site.btaDimiter Ouzounov Remains Supreme Judicial Council Representative Member

Dimiter Ouzounov Remains Supreme Judicial Council Representative Member

Sofia, November 3 (BTA) - Dimiter Ouzounov keeps his post of Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) representative member after the latest voting on the matter on Thursday. In Thursday's voting Ouzounov was supported by 14 SJC members.

The vote was preceded by a discussion that went on for more than two hours and a half. The discussion began after Kalin Kalpakchiev insisted that Ouzounov resign. Kalpakchiev reasoned his demand with two factors: Ouzounov's single-handedly designating the eight SJC members who were to meet with European prosecutors who are implementing a review of the Bulgarian prosecution service and Ouzounov's allegations that Kalpakchiev will be paid nearly 300,000 leva under a EU project - a claim which Kalpakchiev rejected.

Supreme Court of Cassation President Lozan Panov joined the discussion and again called on Ouzounov to resign if it turns out that the latter's allegations about the 300,000 leva payment to Kalpakchiev are untrue.

Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva warned against "instilling an impression that the information provided to the European prosecutors is selective".

After the vote was taken, Sonya Naidenova said that "the SJC in its current composition has exhausted the opportunities to answer a number of question". Naidenova called on Parliament to come up with an assessment of Ouzounov's actions. She urged the MPs who agree with her to support her.