site.btaCC Co-chair Kiril Petkov: I Have Committed No Crime, This Is a Political Attack

Continue the Change (CC) Co-Chair told journalists on Friday, before entering the prosecutor's office to be charged:"I have committed no crime, this is a political attack". CC supporters who gathered at the scene expressed their support for Petkov with applause.

Petkov said that there is no justice in Bulgaria, but "clubs that are used for political purposes".

"[Acting Prosecutor General] Sarafov is one of the tools of the machine, but this machine does not stop with him. Peevski is the man who leads this action. […] This machine must be dismantled", said Petkov.

In response to a question about whether he had called the heads of the National Police General Directorate in connection with the arrest of Boyko Borissov, Vladislav Goranov and Sevdalina Arnaudova, Kiril Petkov stated that “not even for a moment was the law violated, if you read the information and the testimonies, you will see that many people confirmed this”.

He added that he was ready to defend himself in court if the case reached that point. “No one is above the law”, Petkov also said and added that he was ready to continue this case as long as necessary to prove that he was innocent.

MP Atanas Atanasov commented to the media that Petkov was innocent.

On December 9 of this year, Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov submitted to the 51st National Assembly a request to lift the immunity of MP Kiril Petkov. The request was made at the proposal of the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office in connection with an ongoing investigation. It was then reported that the supervising prosecutor had assessed the evidence collected so far as sufficient to hold Petkov criminally liable and indict him for exceeding his powers as Prime Minister on March 17, 2022.

On the date indicated, March 17, 2022, GERB leader Boyko Borissov was detained. The Ministry of Interior said at the time that searches were being carried out at many addresses. Vladislav Goranov and Sevdalina Arnaudova were also detained.

On December 10, Kiril Petkov submitted a waiver of his MP immunity to Parliament's registry.