Bulgaria’s Chief Prosecutor Requests Immunity Removal for Former Prime Minister in Connection with Pre-trial Proceedings

The Chief Prosecutor of the Republic of Bulgaria submitted to the registry of the 49th National Assembly a request to remove the immunity of the People’s Representative K.P. (note: ed. Kiril Petkov), former Prime Minister, at the proposal of the Sofia District Prosecutor’s Office (SRP), reported the state prosecution.

The request is in connection with pre-trial proceedings regarding a written statement submitted by K.P. pursuant to Art. 110 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria.

In the proposal of the supervising prosecutor from the SRP, it is stated that K.P. submitted the declaration to an authority – the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, in which he deliberately concealed a truth – the existence of dual citizenship, and confirmed a falsehood – meeting the conditions for electing people’s representatives (crime under Article 313, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code) .

By decision of the CEC dated 08.04.2023 K.P. was declared a representative of the people and after taking the oath on 12.04.2023 appeared as a person with immunity.

According to Art. 70 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria and according to Art. 136, paragraph 3, in conjunction with paragraph 1 of the Regulations for the Organization and Activities of the National Assembly, criminal prosecution against a representative is possible only with the permission of the National Assembly or with the written consent of the K.P.