site.btaSupreme Judicial Council Rejects Proposal for Prosecutor General's Dismissal

Sofia, July 22 (BTA) - The Plenum of the Supreme Judicial
Council (SJC) Thursday rejected as inadmissible a proposal for
the dismissal of Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev. The proposal
was submitted by caretaker Justice Minister Yanaki Stoilov and
was based on a report by caretaker Interior Minister Boyko
Rashkov.

It was rejected as inadmissible on 12-8 votes. The debate lasted
 over five hours.

The motion needed the support of 17 of the 22 SJC to go through.
 

Before the meeting of the judiciary's personnel selection body,
Stoilov said he would expect the SJC to make a decision on the
merits of the grounds for dismissal.

While the SJC was discussing Stoilov's proposal, a protest rally
 against the Prosecutor General was held outside the Council's
building.

Stoilov stressed that it was important to pronounce on the
merits of the motion for Geshev's removal. The facts are clear,
the procedure should not be delayed because this would give an
impression of instability and foot-dragging due to other
political developments, he said.

At the opening of the meeting, the Justice Minister set forth
the reasoning for the launch of a dismissal procedure. He said
that the grounds for dismissal, based on an alert by Interior
Minister Boyko Rashkov, include Geshev's actions damaging the
reputation of the judiciary and serious violations of his
official duties.

For his part, Geshev said the termination of his mandate was a
political act aimed to compromise and delegitimize the SJC, take
 control of part or the whole of the judiciary, and infringe on
the rule of law.
  
Geshev made a 40-minute statement during the SJC's discussion.
He called Stoilov's proposal for his dismissal "indiscriminate"
and "legally unsubstantiated" and referred to the alert by the
caretaker Interior Minister as "a legal nothing".
  
Geshev said: "All that is happening and will continue to happen
is a result of the fact that the prosecution service is
working." He said he had not abused his functions enshrined in
the Constitution - to supervise legality and provide
methodological guidance. The Prosecutor General does not
investigate and is not responsible for individual investigations
 and individual decisions, nor does he direct the media policy
of the prosecution service, he said.
 
Following Stoilov's and Geshev's presentations, the SJC members
took a long time to debate the admissibility of the motion
rather than the motion itself.

Stefan Petrov of the Prosecutors' Chamber argued that the motion
 is inadmissible and that the prosecutor General's removal may
be proposed only by five members of the SJC plenum or three
members of the Prosecutors' Chamber.

Atanaska Disheva of the Judges' Chamber argued the opposite and
said the motion was absolutely admissible. Other SJC members
said the rules about that were unclear.

Supreme Court of Cassation President Lozan Panov, an outspoken
advocate of profound changes in the judiciary, said that "we saw
 a debate on a matter of procedure by a body which supports the
captured state".


In parliament's corridors, MP Filip Stanev (There Is Such a
People) commented before the press that the SJC "is a
problematic structure in the Bulgarian judiciary and needs to be
 overhauled". He said that a legislative change is needed. Asked
 whether his party supports the motion for removal of the
prosecutor general, he said this is what people people wanted
during the protests in 2020. 

In the summer of 2020, Bulgarians took to the street in large
numbers to protest against corruption, the government and
Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev.

The first item on Parliament's agenda for Friday is a hearing of
 the Ministers of the Interior and of Justice, Boyko Rashkov and
 Yanaki Stoilov, about the motion for removal of the Prosecutor
General. DD/RI/LN/