Ex-PM Kiril Petkov goes to court over Borisov's arrest

Co-chair of "We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria", Kiril Petkov, has been brought to court for exceeding his powers as Prime Minister.

The indictment further claims that by overstepping his authority as Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov ordered the Director and Deputy Director of the General Directorate " National Police" to instruct their subordinates to arrest Boyko Borissov, Vladislav Goranov, and Sevdelina Arnaudova.

The case is to be assigned to a panel of judges, and a procedural hearing will be scheduled.

Petkov received his indictment on January 10, after which he had a deadline to review the materials from the investigation. He is accused of a criminal offense related to the arrests of GERB leader Boyko Borissov, former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov, and the then GERB's press officer Sevdelina Arnaudova on March 17, 2022. At that time, Kiril Petkov was Prime Minister, and Boyko Rashkov was Minister of Interior.

• Kiril Petkov: I have not committed any crime, this is a political attack

According to the prosecutor's office, Petkov committed a crime of office by drastically exceeding his powers and ordering the arrests, which were carried out by police officers instead of investigators.

The investigation against Boyko Borissov, Vladislav Goranov, and Sevdelina Arnaudova was closed in December 2023.

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Borissov, who is also a former Prime Minister and still leads the centre-right GERB, spent 20 hours in custody along with two members of his party (Vladislav Goranov, and Sevdalina Arnaudova) in March 2022 as part of a police investigation into alleged blackmail dating back to 2014-2019. They were released without charge.

Due to lack of evidence for a crime, the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office on December 12, 2023 closed the investigation into alleged extortion, for which GERB leader Boyko Borissov, former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov, and media advisor Sevdelina Arnaudova were detained.

The pre-trial proceedings were initiated based on the claims of gambling businessman Vasil Bozhkov, who stated that he had been blackmailed.

"All possible and necessary investigative actions have been carried out in the case, but no evidence has been gathered that categorically and indisputably points to Boyko Borissov, Vladislav Goranov, and Sevdelina Arnaudova, either together as co-perpetrators or individually, having used coercion against Vasil Bozhkov in order to force him to provide them with money or other benefits and to transfer shares from gambling companies in which he has a stake," the prosecution stated.

• Former Prime Minister Borissov interviewed at the Prosecutor’s Office

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On December 9, 2024, Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov submitted a request to the 51st National Assembly to lift the immunity of MP Kiril Petkov. This request was based on a proposal from the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office, related to an ongoing investigation. According to the supervising prosecutor, the evidence gathered thus far was deemed sufficient to hold Petkov criminally liable for exceeding his powers as Prime Minister on March 17, 2022.

On that date, March 17, 2022, GERB leader Boyko Borissov was arrested as part of a high-profile operation conducted by the Ministry of Interior. Along with Borissov, former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov and GERB spokesperson Sevdalina Arnaudova were also taken into custody. The Ministry stated that searches were conducted at several locations.

Following Sarafov’s request, Kiril Petkov, on December 10, 2024, voluntarily submitted a waiver of his parliamentary immunity to Parliament’s registry, allowing for the legal proceedings against him to continue.

MP Kiril Petkov replied to Acting Prosecutor General Sarafov: "Pathetic thugs - I will give up my immunity right away"