site.btaJuly 2021 Elections: Prosecutor General Asks for Central Election Commission's Permission to Press Charges against Candidate in Upcoming Elections

Sofia, July 7 (BTA) - Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev has asked
the Central Election Commission (CEC) for a permission to press
charges against T.G. who is a candidate in the upcoming
parliamentary elections on July 11. The Prosecution Office said
that the pretrial proceeding was initiated by the Regional
Directorate of the Interior in Burgas (on the Black Sea coast)
and is supervised by the Sofia City Prosecution Office.

In the course of the investigation, witnesses were questioned
before a judge, material evidence was gathered, search and
seizure was carried out at several addresses, and supporting
paperwork was filed. According to the Prosecution Office, the
evidence is sufficient to press criminal charges against T.G.
who offered four persons property in exchange for their votes
for a certain candidate and coalition in the July 11 early
parliamentary elections. This happened on June 29 in the village
 of Marinka near Burgas.

It transpired later on that the person whose immunity the
Prosecutor's Office wants stripped is a candidate of Rise Up!
Thugs Out! (RUTO) on their Burgas list, Tsvetelin Georgiev.

RUTO's press centre informed that Georgiev will be removed from
the party list in Burgas, and pledged their full cooperation
with the Prosecutor Office in finding the truth.

"The rule of law is a fundamental value to us, and we consider
utterly unacceptable every violation, no matter by whom," RUTO's
 press release reads.

The Prosecution Office said that five fresh pretrial
proceedings in suspected violations of the election process were
opened in the past 24 hours, making them a total of 29. Also,
55 new case-files were opened, bringing the total to 277, on
alerts by members of the public, the State Agency for National
Security and the Interior Ministry about violations of people's
political rights. NV/MT, ZH