site.btaImmunity Lifting Not a Verdict, but Opportunity for Objective Investigation - Acting Prosecutor General Sarafov

Requesting the lifting of MP immunity does not mean a verdict, it means an opportunity to conduct an objective investigation, said acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov here on Tuesday when asked about the request for waiving of MP immunities by the Sofia Prosecutor's Office.

According to Sarafov, the time to request an MP's immunity should be when the investigation itself necessitates it. On December 10, Sarafov submitted to the 51st National Assembly a request to waive the MP immunity of CC co-leader Kiril Petkov at the proposal of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office in connection with an ongoing investigation. On November 13, Sarafov submitted a request to strip the MP immunity of Jeyhan Ibryamov (Alliance for Rights and Freedoms - MRF). The request for permission to continue the criminal proceedings against him was made on a proposal by the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office. On December 9 Sarafov requested Parliament to waive the MP immunity of Lena Borislavova (Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria). 

Regarding the proposal of the Sofia District Prosecutor's Office to request Borislavova's MP immunity, Sarafov said that he would still consider it and consult with his colleagues. He described the role of the Prosecutor General in the immunity matter as a "mailbox". "I carry out what my colleagues from the respective prosecutor's offices and supervising prosecutors ask me to do," he said, adding that the maximum period within which the documents for the requested immunity can be considered is one month.

"If I do not request immunity when such a thing is requested of me and the grounds are there, it means that I am falling in a situation of personal concealment - that is, I am blocking the way to criminal prosecution against someone," Sarafov further clarified. In his opinion, the political situation does not suggest a convenient moment to request MP immunities. The acting Prosecutor General added that the prosecution service has two options to request the waiving of MP immunity - "one is when the moment is ripe, as explained by the Sofia District Prosecutor's Office, and the other - despite the fact that an investigation has been completed, the case should be put "on the shelf" and wait for the politicians' so-called opportune moment. However, this could be characterized as blackmail", Sarafov said. He denied that there was selective justice. "The prosecution service is the cornerstone around which the politics of the state revolves, regardless of who the Prosecutor General is", he said, adding that it is certainly not the prosecution service that is the "stumbling block" for the development of Bulgarian society, business, the economy, agriculture, education, healthcare.