BHC addressed four intergovernmental organizations regarding the situation of the judiciary in Bulgaria

To Her Excellency Ms Dunja Mijatović
Commissioner for Human Rights (CoE)

To His Excellency Mr Didier Reynders
European Commissioner for Justice

To Her Excellency Ms Margaret Satterthwaite
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers

To His Excellency Mr Matteo Mecacci
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

22 March 2024

Your Excellencies,

We declare our full support for the letter from the Association of European Administrative Judges (AEAJ), the European Association of Judges (EAJ), Judges for Judges, and Magistrates Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés (MEDEL) sent to Ms Mijatović and Mr Reynders earlier this month.^[1] We also wish to express our particular concern about the situation of the judiciary in Bulgaria to you.

The threats against judges Vladislava Tzarigradska, serving at Pleven District Court, and Tsvetko Lazarov, of the Sofia Court of Appeal, are just the tip of an iceberg whose monstrous dimensions have begun to emerge in recent months. It is important to recall that the impetus for judicial reforms in Bulgaria was given by the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Kolevi v. Bulgaria (no. 1108/02).^[2] This case concerned the abuse of power by the Chief Prosecutor and raised doubts that the murder of one of the applicants was ordered by the Chief Prosecutor himself. These events marked the beginning of a long and arduous process of advocating for reforms. The status quo in the judiciary, which is palpably tied to the interests of shadowy circles of the deep state, has put up serious resistance against all attempts for reform. This resistance is especially strong against efforts to limit the power and both formal and informal influence of the Chief Prosecutor in the judiciary.

These developments were catalysed by a series of events and scandalous revelations by investigative journalists and lawyers working for the Anticorruption Fund, a non-profit organisation. For a long time, there was a visible iron curtain of censorship in the mainstream media about these facts, which prevented this information from reaching the public. Among the many journalistic investigations of the fund, two are particularly noteworthy. One concerns “The Eight Dwarfs”, a restaurant in Sofia owned by Petyo Petrov, nicknamed “The Euro”, who is a former investigator turned lawyer and now a missing person.^[3] The other investigation involves a criminal case against a businessman, Veselin Denkov. This case contains video and audio recordings of traders influencing the judiciary.^[4] In 2015, Petrov was named by the Supreme Court of Cassation as the author of ‘provocation to bribery’, a crime under Bulgarian law. He then left the judiciary without any consequences and is considered one of the influence brokers in the judiciary involved in the attempted embezzlement of a large elevator company. Denkov, the owner of a luxury restaurant in Sofia, is implicated by prosecutors as being involved in paying frontmen to take part in street protests against the government of former prime minister Boyko Borissov.

Subsequently, one of the persons implicated as an influence peddler in the judiciary in these investigations was publicly shot dead outside his home in Sofia on 31 January 2024. The man in question was Martin Bozhanov, nicknamed “The Notary”.^[5] The same person had previously made threats against Judge Tzarigradska and Judge Lazarov. It later emerged that, like Petyo Petrov, Bozhanov also had a drinking establishment, a private club with magnetic membership cards frequented by numerous magistrates. There are serious concerns that the murder of Bozhanov is not investigated thoroughly and independently.

The subsequent actions of the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office in investigating the cases of Petyo Petrov and Martin Bozhanov—who have emerged as key figures in two possible judicial influence-peddling groups—have raised serious doubts, including regarding the integrity of the current interim Chief Prosecutor, Borislav Sarafov. Other links to criminal events in recent years have also begun to come to light. Still, in all these cases, the information quickly fell into the hands of the Prosecutor’s Office and remains inaccessible to the public. These investigations continue for years, and in the few cases where they are concluded—such as the case of an expensive house in Barcelona linked to the former prime minister of Bulgaria and current leader of the largest parliamentary political party, Boyko Borisov—the prosecutor’s office announces the results laconically and with the formula that there is no evidence of a crime, so either no investigation is opened, or the one that is opened is closed.

On 2 June 2023, the Bulgarian parliament adopted a mechanism introducing an independent ad hoc prosecutor to oversee the investigation of the Chief Prosecutor and their deputies.^[6] This mechanism is rudimentary and ineffective due to serious gaps in the legal framework aimed to ensure that the ad hoc prosecutor can conduct an investigation truly independent from the Chief Prosecutor. In recent months, it has become apparent that key evidence relevant to an ongoing investigation against the current interim Chief Prosecutor has been requested by a prosecutor’s office subordinate to him rather than being sent to the ad hoc prosecutor. This includes evidence seized from Petyo Petrov’s home.^[7]

In summary, the atmosphere in which Bulgarian magistrates work is not just toxic but dangerous. It has been taken over by criminal syndicates, who have influenced almost every sphere of public life, which is of key importance to holding power. These spheres include the legislative branch, the executive, public and private media, and, apparently, the judiciary. Against this backdrop, the latest reforms that are supposed to bring judicial reform to fruition are questionable in their effectiveness. Worse than that, the latest amendments in the constitution are of no significance if a new Judicial System Act is not promptly adopted in line with the changes.

The attention of all responsible international institutions is crucial for access to justice, the rule of law, and democracy in Bulgaria. It is essential that these institutions advocate for continued reforms and objectively and thoroughly assess them.

We urge you to engage more and persistently with these issues and to seek a commitment from the Bulgarian authorities for the effective and proper implementation of the reforms in line with international standards.

Adela Katchaounova
Director of the Legal Programme of
the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee

↑[1] https://medelnet.eu/joint-letter-to-council-of-europe-commissioner-for-human-rights-and-eu-commissioner-for-justice-on-the-situation-of-the-judiciary-in-bulgaria/

↑[2] https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/?i=001-95607

↑[3] The four-part documentary available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuldtnVxkaY&list=PLlytu5IULkSIZ8n_7fEY52fYqi5KHRlUS

↑[4] The six-part documentary is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M37BnduKrF8&list=PLlytu5IULkSKyR87nYUh4ebpZBy2ayVYy

↑[5] https://bnt.bg/news/the-murder-of-martin-bozhanov-why-was-he-untouchable-to-justice-despite-reports-of-his-criminal-activities-325502news.html

↑[6] Final amendments are published in Issue 48/2023 of State Gazette, available at https://dv.parliament.bg/DVWeb/showMaterialDV.jsp?idMat=195264

↑[7] Details available in Bulgarian here: https://acf.bg/bg/sgp-liyks-2-laptopi-telefon-dokumenti/