Former Health Minister Prof. Asena Serbezova has fined the prosecutor's office 50,000 leva for the case brought against her for causing alarm during the coronavirus pandemic, the legal website Lex.bg reports.
At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a massive overstocking of medicines, and in April 2020, Serbezova, who was then the head of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union, warned in a series of interviews that this could lead to supply problems. However, her warning only led to her being charged under Art. 326 of the Criminal Code, which provides for up to 2 years in prison for anyone who transmits false calls or misleading signs for help, accident or alarm by radio, telephone or otherwise.
The case was brought to court with a proposal to release Serbezova from criminal liability, but a year later she was finally acquitted, with the court indicating that with her behavior Serbezova not only did not cause panic, but was useful to society.
In 2022, Prof. Serbezova filed a lawsuit against the prosecutor's office for 70,000 leva, and at the end of last year the Sofia City Court (SCC) awarded her compensation of 30,000 leva. Both she and the prosecution appealed the decision, with the state prosecution demanding compensation of only 5,000 leva.
A few days ago, however, the Sofia Court of Appeal (SCA) decided that the non-pecuniary damage caused to Serbezova was much greater and ordered the prosecution to pay her 50,000 leva.
According to the court panel with chair and rapporteur Anelia Markova, the city court did not take into account the gravity of an illegal accusation when it is against a person who deals with drug policy. Before becoming chair of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union, Asena Serbezova was the director of the Executive Agency for Medicines, and at the same time she was also the coordinator for Bulgaria of the World Health Organization. In 2021 she was also Minister of Health in the government of Kiril Petkov.
"The court of first instance did not take into account that, as a general rule, the illegal accusation of a person practicing a profession such as the plaintiff's of committing a crime has a stronger negative impact on his non-property sphere, in this sense, the negative consequences suffered by the plaintiff from this illegal accusation are not usual", the decision of the court of appeal states.
It also emphasizes the announcement published by the prosecutor's office about the indictment, which states that Serbezova is accused of a crime of high public danger, as she claims that it implied that the act was proven, and in the end the case in court was even for an administrative violation.
On this occasion, she claims that the actions of the prosecutor's office have damaged her professional and personal dignity and her authority "by exposing her to the general public, including through the lightning-fast publication of the disgraceful fact of the indictment for a crime of high public danger. In addition, all this happened to her immediately before her wedding, which required additional efforts on her part and mental strain to prevent what was happening from darkening her. Because of the indictment, she also stopped writing scientific publications.
A forensic psychiatric examination was adopted in the case, according to which the sudden series of court proceedings and accusations led Serbezova to frustration, depression, insomnia, alienation from society and loved ones, a feeling of disgust and a breakdown in immunity. Her husband also testified, testifying that at that time she had no desire for anything, was crushed, cut off communication with some of her friends, her parents found out about the charges from the media, and her father suffered a microstroke.
The Court of Appeal wrote in its decision that the criminal case against Serbezova was converted into an administrative case only after the court intervened, and before that the prosecutor's office had actually announced that it was a crime of high public danger and imposed a bail of 20,000 leva on her, which terrified Serbezova.
"During this period, the entire state machine was harnessed and there was no check that was not launched to check her – ADFI, KPKONPI, NRA, etc.," says her husband, pointing out that she was investigated both on a personal basis and as the chairwoman of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union.
The court also took into account Serbezova's forced police registration, during which she was treated as a criminal. For this reason, the CAS considered that the compensation of 30,000 leva awarded by the first instance was unfair and ordered the prosecutor's office to pay her 50,000 leva.
The decision is not final and can be appealed to the Supreme Court of Cassation.