for going to such places. I suppose that the fact that there is a community that does this and, instead of going to make money, sits at Petrohan and walks the hills – that might also look sect-like to them.
Now, another thing that might look sect-like to them is that Ivo is a Buddhist. Which, in my opinion, is not a sect but one of the world religions, and I don’t think it is a crime.
Host: It is not a crime. Otherwise we would call Richard Gere a criminal.
Vlado Yonchev: Yes. And here, on the topic of Buddhism, I’ll say something too. As a very Orthodox person myself, who could himself be accused of some extremes of religious feeling – I’ve talked with Ivo for so long on all sorts of topics. I don’t remember ever talking about religion or trying to convert the other’s religion. I mean, he has his faith, and that’s that.
“National Association” and life in Mexico
Host: Well then, should the remit of an association called “National Association for Control of Protected Areas” include protecting nature, and not…
Vlado Yonchev: Now, the truth is that I’ve probably heard of that association and it’s passed by my ears. I haven’t paid any serious attention. But these days, when it started being talked about, I gave my explanation of what the story around it is.
So, Ivo always knew how to find a nice place to live, where he could live well, make some money, and be in good company. Once there was an inn near Dryanovo where he lived. Then near Botevgrad there was a house where they lived. It was his, but his friends, course participants, trainees were constantly coming; courses were held. There were some cliffs nearby where he took me climbing and taught me single-rope technique.
Then in Mexico it was actually the same story. There were many people there. Certainly Ivo and the three who died – Ivay, Plamen, and Decho – but many of my friends also went there. And there are caves there; you could make good money because there are caves that must be toured with diving, and for diving you need equipment and a guide. And since they had that, the tourists never stopped. And at some point they got tired and came back to Bulgaria.
The timber mafia or something bigger?
Host: Well, the timber mafia we talked about earlier, and the possibility that one of these poachers may have taken the lives of these men, was refuted a moment ago by Ivan Hristanov, who was a deputy minister of agriculture.
Vlado Yonchev: So, I myself also think that what I suppose they saw is not connected with the timber mafia and poaching. Because catching someone, or reporting him to the authorities, or doing something dirty to him, or filming him, is enough of a reason to fight with him, maybe for a big brawl to happen, but it is not a reason to kill a person. Moreover, this is not the killing of some random woodcutter with a gun; it is clearly something done much more cold-bloodedly. So, in my opinion, I don’t think it is exactly the timber mafia. For me they either witnessed something, or learned something, or stumbled into something that is much bigger than the timber mafia.
Host: Will we ever find out?
Vlado Yonchev: I think we will find out very soon. I was very worried that Ivo was also killed, for example that he was kidnapped and killed. When I saw the letter to his mother – yes, I am now absolutely sure that he is alive. This is not a farewell letter. This is a letter meant to reassure his mother and give her hints about where he is. I can’t decipher those hints because obviously they refer to some conversations the two of them have had, but for me this letter informs her of that.
The other thing that also gives me reason to think he is alive is Ivo’s last post, made on the day the tragedy happened – a poem by Botev called “Borba” (“Struggle”). I interpret it as “the struggle continues.” So, in my opinion, together with the letter where he says “we can’t take this pressure anymore,” that is what he is trying to say now with this poem. And the line here “the decent are considered mad.” That may also be what he wanted to say, but the very fact that he posts Botev… Ivo and Botev are two different universes, right? He is not someone who will leaf through Revival-era literature every day. To me this looks much more like a code by which he wants to communicate something.
Host: What matters is who will decode it.
Vlado Yonchev: Well, I suppose the one he wanted to tell will decode it. In all of this, I suppose that he – you know there are other people who are missing and being searched for – I suppose that he went to save these people and organize them to get out of these troubles. And Ivay, Decho, and Plamen probably judged that there was no risk for them and that they could safely stay at the lodge. Obviously that judgment was not correct.
Ivo Kalushev – killer or victim?
Host: Is anyone pursuing Ivo Kalushev? What might he be running from?
Vlado Yonchev: I don’t know. Here it is already a matter of my assumptions. If by chance he filmed, for example, a human trafficking channel or a drug trafficking channel, if there is evidence from these drones – the fire! I don’t see any other reason for that fire except to destroy servers, evidence, equipment, and so on. It could be something else too.
Host: Yes, that’s what we can say. “Twin Peaks” continues.
Vlado Yonchev: So, it’s very… in the chief prosecutor’s words. It’s very nasty, this mockery of the victims’ memory. It can’t be like this! First – you can’t talk like that about dead people. Second – you can’t talk like that about people you don’t know. But besides that you’re a cop and you don’t know them, right, that’s not the scariest part. But you, when you’re a cop or prosecutor or whatever you are, talk to people who knew them, who can tell you what these people were like. These are people who helped so many people, who are respected by a group…
Host: Let’s hope it will be heard.
Vlado Yonchev: Well, now I’m thinking about your question: is it the job of a private organization, is it the job of the state? Well, the state, doesn’t it have forestry officers? How much did it protect the mountains, how much did it protect Sliven, how much did it protect whatever? Kalushev and I are one year apart, he is one year older than me. We are from the generation that doesn’t trust the state. If you don’t do something yourself, if you don’t secure yourself, if you don’t pull yourself out, if you don’t help yourself – nobody will help you. The same is true for protecting nature. He did what he could. It happened to him to be at Petrohan, where the best mountain is. That’s what he will protect. With what means, whether an association, whether it will be called “National”… Well, today they nitpick: “You can’t have ‘National’ in the name and have the Bulgarian flag.” There is a party “Bulgaria Can”, there is a party “Bulgaria I don’t know what,” there is “Bulgarian I don’t know what…” It can exist for some shabby politicians…
Host: I hope Ivo is alive.
Vlado Yonchev: I even believe he is alive, and I’m sure he will appear and tell the whole story.
Host: God willing! God willing!
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