The Judges Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) Tuesday heard acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov and investigative journalist and co-founder of the Anti-Corruption Fund Foundation Nikolay Staykov. The occasion was information about a private club of Martin “the Notary” Bozhanov, frequented by magistrates.
Martin Bozhanov was killed in Sofia on January 31. The prosecution service entered a private club "SS" in the capital's Geo Milev borough, associated with Bozhanov. During the searches, various media and computers were seized. The prosecution service is checking whether magistrates were members of the club, whether and why they went there. Currently, pre-trial proceedings are ongoing for an organized criminal group, of which Bozhanov was part, established for the purpose of exerting pressure on magistrates, for property fraud and money laundering.
At the meeting of the Judges Chamber, Sarafov said that on February 11 he received reports that two prosecutors from Sofia City Prosecution Office had received threats against their lives. One received a bullet in his mailbox. Another of his colleagues found a cross made of twigs outside the front door of her home. The acting Prosecutor General argued that this was meant as a warning intended to force the prosecutors to tread carefully with their work.
Sarafov added that he will ask the Justice Minister Atanas Slavov to provide security for them. Slavov said that the mechanism for the protection of magistrates would be immediately activated. "This time there will be consequences," the Justice Minister underlined and pledged to initiate changes to the Criminal Procedure Code to ensure more protection rights for witnesses in the proceedings and for those who file reports.
"The public bacchanalia with threats against magistrates must stop. The investigation must be completed without colleagues being influenced by threats against them," Sarafov stressed.
Asked by Supreme Court of Cassation President Galina Zaharova whether there was evidence of private clubs, magistrate influence, suspicious contacts between judges and criminals or persons with heavy reputational dependencies, Sarafov replied that he had no reliable and verified information. He added that any name he would mention would be based on rumours and conjectures. The acting Prosecutor General said the case should be approached fairly and objectively, based on verified facts, and if necessary, the system should be rid of magistrates who tarnish the name of the institution.
Sarafov pointed out that if in the framework of the investigation of the organized criminal group, of which Bozhanov was part, such facts and circumstances are established, he could submit a report to the SJC. He could also make a proposal for disciplinary action against magistrates.
During the hearing, Sarafov noted that there were two pre-trial proceedings initiated by the Prosecution Office on reports of pressure exerted against judges. One is from 2017, initiated in the Sofia City Prosecution Office, which includes a report by Judge Tsvetko Lazarov. The General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (GDCOC) was assigned to investigate it and subsequently refused to initiate pre-trial proceedings. On 6 February, the Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office instructed the Appellate Prosecution Office to carry out a review of the refusal.
The second file is from 2022 and was initiated on the basis of GDCOC data. Тhe following year a pre-trial procedure was initiated and a signal from judge Vladislava Tsarigradska was included. The investigation has not been completed, active procedural and investigative actions are being carried out, Sarafov said.
Tsarigradska also attended the meeting of the Judges Chamber on Tuesday. "This pressure machine involves senior magistrates from the Prosecution Office with the active assistance of magistrates from the specialized judiciary. I am a victim of an organized criminal group. We have sufficient evidence that it [the organized criminal group] is engaged in corruption in the judiciary," she told the SJC.
Sarafov pointed out that he had no problem with Tsarigradska giving evidence before a judge and having it attached to the investigation.
The acting Prosecutor General recalled that he had ordered a review of the legality of the refusals to initiate pre-trial proceedings and the termination of files related to Martin Bozhanov. He also ordered an audit of some of the cases in the Sofia Regional Prosecution Office.
In turn, Judges Chamber member Atanaska Disheva quoted information from judge Tsarigradska, according to which in four years (from 2018 to 2022) there are more than 150 cases of special intelligence means applied to magistrates. She assumed that premises in a court in which magistrates were adjudicating could have been bugged. Disheva demanded a probe into how many magistrates have been wiretapped in recent years, for what purpose, and what this has led to.
Asked about the inspection of the Sofia Regional Prosecution Office, Sarafov explained that such an inspection had been launched because the institution had not been inspected for a long time. In addition, circumstances disclosed by the Anti-Corruption Fund Foundation point to worrying facts about the institution’s work and the distribution of cases. “There is nothing bombastic about doing checks,” Sarafov said. He recalled that he had asked for the resignation of Sofia Regional Prosecution Office Administrative Head Nevena Zartova over the organization of her work. Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against her.
SJC member Daniela Marcheva raised the issue of the "list" of magistrates who allegedly visited the "SS" club, as well as what was the orientation of the establishment. Sarafov said he had not received any list.
SJC Co-chair Veronika Imova asked why the searches at the SS Club took place a week after Bozhanov's murder. Sarafov replied that the investigative actions were the responsibility of the team working on the case.
Regarding the information that there was an almost completed investigation against Bozhanov, Sarafov said he was not familiar with the investigation.
It should be checked whether Bozhanov was an informer or cooperated with the Interior Ministry, Staykov said during the hearing. He pointed out that Bozhanov was parading his specific status.
"People who helped him 15-20 years ago are reaching some extraordinary levels in the judiciary," the investigative journalist shared his observations. He said Bozhanov started from street level, gradually taking on bigger cases and frauds with greater material interest. "The model includes bribing judges to select certain appraisers, experts, to causing the bankruptcy of certain companies, acquiring their assets, and solving cases with a large material interest," Staykov explained.
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