Attorney General Ivan Geshev turned up at the press conference convened by himself, the request for his resignation in hand. He said that upon his return from the US on Saturday, he received a message telling him to resign by 10am Monday morning "or else somebody will press Enter for some things, some videos, which is why I should be wise because life goes on". He said: "I am not afraid. I am aware it may sound like a cliche.
The fearful die every day, the brave die only once." He refused to reveal the identity of the person who threatened him. As for the resignation he was asked to resign, Ivan Geshev burst into a 40-minute monologue:
"First were the cases involving terrorism. Involving Russian malign influence, which no one had investigated before and which was not considered a problem - one former prime minister even gave Putin a puppy (an allusion to Boyko Borisov - ed.). Cases against oligarchs who were considered untouchable, who fled to Dubai, to Serbia, probably protected by the Russians, bribed lobbyists who attacked the Bulgarian prosecutor's office. The prosecutor's office was attacked: the mafia of politicians, oligarchs, criminals, all those who want to continue stealing, united. I, and I hope the Bulgarians, do not want this to continue. I hope that this day marks the beginning of the end of the oligarchic model.
...It all started a few months ago, when I was advised - I was told that the suggestion came from Boyko Borissov - to take up the post of ambassador to Turkey or Israel or to start a political career, probably in Borissov's party. I did not take it seriously. By the way, from Ukraine I said that if Putin comes to Bulgaria, we will comply with our legal obligations and will bring him before the International Court of Justice. I do not know whether there is a causal link here, but that was the beginning. Then followed the attack on me, which you know about. I was very upset about that."
According to the chief prosecutor's assessment, the May 1 bomb attack was a deliberate attempt to kill him.
"I underestimated what happened in the aftermath: a media onslaught directed against my person and the prosecution. This was to be expected because this is what the so-called democratic community has been doing for years. You know who I am talking about," said Geshev, calling for politics to be removed from the judiciary.
Geshev then called for the dismissal of his deputy, the director of the National Investigation Service, Borislav Sarafov, who had urged the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to dismiss the prosecutor general. Otherwise, Geshev would file a request to the SJC for Sarafov's dismissal.
We recall that Maria Gabriel - GERB-SDS's candidate for prime minister - announced that one of the main tasks of the prospective government under her leadership would be to ask for the resignation of Bulgaria's Prosecutor General. The dismissal of Ivan Geshev was also at the centre of the mass protests of Bulgarians at home and abroad in the summer of 2020, which preceded a series of parliamentary elections and a deepening of the political crisis in the country.
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