HOME AFFAIRS-PROSECUTOR GENERAL-INTERVIEW CORRECTION 3RD GRAF

"My Resignation Will Benefit
Potential Criminals,"
Prosecutor General Geshev Tells BTA


Brussels, January 27 (BTA correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev told BTA in an interview that he had not received an objective answer from persons pressing for his departure, why he should resign. In his opinion, this would not be in the interest of Bulgarian citizens but in the interest of potential crime perpetrators. "If this is the reason, I will definitely not tender my resignation," he noted.

Geshev said that the parnter dialogue with the European Parliament benefits both sides and is fundamental to European values like separation of powers, rule of law and human rights.

In Brussels, the Prosecutor General took part in a meeting on monitoring democracy, the rule of law and human rights in Bulgaria organized by the Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group with the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) at the European Parliament (EP).

He told BTA that at the meeting the EP was "objectively informed of the processes and challenges confronting Bulgaria and the Bulgarian judicial system". Geshev told LIBE that, in his opinion and according to the analysis of the prosecution service, the last year saw a number of negative trends and that current processes may lead to a tangible reversal of the progress achieved by Bulgaria in the administration of justice, the judicial system and crime control since the country's accession to the EU.

Geshev noted that, contrary to "glossing-over" statistics released by the Interior Ministry, types of crime that seemed eradicated have now resurged, like phone scams, conventional crime in small settlements, home burglaries and car theft. This compounds the chronic problem of high-level corruption.

Replying to a question, Geshev said that when asked about Barcelonagate and the gold ingots case, he had answered that these cases were still pending at the prosecution service, and the only and essential reason why they had not been completed yet was that various European countries (Spain, France, Germany) were expected to execute requests for legal assistance and European Investigation Orders. The Prosecutor General told the MEPs that the European institutions should conduct more serious monitoring within the existing rule of law mechanism in EU Member States because "there is much cause for concern in the Interior Ministry tending to treat unlawfully minority groups and disadvantaged people during the election process". "The problems are exacerbating dramatically, and I hope we won't reach the crime rates of the early 1990s, because this will elicit a European reaction," Geshev told BTA.

Specialized Jurisdictions Controversy

Geshev reiterated his position that the closure of the specialized jurisdictions will be a huge mistake that will inflict serious problems in the Bulgarian judicial system and serious consequences for combating organized crime, corruption and terrorism. "If these jurisdictions are closed, no judge or prosecutor would be motivated to act against dangerous rich people the way they have acted so far," the Prosecutor General told LIBE. The closure will casue a real problem to the operation of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) because the investigators are working on their cases, he added.

At home, the closure will result in a release of 3 billion leva frozen as allegedly criminal assets and a collapse of all high-profile cases that have been committed to court, with a former sitting minister and deputy minister and persons with substantial financial capacity as defendants, the interviewee argued.

Geshev told the MEPs that the specialized courts and prosecution offices had been assessed in positive terms under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), that they had been set up with the approval of the European Commission and that, according to the CVM reports, they clearly take the credit for the discontinued monitoring in the part on the fight against organized crime. "Solving the problems of criminal law in Bulgaria requires reforms in the police, the courts, the prosecution service, the investigation service and legislation," Geshev argued.

The prosecution service will propose to Finance Minister Assen Vassilev to approach the European Commission for an independent international audit of the operation of the specialized courts and prosecution offices. "I am certain that Vassilev and the Government are interested in Bulgarian citizens learning the truth, moreover from an objective source," Geshev said. He believes that the Commission will take a positive view of such a request. DS/LG//