The court refused to exclude Peevski and other MPs from the MRF

The Sofia City Court (SCC) refused to enter changes in the record of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), the court said on December 19.

The changes are related to the exclusion of Delyan Peevski, Khalil Letifov, Iskra Mikhailova-Koparova, Yordan Tsonev, Hamid Hamid, Stanislav Anastasov, Radoslav Revanski, Erten Anisova from the party.

The court's reasoning says that the party's statute lacks a procedure for convening the Central Operational Bureau (COB) and notifying of the sanctioned members about their excljsion.

The court found that the evidence of the means employed did not establish proper service of the document on the sanctioned member as there was no evidence that it was received by the addressee.

Additionally, the Central Council of the party is deemed to be a higher authority than the COB. Since Peevski is a member of both the Central Council and the COB, the court ruled that the COB was not competent to decide on his exclusion as a member of the party or to terminate his role in the COB.

Moreover, the decision to remove Peevski from his leadership post was made by the COB, which does not have the authority to make such a decision—this authority belongs to the National Conference, according to the court. Therefore, the court deemed the decision invalid due to a lack of competence.

The court also found that the COB session was held without the necessary quorum. The COB consists of 24 members, meaning at least 16 were required for quorum. However, only 13 members were present, the court noted.

During the last hearing of the case, the prosecution expressed opposition to the proposed changes. Prosecutor Radoslav Stoev stated that there were violations of the MRF's statutes and the Law on Political Parties, emphasizing that the excluded members were not properly notified. Furthermore, the required quorum was not met, and the COB, as a general competence body, was not authorized to make such decisions—these should be made by the Central Council, according to the prosecutor.

Lawyer Maya Gospodinova, who represents the MRF, said that announcements about the COB meeting were posted on two floors of the party's building and outside Delyan Peevski's office.

The court's decision is subject to appeal before the Supreme Court.

Source: BTA