Citizens demanded the resignation of the acting (acting) prosecutor general Borislav Sarafov with a protest march from the Courthouse in Sofia and ending at the historic building of the National Assembly. Movement along the march is restricted. The event is organized by the "Justice for Everyone" Initiative. The police presence in the center of the capital has been increased.
According to the organizers, the foundations of democracy are under threat, and justice has been trampled and cornered. Without independent and transparent justice, there is no state, they added.
As of today, Borislav Sarafov is not an acting chief prosecutor, and an ordinary one, and we will prove it, lawyer Velislav Velichkov, chairman of "Justice for Everyone", told the protesters.
With the latest changes to the Judiciary Act, the parliament determined that in the event of early termination or expiration of the mandate of the chief prosecutor, the chairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation or the chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court, a person temporarily performing the relevant functions shall be appointed, and the same person shall not have the right to perform the relevant functions for a period longer than six months, regardless of whether there have been interruptions in the performance of the functions.
On July 9, the members of the Prosecutorial College of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) voted not to appoint a new acting chief prosecutor. They motivated their decision by the fact that the legal changes do not apply to existing cases, such as Borislav Sarafov. He was appointed acting chief prosecutor on June 16, 2023.
In front of the protesters, lawyer Petar Slavov explained that Sarafov would be in a similar situation if he were in a regular mandate, and not as he is now - acting.