site.btaUPDATED Supreme Judicial Council's Judges Chamber to Hear Acting Prosecutor General

On February 13, the Judges Chamber of Bulgaria's Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) will hold a hearing for acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov and Nikolay Staykov of the non-governmental Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) in connection with the case of Martin "the Notary" Bozhanov.

Bozhanov was shot dead in a gated complex in a Sofia suburb on the evening of January 31. According to media reports, he was a large-scale fixer of people's problems with the judiciary. He has been implicated in building a network of connections with prosecutors and judges whom he allegedly bribed, threatened, blackmailed or otherwise pressured to treat his "clients" favourably.

Last week Staykov, who is an investigative journalist and co-founder of the ACF, said that Bozhanov had gained notoriety in recent years as owner of a private, admission-by-card-only club in central Sofia that was used for contacts with mid- and high-level magistrates.

The hearing was moved by SJC member Dragomir Koyadzhikov and was carried by a vote of 11 in favour. "We cannot possibly stay indifferent," he argued. Fellow SJC member Tsvetinka Pashkunova said that the prosecution service must be approached with a request for information on threats against judges "in order to build trust in the judiciary". 

Supreme Court of Cassation President Galina Zaharova called on her colleagues to second Koyadzhikov's motion so that an informed stand could be taken "on this rather painful issue."

Campaign for Ad Hoc Parliamentary Committee

The ACF recently sent a letter to Parliament, calling for the formation of an ad hoc committee of inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding Bozhanov's activity. "Such a committee, if run objectively and competently, can contribute substantially to shedding light on irregular influence in the judicial system and prevent the cover-up of the latest in a series of offences against the administration of justice and will have a healing effect on the entire system," the NGO argued.

On Tuesday morning, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) quoted its Floor Leader Delyan Peevski as backing the ACF proposal. "It is inadmissible that justice should be administered at clubs and in the dark. This is not the first disclosure of irregular influence in the justice system but must be the last one. The public must know what happened and, as MPs, it is our responsibility to bring the bad practices to light and end them once and for all," Peevski pointed out.

In a recent bTV interview, judge Vladislava Tsargiradska said that she had been told that Bozhanov "had very solid contacts and was close to [then Prosecutor General Ivan] Geshev and Peevski".

For their part, the Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) backed the ACF's proposal for an ad hoc committee and went further, calling for a parliamentary hearing of Sarafov. The parliamentary group said that the committee should look into information about possible inaction by the SJC, its Inspectorate, the prosecution service and the other competent authorities. CC-DB pointed out that Bozhanov's murder raises suspicions "not only of squaring accounts in the criminal underworld but also of eliminating an awkward witness who could disclose vicious and criminal facts of corruption in the judiciary."

GERB-UDF and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) stated their firm support for all actions aimed at investigating the murder of Bozhanov. 

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Later on Tuesday, the MRF said in a press release that the party together with GERB-UDF has submitted a draft decision to the National Assembly for the establishment of an ad hoc committee of inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding Bozhanov's activity.

The text reads that "due to the existence of allegations regarding the provision of an umbrella over the murdered person, it is imperative to clarify absolutely all the facts surrounding this case." Evidence in the public domain suggests that suspicions of undue influence in the justice system are well-founded and should be investigated and verified in detail, the MRF writes.

"We define as absurd the exerting of pressure on magistrates, the existence of a private club for magistrates, and the continued activity of property fraud, from which many Bulgarian citizens have suffered," the statement adds.

In another press release from Tuesday evening, the MRF's press office said that Peevski has handed over to the acting Prosecutor General all the media reports about a "private club of magistrates", which were leaked by the ACF. 

According to Peevski, the publications contain sensitive data that should be verified by the prosecutor's office to establish the objective truth and protect the public interest by bringing to justice if, in the course of the investigation, magistrates are found to have carried out criminal activity.

Parliament's draft agenda for Wednesday envisages that MPs will begin with a discussion of a draft decision submitted by CC-DB on the establishment of an ad hoc committee to verify the facts and circumstances regarding the existence of unregulated influence in the justice system and the involvement of representatives of the judiciary incompatible with the standards of independence and professional ethics.