site.btaActing Prosecutor General Sarafov Requests Judge’s Recusal in Case on EuroLeaks Complaint

Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov has requested the recusal of a judge from the Sofia City Court (SCC) who is to rule on a complaint against the refusal by ad hoc prosecutor Daniela Taleva (dated June 17) to open a pre-trial investigation into materials made public under the name EuroLeaks, the prosecuting magistracy announced on Tuesday. The recusal request was sent in writing to Judge Miroslava Todorova herself and also to SCC Chair Rusi Aleksiev.

Sarafov pointed to substantial grounds for recusal, citing violations of procedural rules prescribed in the current legislation and breaches of the principle of objectivity and impartiality. He asserts that in the present case, there was a breach of the statutory deadline for the judge to review the file, which is “no later than one month from the submission of the materials”, where more than three months have already passed without any known ruling by the judge.

He further explained that the request is based on public information that came to light through statements by the complainant G. Georgiev of the BOEC civic movement, who had filed the complaint with Judge Todorova and the related signals with ad hoc prosecutor Daniela Taleva. In late 2024 and early 2025, Georgiev reportedly presented documents described as an “archive” of former investigator Petar “the Euro” Petrov, which were appended to the signal submitted to Prosecutor Taleva. It is alleged that these materials include copies of documents from a disciplinary proceeding against Judge Todorova (formerly chair of the Bulgarian Judges Association), who, according to the complainant’s public assertions, had been assigned to rule on the file concerning the refusal by the ad hoc prosecutor to initiate pre-trial proceedings.

Sarafov considered it unacceptable for a judge to preside over a matter in which they could have a direct and personal interest. In his motion, he emphasized that if the file before Judge Todorova indeed contains documents pertinent to her, that constitutes a ground for recusal of that specific proceeding due to the existence of circumstances and doubts of bias, interest, or lack of objectivity.

The recusal was also sought because of public statements made over recent months by Judge Todorova, who is a former chair of the board of the Bulgarian Judges Association and remains a member of that professional association. The motion flags that a public position taken by the Bulgarian Judges Association (a Declaration of October 5, 2025) called for the forced removal of the acting Prosecutor General from office. In multiple interviews, Judge Todorova has made comments and insinuations affecting his name and position as acting Prosecutor General.

According to the practice of the European Court on Human Rights (ECHR), the impartiality of a court must be assessed both subjectively (with respect to a judge’s personal conduct) and objectively (with respect to demonstrable facts and guarantees of independence and lack of bias), so as to avoid any appearance of partiality, Sarafov’s request says.

On 28 July 2021, a criminal case against Petar “the Euro” Petrov was opened. According to the indictment, between October 11, 2019 and March 23, 2020, using false documents, Petrov unlawfully appropriated movable property, consisting of 147 coins worth BGN 106,763 and a 1,000-gram (23.88 carat) gold bar valued at BGN 109,718, belonging to Yavor Zlatanov, as well as a cash sum of EUR 550,000 (equivalent to BGN 1,085,485.65), belonging to Yuliya Zlatanova, Yavor Zlatanov and Proletina Zlatanova.