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Bulgaria's ex-PM Borissov released after 24 hours in custody

| updated on 3/19/22 10:21 AM
Photo: BGNES

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said the release of Boyko Borissov, Vladislav Goranov and Sevdelena Arnaudova from custody was a "sabotage of the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria under the leadership of Mr. Geshev". At a joint briefing with Minister of Interior Boyko Rashkov, PM Petkov said that "the prosecutor's office was once again behaving like a lawyer when it comes to people accused of corruption. According to the Prime Minister, important documents were concealed and information that is well-known and already available to the European Prosecutor's Office is being ignored. According to Petkov, the activity of institutions that try to combat corruption in this country is being hampered. "There will be very clear information available at EU level on what they did," he added.

Minister of Interior Boyko Rashkov said the prosecutor's office had done everything possible to stop the work of a service in the Ministry of Interior so that it could not clarify whether any of the detainees had committed crimes. According to Rashkov, the prosecutor's office has quickly drawn conclusions about a case that has just begun

Previously, Bulgaria's former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov was released from custody by the General Directorate of the National Police. Apparently calm, Borissov said that no charges had been filed against him. Former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov and Borisov's PR Sevdelina Arnaudova were also released from custody. Borissov's lawyer Menko Menkov clarified that the reason for the 24-hour detention indicated extortion, but did not say which person was extorted, when, how and for what reasons.


Menkov added that the pre-trial proceedings were initiated by the Ministry of Interior on March 17 under the conditions of urgency, but this was an inspection initiated on a signal from December 10. According to her, Borissov came to give explanations, and the signal was based on a printout from the media.
Shortly after the release of the detainees, a spokesman for the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office said the case had not been reported in its entirety and that an additional analysis would be made. The circumstances of this case have long been known. This is the reason why no charges have been filed at this stage, as it would be in violation of the law.
In the event of new circumstances, charges could be filed, the spokesperson of the Sofia City Prosecution Office added.



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