Prosecution College Members Submit Second Proposal for Early Dismissal of Ivan Geshev as “Chief Prosecutor”

Second proposal by members of the Prosecution College of the Supreme Judicial Council to establish grounds for early dismissal of Ivan Geshev from the position of “chief prosecutor” was deposited yesterday in the registry of the Supreme Judicial Council, the press center of the institution announced.

This time the document was signed by only four members of the collegium – Yordan Stoev, Kalina Chapkanova, Gergana Mutafova and Georgi Kuzmanov.

In their request, the council members motivated themselves by pointing to the way Geshev broke his resignation last week and used the phrase “political garbage”.

They point to actions by the Attorney General that damage the prestige of the judiciary. It is specified that Ivan Geshev demonstrates behavior that is contrary to the standards introduced in the Code of Ethical Behavior of Bulgarian Magistrates, which is an institutional obligation for them, both in the exercise of their professional activities and in their private lives.

“The language used, intonation and gestures of the Attorney General are perceived by representatives of the legislative branch as ‘sulky and obscene’ for a senior member of the judiciary and are defined as a ‘threat of outright racketeering against the political system’. They are in complete contradiction to the accepted moral norms of politeness, good manners and good behavior,” write Stoev, Chapkanova, Mutafova and Kuzmanov.

The magistrates insist that the Plenum of the SJC propose to President Rumen Radev the early release of Ivan Geshev from the position of “Chief Prosecutor”.

A week ago when it was deposited the first proposal for the removal of accuser No. 1 in the SJC’s registry for serious breach of official duties, it was signed by six personnel – Georgi Kuzmanov, Yordan Stoev, Kalina Chapkanova, Svetla Boshnakova, Ognyan Damyanov and Gergana Mutafova.

It is not clear why two of them – Boshnakova and Damyanov did not put their signatures under the second document as well.