site.btaActing, Former Prosecutors General Do Not Show Up at Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee into Trade-in-Influence Network

During Tuesday's sitting of the ad hoc parliamentary committee of inquiry into a trade-in-influence network which transpired after the killing of Martin "the Notary" Bozhanov, it became clear that acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov, former Prosecutors General Sotir Tsatsarov and Ivan Geshev have declined an invitation to be heard by the committee. Committee chair Nikola Minchev noted that no one can be forced to come. 

Sarafov's refusal was published in a press release of the Prosecution Office. In a letter to Minchev, Sarafov declines the invitation to be heard on Tuesday, April 2. 

"Emphasizing my respect for the National Assembly as the highest organ of power in parliamentary democracy, you should bear in mind that it is possible that the result of the committee's work may be materialized in a report, which, in the presence of evidence of criminal or disciplinary offences by prosecutors and investigators, may be sent to the competent authority - the Prosecution Office, in particular to the Acting Prosecutor General, therefore, in order to avoid any suspicion of bias and possible conflict of interest, I find it necessary to divert the invitation to be heard by the ad hoc committee you chair," Sarafov is quoted as saying in the letter.  

Sarafov notes that under the Constitution he has no power to provide detailed information on specific files and pre-trial proceedings.

He adds that since his appointment he has undertaken a series of actions related to clarifying the objective truth in specific cases that became public in 2020 and 2021. 

He further stressed that active steps were taken to clarify the role of Bozhanov and his unregulated influence in the official activities of magistrates.

"I am confident that the institution I represent will provide answers to the questions raised by the public and MPs, and the facts presented in the public domain will be verified by the means of the criminal procedure and in compliance with the principles of objectivity, comprehensiveness and completeness of the investigation," Sarafov says.

On Monday, Geshev wrote on Facebook that he will not be present at Tuesday's sitting because he is abroad.