site.btaSupreme Cassation Prosecution Office Says Refusal to Register DOST Was Unlawful

Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office Says Refusal to Register DOST Was Unlawful

Sofia, July 25 (BTA) - The Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office (SCPO) on Monday supported an appeal by Lyutvi Mestan against the refusal of the Sofia City Court (SоCC) to register his political party, DOST. According to the SCPO, the reporting judge in this case acted beyond the limits of lawfulness.

Mestan told the Supreme Cassation Court (SCC) he was deeply disappointed that the SоCC's refusal to register the party was motivated mainly by insinuations in the public domain that DOST is an ethnic party and would defend foreign interests.

He said DOST is a national party which will advocate liberal democracy and it accepts all Bulgarians, regardless of their ethnic origin. He noted that over 20 per cent of the party's founding members are Bulgarian Christians.

Earlier, the prosecution asked for an adjournment of the trial in order to collect more evidence, but the SCC denied the request. This led the prosecution to state they cannot assume that DOST was constituted in accordance with all legally established procedural requirements.