Bulgaria: Acting Prosecutor-General Sarafov moves against former PM Petkov
Acting Prosecutor-General Borislav Sarafov has moved against Bulgaria’s former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, requesting Parliament to remove Petkov’s immunity as a member of Parliament from prosecution, the Prosecutor’s Office said on December 9.
The reason is the arrests in 2022 of GERB-UDF leader Boiko Borissov, former finance minister Vladislav Goranov and Sevdelina Arnaudova, the statement said.
Petkov, the co-leader of the reformist We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria coalition, has been campaigning actively to try to stop Sarafov being elected in January 2025 as Prosecutor-General. Sarafov is the sole candidate for the post.
Petkov and other critics of Sarafov allege that the acting Prosecutor-General is a “pawn” of Delyan Peevski, the controversial figure sanctioned by the US and UK for corruption, and of Borissov.
The WCC-DB co-leader has said that the coalition would table legislation in Parliament to impose time limits on the service of acting Prosecutor-General and prevent Sarafov from being elected for the full seven-year term.
Soon after the announcement by the Prosecutor’s Office, Petkov said on Facebook that he would renounce his immunity immediately.
“Didn’t you understand that you can’t bend us through fear!” Petkov said in the Facebook post.
The Prosecutor’s Office announcement came on the eve of President Roumen Radev starting consultations with parliamentary groups ahead of handing out the first mandate to try to get Parliament to elect a government.
The first two groups that Radev will see are the two largest in the 51st National Assembly are GERB-UDF and WCC-DB.
The Prosecutor’s Office said that Petkov had exceeded his authority in March 2022 in ordering officials to initiate pre-trial proceedings.
The statement alleged that Petkov had requested the investigating police to conduct an interrogation without notifying the relevant prosecutor.
It alleged that Petkov ordered that searches and seizures be carried out in the homes of Borissov, Goranov and Arnaudova without permission from the relevant court and in the dark, as there were no grounds for urgency in the case.
The Prosecutor’s Office alleged that Petkov ordered police officials to detain the three for up to 24 hours “in order to cause them harm, expressed in undermining their prestige and good name in society, and this has resulted in significant harmful consequences for the state – undermining the prestige of the executive branch – a crime under..the Criminal Code”.
WCC-DB is not alone in wanting Sarafov blocked. Others who oppose him include President Radev, the Ahmed Dogan loyalists the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, the Bulgarian Socialist Party – United Left coalition and the Vuzrazhdane party.
Petkov, in a post on Facebook on December 6 after Parliament elected Natalia Kiselova as Speaker, said: “Peevski and Borissov are playing chess, in which the pawn Sarafov becomes Prosecutor General and Bulgaria loses the chess game.
“Budget, money from Europe for all sectors – everything is less important to them than personal security through a captured justice system,” Petkov said.
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