The accusations made by Borislav Sarafov through a letter to the Prime Minister and the National Agency for National Security and Defense are frivolous, to say the least. If he claims that there is political corruption and influence peddling, he should know that he is talking about a crime. Sarafov knows very well that crimes are not being investigated by the Prime Minister. They are being investigated by the judiciary, therefore he should refer the matter to the prosecutor's office. This was said by Judge Vladislava Tsarigradska on the air of “Your Day” on Nova News.
We recall that the former I.F. Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov, who is currently an investigator in the National Investigation Service, sent an open letter to Prime Minister Rumen Radev, members of the Supreme Judicial Council, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev and DANS Chairman Plamen Tonchev. In it, he makes allegations about actions by Justice Minister Nikolay Naydenov, which, according to Sarafov, raise questions about political influence on the selection of members of the SJC from the professional quota. The reason for the letter is a series of public statements by Naydenov, in which, according to Sarafov, the Justice Minister speaks of a “regrouping of the prosecution“ in his investigative office. Sarafov rejects these allegations and in turn accuses the Minister of being the one who holds meetings with candidates for the future composition of the Judicial Council. Justice Minister Nikolay Naydenov stated in his position that no candidate for the Supreme Judicial Council has received promises or commitments from him either in the ministry or anywhere else. He emphasizes that he did not seek support for himself in the election of the Prosecutor General.
Tsarigradska described Sarafov's letter as “another populist and archaic model of a smokescreen”. She pointed out that “he is well versed in these operational combinations that he and Ivan Geshev played out in front of the entire society”.
The judge said that at this stage it is not clear whether Sarafov will not be removed from the system as a magistrate.
"Sarafov exceeded his authority and slandered Teodora Georgieva, who was a European Prosecutor at that time, in front of the European Prosecutor's Office. He claims that there is an investigation in Bulgaria against her for taking bribes, and that in the investigation into the “Chiren” gas storage facility. And there was no such investigation at that time. It was formed 10 days later, after he had accused her in front of her colleagues in order to support her removal from office, she said.
In the case of “Petrohan-Okolchitsa” Tsarigradska said that it was unacceptable “for a magistrate to use such strong language without having sufficient information and to sow confusion among the population”. The judge recalled that Sarafov had used the comparison with “Twin Peaks”.
She also pointed out that Sarafov had also attacked judges, including Judge Miroslava Todorova. Todorova should have exercised judicial control over the refusal of the ad hoc prosecutor, who was supposed to investigate Sarafov's actions.
Tsarigradska also said that Sarafov attacked all members of the Union of Judges, demanding that they be removed as potential ad hoc prosecutors who could investigate him.
And she also noted the following - Sarafov allowed himself to attack the President of the Supreme Court of Cassation - Judge Galina Zakharova, as well as all judges from the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, claiming that they were involved in some kind of political conspiracy.
Another topic that Tsarigradska discussed was the position of the Union of Judges, who expressed concerns regarding the electoral process in the election of magistrates for both the Judicial and Prosecutorial Chambers.
The judge recalled that in 2022 there was a discrepancy between the paper the ballot and the electronic voting, which necessitated the intervention of the National Assembly. Then it annulled this election, “to protect the public from the next Council, on which they would cast very serious doubts about the conduct of the election”.
Tsarigradska said that due to the organization introduced by the Supreme Judicial Council during the electronic voting, the anonymous and secret vote was violated.
She pointed out that the following anomalies were observed in the building of the Supreme Administrative Court - multiple electronic votes were cast one after the other at equal intervals of time between two and three minutes. This is about 200 electronic votes.
The judge said that now the election will be held in district court districts with a paper ballot, because the option for electronic voting has been dropped for the reasons mentioned.
Tsarigradska also noted that the rule for a transparent ballot box has also been dropped.
Tsarigradska commented on another topic - the letter of the Union of Judges to Prime Minister Rumen Radev, which requests that measures be taken against the illegal wiretapping of magistrates.
She said that it turns out that by “secretly invading people's lives, one can trade with their conscience and will”. And she added that blackmail is not something unknown to Bulgaria, but also to the world.
The judge noted that the prime minister had not personally committed to the request in the letter, namely for an institutional inspection of what had been happening in the National Security Agency. She added that in just 10 years, 104 magistrates had been controlled by the technical service of the National Security Agency. Tsarigradska explained that the Prime Minister directed the Union of Judges to the National Bureau for Control of Special Intelligence Means, given that Ilko Zhelyazkov, who was sanctioned under the "Magnitsky" law, is a member of it.
Regarding the dependencies between the political and judicial terrain in our country, she said that “we will not cope with this problem if we do not begin to shed light on and investigate the people who collaborated in criminal conspiracies”. According to her, “this is the test” that will show whether the new government will implement the requests made before the elections. She admitted, however, that it is possible to wait for the change of the Supreme Judicial Council, because it is part of the legal mechanisms for clearing these people.
"Neither Petyo Petrov - Evropo, nor Martin Bozanov - Notarusa, nor anyone else has any significant importance. These are networks where omerta applies and the carousel principle operates there and anyone can be replaced by another. Everything is the same. Emilia Rusinova is a city prosecutor. And she traveled with the Euro, we saw her with Sarafov in photos in front of the “Eight Dwarfs”. She has created a special department for investigating magistrates. She and five other people are dealing with the Notary's network. They came to the conclusion that everyone is clean and clean, and I am the person who was illegally connected to the Notary because I sought him out to solve problems for my relatives. So the dwarfs and notaries still hold power in the magistracy”, said Tsarigradska