Ivan Demerdzhiev of 'Progressive Bulgaria': “The ‘Sarafov Model’ Should Not Continue to Exist within the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office

Ivan Demerdzhiev from “Progressive Bulgaria” and former caretaker minister of interior and of justice said he hopes the “Sarafov model” will not continue within the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office.

“I hope that people in the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office understand that the ‘Sarafov model’ cannot continue to exist in the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office, it cannot continue to be multiplied, and I hope that the deputy who has taken over the post will not follow in Sarafov’s footsteps,” he said in the studio of “Denyat zapochva” (“The Day Begins”) on April 23.

Demerdzhiev said the Prosecutor's Office should be governed by the law and seek justice, adding that it now has the opportunity to “clear its name” and restore public trust after, as he put it, freeing itself from Sarafov’s influence.

“The Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office must be governed by the law and must seek justice. It now has this opportunity, after freeing itself from Sarafov’s oversight and from the shadow it cast over the Prosecutor's Office. It is now for theProsecutor's Office to clear its name and restore trust in itself,” Demerdzhiev said.

He commented on the resignation of Borislav Sarafov.

“Borislav Sarafov clearly understood that this situation of lawlessness which had developed within the Bulgarian prosecution service could not continue. He also clearly understood that there was a will for it to be ended, that there was a sufficient majority and sufficient conditions for this, and he decided, albeit very belatedly, to take this step which should have been taken long ago under the law, not at the will of someone.

Yesterday there was a meeting of the Prosecutors’ College, and if Mr Sarafov had not done this yesterday, we would have had to endure this situation for days or weeks more. I repeat — it has been intolerable for months and such a comparison cannot be made.

In fact, Sarafov was a symbol of this political influence in the Prosecutor's Office, and it is two-way — from the political circles towards the Prosecutor's Office, and from the Prosecutor's Office, which acted as a shield for these political circles. My appeal was for this situation to end.

The burden, the unpleasant trace left by Sarafov in the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office, in terms of damaging the image of the Prosecutor's Office and eroding what is already extremely low public trust in it, will be difficult to repair in any way. And every day, every hour spent in this post beyond the legal term contributed to further damaging this image and further eroding this trust.”

When asked whether the actions of caretaker Justice Minister Andrey Yankulov had contributed to Sarafov’s resignation, Demerdzhiev replied:

“Sometimes desire and actions are two different things. Citizens expect realities, not declarations, not wishes; they expect realities from everyone involved in politics.”