Prosecutor

The Sofia District Prosecutor's Office is initiating pre-trial proceedings on a received signal for systematic monitoring and threatening to kill a magistrate from the Specialized Prosecutor's Office, the prosecution said.

Turkey's Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ has said that they are determined to introduce posts of "deputy judge" and "deputy prosecutor" in the next year.

"In this system, which we aim to enter into force as of 2023, we aim for judges and prosecutors to remain in this practice for at least two years in a kind of master-apprentice relationship," Bozdağ said.

Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev wants special monitoring of Bulgaria under the new mechanism, which links the rule of law to receiving funds from European funds.

Geshev himself stated this to journalists after his hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels.

He addressed the Monitoring Group in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

Prosecutors from the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office complained about the unprecedented pressure exerted on them by the General Directorate "Fight against Organized Crime" - Ministry of Interior (GDFOC) in pre-trial proceedings related to the draining of millions from the Hemus highway. This was announced at a briefing on Sunday by the spokesperson of SCP Desislava Petrunova.

Ljubljana – European Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kövesi will visit Slovenia on Monday to discuss the cooperation of the country’s prosecutors with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) after Slovenia’s two European delegated prosecutors have recently been appointed following a delay.

Urgent measures are needed to reduce the Prosecutor General's influence on the next Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) in Bulgaria. This is stated in the assessment of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on our implementation of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The investigation of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office on the signal of the acting Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov against the Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev has ended, a refusal to initiate pre-trial proceedings has been ruled, the spokesman of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office Hristo Krastev told BTA.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) lifted Boyan Rasate's immunity. This indicates a reference on the CEC website. Rasate was allegedly behind the attack on the LGTBQ+ Center in Sofia by far-right nationalists. He is also a Presidential candidate for the November 14th elections.

Milan Jovanovic (L), a journalist whose house was set on fire in 2018, and deputy public prosecutor Predrag Milovanovic (R). Photo: Marko Risovic/Cenzolovka

However, during the interview, it emerged that in at least one case, prosecutors have acknowledged that they should have taken action but have not done so since they were first asked to do so in 2018.

In a second case, which was opened back in 2010, prosecutors have shelved the matter, leaving unidentified human remains that have already been exhumed.