The Prosecutor's Office should do its job

The Sofia City Prosecutor's Office (SCPO) has assessed that the Revival party meets the requirements of the law and has decided not to refer the matter to the Sofia City Court following the signal from the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC). The human rights organization had pointed out specific actions by the party that violate the Constitution and the Law on Political Parties.

The BHC is appealing the decision of the SCPO to the Sofia Appellate Prosecutor's Office and insists that the facts of the case be fully analyzed and obvious mistakes be corrected, such as the misquotation of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

From the content of the decision, it is understood that the prosecutor's office has so far taken no action to investigate and clarify the facts and circumstances with which 120 citizens have addressed the Prosecutor General Sarafov, concerned about the activities of the Revival party.

The content of the decision only appears legally sound and authoritative on the surface. Just one example of incorrect reference to the ECHR's practice: a decision of the court on the Refah case in Turkey is cited, which was "taken with a fragile majority." In fact, the cited decision is not final, and subsequently the Grand Chamber of the Court in Strasbourg unanimously approved the state's actions to ban the Islamist party. This final decision has not caught the attention of the prosecutor's office. An additional nuance is that it is unfounded to comment on whether the majority of judicial votes with which a decision is made is sufficient or insufficient. Is it valid or invalid.

The BHC further adds in its appeal the subsequent anti-Semitic actions of Revival, which provide grounds for both the termination and dissolution of the party.

Due to factual errors and logical inconsistencies, as well as the superficial consideration of the arguments presented in the signal, the BHC insists that the higher prosecutor's office overturn the decision of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office and continues to await a response from Borislav Sarafov.

You can read the full text of the appeal here.