Varna on the Black Sea, July 17 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev Saturday said that
Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev's resignation would be in the
interest of the civil society and the country. "This deafening
silence about rampant corruption in the highest places,
high-profile corruption scandals which were covered by the world
 media and badly discredited the State, the deafening silence
about nontransparent spending of billions of leva of public
funds while the prosecution service was aggressively slandering
those inconvenient to the power-holders - this is what
discredited and delegitimized the prosecution service," Radev
said, commenting on caretaker Justice Minister Yanaki Stoilov's
proposal on Friday that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC)
release Geshev from his post.

Radev visited the Black Sea city of Varna and met with
intellectuals and representatives of culture, science and
education.

On Friday, caretaker Justice Minister Yanaki Stoilov asked the
SJC to pronounce on circumstances giving grounds for the early
release of Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev. Stoilov told
reporters that two days ago he had received an over-100-page
report from Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov about violations
committed by Geshev.

After Geshev sent a letter to the SJC on Friday evening asking
that the materials against him be released, the media published
Rashkov's report.

Rashkov referred to a conversation between President Radev and
former Air Force commander Gen. Tsanko Stoykov recorded by
special surveillance means, which was leaked in January 2020. In
 July 2020, the prosecution service published conversations
between fugitive gambling tycoon Vassil Bojkov and journalist
Ognyan Stefanov, who were discussing the anti-government
protests which also demanded Geshev resignation. The prosecuting
 magistracy argued that Bojkov was the key figure organizing and
 financing the protests.
    
Rashkov explained that "the prosecutor's authority to permit the
 publication of the findings of an investigation does not extend
 over data collected through special surveillance means because
they are subject to special requirements". He went on to say
that the Special Surveillance Means Act is special legislation
with regard to the Criminal Procedure Code and takes precedence
over it.

Rashkov also mentioned an operation in the building of the
President's Administration in July 2020 when Plamen Uzunov, the
PresidentТs Secretary on Legal Affairs and Anti-Corruption, and
Iliya Milushev, the President's Advisor on Security and Defence,
 were arrested by armed officers of the Protection Bureau under
the Prosecutor General, who stormed the building and searched
offices. The court found that both arrests were unlawful.

Rashkov also noted that on several occasions the press office of
 the prosecution service had released excerpts from chats
between Uzunov and businessman Plamen Bobokov, but the purpose
was not to establish the truth.

Geshev violates the principle of the separation of powers,
according to Rashkov. It is no coincidence that the Prosecutor
General did not appear at two hearings at the European
Parliament, the Interior Minister said. He also recalled that in
 an interview on the Bulgarian National Television, Geshev said
that he does not accept the separation of powers the way it is
advocated by "right-wing extremists" and that the branches of
power should cooperate. NV/DD