Acting Prosecutor General seeks to lift the immunity of' MP and 'We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria' co-leader, Kiril Petkov

Acting Prosecutor General, Borislav Sarafov, submitted a request for lifting the immunity of MP and 'We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria' co-leader, Kiril Petkov. The reason is the arrests of Boyko Borissov, Vladislav Goranov and Sevdelina Arnaudova in 2022, according to a statement from the Prosecutor's office on December 9.

Here's what the state punlic Prosecutor's Office said on its website:

The request is based on a proposal of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office in connection with an ongoing investigation. Numerous witnesses have been questioned in the case, documentary evidence, video recordings, etc. have been collected. The supervising prosecutor of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office considers the gathered evidence sufficient to bring charges against Kiril Petkov for exceeding his authority as Prime Minister on 17 March 2022 by illegally ordering the head and deputy head of the Investigation and Methodological Guidance of Investigation Department at the National Police, as well as the chief investigating police officer at the National Police, to initiate pre-trial proceedings in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure against persons over whom they had no authority.

Furthermore, as the Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov has requested the investigating police officers to conduct an interrogation with himself without ever notifying the relevant prosecutor. It was also ordered to carry out searches and seizures in the homes of three Bulgarian citizens, B.B., V.G. and S.A., without the permission of the relevant court and in the dark of the day, as there were no grounds of urgency in the case.

Further, K. Petkov had ordered the Director and Deputy Director of the General Directorate "National Police" of the Ministry of Interior to order their subordinate police units to detain the persons B.B., V.G. and S.A. for up to 24 hours, with the aim of causing damage to them in the form of undermining their prestige and reputation as public figures. this has caused significant harmful consequences for the state - undermining the prestige of the executive power - a criminal offence under Art. 282, para. 2, in par. 1 of the Criminal Code.

The materials submitted to the Parliament include the evidence gathered thus far, including witness testimonies.

As a Member of Parliament, K. Petkov holds immunity under Article 70 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria. This means that criminal prosecution against him can only be initiated with the permission of the Parliament or with his written consent.