Prosecution

The Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) has elected Petar Belchev as the new administrative director of the Sofia Regional Prosecutor's Office.

Belchev was backed by 17 votes, with one vote against, and five abstentions.

The other candidate, Asen Hristov, prosecutor at the Sofia Regional Prosecutor's Office, was backed by one VSS member, with six votes against and 16 abstentions.

The Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) will elect Thursday a new head of the Sofia Regional Prosecutor's Office, the biggest and the busiest unit of the prosecution.

The VSS panel will pick one of the two candidates, Petar Belchev, currently deputy head of the Sofia Regional Prosecutor's Office, and Asen Hristov, prosecutor at the Sofia Regional Prosecutor's Office.

Four people have joined the administration of Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov with no competition conducted to select them, an inquiry has revealed.

Bulgaria's Supreme Judicial Council has voted to temporarily remove from office the head of the Sofia Appellate Court, Veselin Pengezov.

The SJC ruled the same for Petko Petkov, head of the Military Appellate Court. Of the 20 members, 16 voted in favor of removing them from office, a move initiated by the Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov.

BELGRADE - The Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office issued an official order for the police to look into the allegations from the report of the Anti-Corruption Council on substantial discrepancies in the quantities of electricity imported and exported by the public company EPS from 2010 to 2012.

Veselin Pengezov, who heads the Sofia Appellate Court, is to be indicted by Sofia's Military District Prosecutor's Office on Monday.

Pengezov was earlier summoned to Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security (DANS), where he is to appear later during the day, Dariknews.bg has reported.

Supreme Court prosecutor Efterpi Koutzamani ordered Greece’s prosecutors to initiate proceedings for the immediate arrest of anyone who makes public illegally obtained footage.

KOPAONIK - Serbia's Outgoing Minister of Justice and Public Administration Nikola Selakovic has said that new authorities will adopt an action plan and measures for strengthening the criminal justice system by autumn.

Opening a conference titled "Criminal Law Reform", Selakovic said at Mt. Kopaonik on Thursday evening that the system comprises prosecutors, judges and police.

An Athens prosecutor on Thursday launched an investigation into a video posted on the Internet on Wednesday showing former cabinet secretary Panayiotis Baltakos appearing to accuse Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of trying to influence a judicial probe into the neofascist Golden Dawn.

Comparing international prosecutors to local ones, Hasan Preteni, head of the Anti-Corruption Agency, said local judges and prosecutors “enjoy the stability, security and financial independence [to raise indictments on corruption cases], but lack the courage.