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ACTS Post opinions with a wide range of perspectives to encourage constructive discussion.
The leader of Volia, Veselin Mareshki, was sentenced to four years in prison for extortion. Is this proof of the independence of the Bulgarian court? Petar Cholakov sought answers from two lawyers.
According to some, Mr. Mareshki’s judgment proves that there are independent judges in Bulgaria; according to others, it is a form of organized crime, with the aim of motivating Mareshki to serve (even more effectively?) political interests. He claims to have been a “victim” of the “Brussels surveillance report” to “have condemned oligarchs”. What is your reading?
Adv. Nikolai Hadjigenov: Mareshki remains innocent until the verdict takes effect. Everything else is defensive speech regardless of the direction of interest and grassroots “political” interest.
Adv. Emil Georgiev: It is difficult to answer this question, as neither the sentence nor the reasons for it are publicly available for reading and analysis. As for the Brussels follow-up report, I am not aware that our government has included the Mareshki case in its list of “significant cases” of the Bulgarian judiciary, the progress of which it reports in Brussels. The current report is scheduled for September 23, which is next week; Let’s see if this case will be reported there one way or another.
The vice-president of the Bulgarian Parliament has been sentenced. What does this say about the “quality” of Bulgarian democracy?
Adv. Emil Georgiev: I would not say that it is an indication of the quality of Bulgarian democracy. Rather, it indicates that Mareshki voters are quite condescending in their expectations of him, or are among those for whom the principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty is particularly important (with an effective judicial act) . However, he has been indicted in the case for which he was convicted in the second instance since 2015. In this capacity, he ran in both the 2016 presidential elections and the 2017 parliamentary elections, and there is no evidence that he was hampered in the result.
Can you make comparisons with the Hristo Biserov case? Against Biserov (also vice president of the National Assembly) there was a pre-trial process for tax crimes and money laundering, but he was later acquitted of all charges and convicted by the prosecution.
Adv. Nikolai Hadjigenov: No. Biserov’s accusations were initially disproportionate, that is. he was tried for something that is not a crime.
Adv. Emil Georgiev: For now, rather, no, although we will only be able to make a final decision after the third instance ruling in the Mareshki case. What was impressive about Biserov was that the prosecution initially presented him with improper charges, mainly for monetary crimes, which logically followed both the acquittals of the 3 courts and the conviction of the prosecution for the damages caused to Biserov.
How do you think the Mareshki case will play out from now on? Should the Supreme Court of Cassation examine the case with Lozan Panov as president?
Adv. Nikolai Hadjigenov: A panel of judges will be appointed, which will include a judge-rapporteur, a president of the panel, etc. Lozan Panov is the administrative head of the Supreme Court of Cassation, which has nothing to do with uniqueness in the prosecution, where only what the chief prosecutor says happens. This is NOT the case in court. Otherwise, there are two options. Justice in its purest form or what Tsvetanov received. We will see.
Adv. Emil Georgiev: It does not matter much who is the president of the Supreme Court of Cassation. Let’s not forget that for his publicly expressed positions, Panov is constantly being attacked by the “brown” media, politicians, the Attorney General and the majority in the SJC.
Bulgaria
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