Judge Emil Dechev of the Sofia City Court recused himself from the case against Kiril Petkov and Bozhidar Bozhanov. The request was made by the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office at the beginning of the pre-trial hearing, and the reason is that Dechev was a deputy minister in the government of Kiril Petkov, and then of academician Nikolay Denkov, listed "24 hours".
Kiril Petkov and Bozhanov are charged with crimes in office. According to the prosecution, Petkov threatened the former Minister of Electronic Government Alexander Yolovski, who also appeared in the courtroom. And Bozanov violated his official duties regarding a public procurement.
For nearly half an hour, Judge Dechev explained his independence in the case. He pointed out that his 22-year judicial career did not depend on Petkov and Bozanov in any way. He was invited to the post of Deputy Minister by former Ministers of Justice Nadezhda Yordanova and Atanas Slavov, and in the two caretaker governments of Galab Donev by Krum Zarkov. To support his thesis that judges can be independent, even from those who appointed them, he cited the US Supreme Court's 1974 decision against President Nixon, writes "24 Chasa".
Dechev pointed out that Nikola Filchev was also Deputy Minister of Justice before becoming Prosecutor General in the cabinet of the United Democratic Forces under Prime Minister Ivan Kostov, and then several ministers from that government became defendants. However, Dechev pointed out that some citizens may still have doubts. That is why he recused himself from the case. Now it must be assigned to another judge.
At the beginning of the hearing, it became clear that one of the jurors was a member of "Movement 21", but had submitted documents to leave. Kiril Petkov and Bozhidar Bozhanov were with their defenders, top lawyers Daniela Dokovska and Ina Lulcheva. And Yolovski with his client, also very famous lawyer Hristo Botev.