New Bulgarian Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov held his first press conference and talked about problems that plague the judicial system. He mentioned a court case for frauds with EU funds under the SAPPARD programme.
The German court pronounced the defendants guilty but at the same time a Bulgarian court acquitted the Bulgarian participants in the fraud. Prosecutor Tsatsarov has informed the EC about the case in details. This happened during his first official visit to Brussels where he met Secretary-General of the European Commission Catherine Day, as well as OLAF Director Giovanni Kessler.
After the chief prosecutor returned to Bulgaria he demanded disciplinary punishment for the Prosecutor at the Sofia Court of Appeal Angel Iliev and dismissal of prosecutor Stoicho Nenkov related to the SAPPARD case. It has been found out that the case was not given to prosecutor Nenkov by random chance as the law requires. This is absolutely intolerable, Mr Tsatsarov says and adds.
“These are big violations of the Justice Law, which requires a prosecutor to be selected randomly for a case. When we take the SAPPARD fraud case we see that 4 consecutive times one and the same prosecutor was selected. Everyone can make a conclusion.”
Sotir Tsatsarov also announced that violations were found in the work of the Inspectorate of the Prosecutor's Office of Cassation. Sanctions for various administrative violations have already been imposed. Here is more from Sotir Tsatsarov who commented the EC calls for reforms in the Bulgarian judicial system.
“The need for reforms is one of the major conclusions of the July report of the EC on the progress of Bulgaria. The Chief Prosecutor must receive a mandate to carry out reforms in the structure and the organization of the prosecution in cooperation with foreign experts. This is what we are doing and what Brussels wants from us.”
The Chief Prosecutor announced that a working group of experts is to prepare a preliminary analysis of the condition of the prosecution. Internal audits will be carried out and the work of all types of structures will be thoroughly analyzed. Mr. Tsatsarov said he also awaits the conclusions of the coming audit of the EC before making general conclusions.
English version: Alexander Markov
In 2032, Bulgaria and Denmark will select their cities for the title of European Capital of Culture. The procedure will open in 2026 when the two countries will officially invite their cities to prepare their candidacies. The candidates must draw up..
The Eastern Rhodopes are one of the few places in Europe where the balance of nature has been restored almost to the state it was in two centuries ago. Here, ecosystems function naturally. In other words, animals and plants coexist in harmony without..
"I started working as a teacher in France, but I was bored. I started looking around – where could I go as a history and geography teacher? A vacancy appeared in Bulgaria." And so in 2007, Vincent Dupuy, a recent university graduate, set off for a..
Love blooms with renewed vigour every year on 14 February! Valentine's Day is increasingly being celebrated in Bulgaria as a holiday that inspires lovers to..
With more 40 thousand archaeological sites and artifacts, Bulgaria is a true open-air museum. In terms of the number of finds, this..
From February 14 to 16, an event under the motto "Love and Wine" will allow Sofia residents and guests of the city to combine the..
Cloudy
Overcast, rain
Cloudy
Occasional showers
Partly cloudy, chance of rain