site.btaUPDATED Prosecutors Ask Parliament to Strip Immunity from CC Leader Petkov Over 2022 Borissov Arrest, He Is Ready to Give It Up "Right Away"

The acting Prosecutor General has asked Parliament to strip of immunity MP and Continue the Change co-leader Kiril Petkov, said the prosecution service Monday. The order follows a motion by the Sofia City Prosecution Office which is investigating Petkov's role in the March 2022 arrest of GERB leader and former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

Petkov reacted swiftly in a Facebook post, where he says that he would give up his immunity "right away". Petkov wrote, "[Acting Prosecutor General Borislav] Sarafov is demanding my immunity over Borissov's arrest. Don't you understand that you cannot scare and break us! You saw that your bludgeon Sarafov is going to fall and you are rattling arms. Pathetic thugs!" It was not immediately clear who this post was addressed to, but in a comment before reporters later in the day, he said it was "100% Delyan Peevski's doing".

Borissov was detained in a large-scale law enforcement operation in connection with 120 cases of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in Bulgaria, the Interior Ministry then announced. His former finance minister Vladislav Goranov and GERB's current Media Adviser Sevdalina Arnaudova were arrested with him. 

The Sofia city Prosecution Office has found that in violation of the law, Petkov, who was then the Prime Minister, ordered the head and deputy head of the Investigation and Methodological Guidance Department at the National Police, as well as the chief investigating police officer, to initiate pre-trial proceedings in violation of the Criminal Procedure Code against persons over whom they had no authority. Petkov also asked the investigating police officers to interrogate him without informing the competent prosecutor. It was also ordered to carry out searches and seizures in the homes of the three detainees without a court warrant and during the night even though there was no reason to rush the case. 

The Sofia City Prosecution Office believes that Petkov instructed the police to detain the three men for up to 24 hours in order to cause them harm by smearing them, thereby undermining the prestige of the executive power branch.

The prosecution service has sent to Parliament all materials on the case, including interviews of witnesses. 

Petkov: 100% Peevski's doing

In a comment for the press during a visit to Burgas, on the Black Sea, later on Monday, Petkov said he did not overstep his powers in any way. He also said, "Several days ago all Bulgarian people saw me put Delyan Peevski in his place. This man is not used to such treatment. This [motion by the prosecution service] is 100% Peevski's doing."

He believes that the real reason for the motion for lifting his immunity is the changes to the Judicial Power Act that Petkov's Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) coalition is trying to push through and that seek to prevent the election of Borislav Sarafov for a full tenure as Prosecutor General.

CC-DB say that Sarafov's election by a Supreme Judicial Council that has overstayed its term in office, would be wrong. 

"Sarafov would not be Prosecutor General once this bill is adopted," said Petkov.

He also said, "We should not be afraid of these thugs. The days of over of the state capture."