Besieged Bulgarian chief prosecutor fights back
Bulgaria’s chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev complained on Monday of intense political pressure for his resignation, while his office announced they were starting investigations against former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and ex-European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, who is on the verge of forming a government.
On 11 May, Gabriel, nominated as prime minister by the largest party GERB, announced that she would demand the dismissal of Geshev. Just a day later, six members of the Supreme Judicial Council demanded his resignation.
The move was surprising because the SJC had previously strongly supported the controversial prosecutor general.
On 15 May, the Prosecutor General staged a show in which he tore up his resignation. Immediately after, BSP leader Kornelia Ninova announced that she would not join the governing coalition, thus blocking Gabriel’s plans to form a coalition government.
The failure of this option for a ruling coalition pushed Borisov to a quick settlement of governance with the second political force, “Change continues – Democratic Bulgaria” (PP-DB).
On 22 May, a week after the torn resignation, the agreement between the first two political forces, GERB and PP-DB, to form a government was announced. The replacement of Geshev continues to lead the agenda of the future cabinet.
But one thing is clear – Geshev has no intention of stepping down without a fight.
On Monday, he gave a lengthy briefing, during which he released screenshots of exchanged messages and a taped conversation with the Prosecutor’s College member in the Supreme Judicial Council, Yordan Stoev. He is one of the six members of the SJC who requested Geshev’s resignation.
On a screen, Geshev presented the screenshots of messages exchanged, explaining that Borissov asked him for a “dignified exit”.
The conversation, presented on the screen with subtitles, is from when GERB leader Borissov was on the verge of forming a four-way governing coalition with DPS, BSP and ITN. By showing it to the media, Geshev aimed at revealing GERB’s interference in the affairs of the judiciary, which has never been a secret, although until now, the prosecutor general pretended he didn’t notice it.
Stoev can be heard admitting that he was chosen by the political forces as an “emissary” to broker Geshev’s resignation.
“GERB (Borisov’s party) commands the SJC,” says Stoev in the recording. “Boyko (Borissov) ordered these six from the SJC (to demand Geshev’s resignation)”, he further explains.
In the recording, Geshev insists on guarantees for his personal security.
“I want guarantees. And the prosecutor’s office will cease to exist, and so will the state,” Geshev says in the recording. “I want guarantees for myself and my children because the explosion was set to kill me, not for things to develop like this,” Geshev adds.
On 1 May, a bomb exploded near a place outside Sofia where Geshev was passing in his armoured car. Experts said later the blast was too weak to cause serious harm, while questions have been raised over discrepancies in Geshev’s testimony of events.
In the meantime, the prosecutor’s office announced that they are starting investigations against Borissov and Gabriel. The prosecutors are also starting investigations against some of the Supreme Judicial Council members who demanded the chief prosecutor’s resignation.
(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)
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