Bulgaria’s SJC appoints Hristo Dinev as Sofia city prosecutor
Buglaria’s Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) appointed Hristo Dinev as Sofia City Prosecutor on January 16, filling the vacancy left by Nikolay Kokinov’s resignation in April 2012.
Kokinov’s resignation came in the wake of a major eavesdropping row, after several Bulgarian media received, from an unidentified source, recordings purportedly of Kokinov, former prime minister Boiko Borissov and former minister Miroslav Naidenov discussing how to influence the course of a corruption and abuse-of-office investigation into Naidenov.
Dinev, the clear-cut favourite before the vote, according to Bulgarian specialist judiciary news website Legalworld.bg, was appointed head of the Sofia District Prosecutor’s Office (which ranks a rung below the city prosecutor’s office) last year.
Some members of the SJC criticised Dinev’s decision to throw his hat into the ring so soon after his earlier appointment, before having had enough time to have made a meaningful impact in his previous position, but the majority of the council’s members appeared not to be bothered by such concerns, Legalworld.bg said.
Dinev is a virtual unknown to the wide public, with no signature cases to his name. He takes over one of the key prosecutor’s offices in the country, which is tasked with some of the biggest investigations – including high-level corruption, tax fraud and EU funds investigations, as well as prosecuting cases that are investigated by the State Agency for National Security.
(Photo: Jason Morisson/sxc.hu)
