Thread by @mapto

Bulgaria to appoint its 5th #ProsecutorGeneral after fall of #communism. All of them eccentric, to say the least, appointed in a process that illustrates what in South European languages is known as #BulgarianVote #MaggioranzaBulgara #VotarALaBulgara (thread)

1st, Ivan Tatarchev appointed 1992, publicly bragged: “Only God is above me”, due to institution shaped after Soviet Vishinsky model, guaranteed by Constitution art.126(2) “Prosecutor General shall oversee the legality and provide methodological guidance to all other prosecutors”

2nd, Nikola Filchev was the ruthless. Among hanging accusations that he guaranteed for the smuggling of weapons and deaths of #whistleblower prosecutors, he was the cause of court ruling in the ECHR against BG rm.coe.int/20190620-bgr-k…

Boris Veltchev, grandson of communist party figurehead with same name, was the youngest and most fairish. He wrote of "knowing the ease of convicting someone" further explaining how business can cleanse competition with the help of prosecutors and let charges fail whenever wanted

The 4th and currently outgoing prosecutor general, Sotir Tsatsarov, gained his own fame when a media mogul accused him of being summoned and threatened personally by Tsatsarov in the presence of a heavyweight politically-affiliated mediator-businessman bnt.bg/en/a/supreme-j…

Now we are in the middle of a new appointment process. Only one nomination, unanimous, unmotivated. Letters of support are flying in from institutions all over the country, often to surprise of people in them. Might be strange to those not familiar with translate.google.com/translate?hl=e…

There's nothing strange. The well-known candidate - Ivan Geshev - is currently deputy prosecutor general and chief of recently founded specialised prosecution office, unclear how the last one coexists with art.119(3) of Constitution saying "There shall be no extraordinary courts"

Geshev was in charge of the team investigating the failure of BG's 4th largest bank. When asked why despite leaked documents of dubious lending to the politically-backed oligarch Peevski, his name was absent from the indictment, response was "so are the names of Obama and Putin"

Another flagship case - corruption allegations against the only independent elected politician in the country, the mayor of a district in Sofia, Desislava Ivancheva and her deputy. Geshev: bold claims and accusations before hearings, disproportional treatment to of the accused

But evidence seems to have evaporated in court, witnesses did not confirm statements in court. Geshev’s reaction? Racist comments about key witness: "all gypsies do that" intellinews.com/balkan-blog-bu…

Explaining on national TV his vision of the prosecution’s governance, Geshev said he finds separation of power in the government unnecessary. He even went as far as mentioning specific opposition figures who he intends to target once he enters in power
mediapool.bg/ivan-geshev-is…

This in the country that is poorest, most corrupt and least free country in the EU according to international rankings. Since the fall of communism in 1989, mass protests led to early elections in Bulgaria in 1991, 1997, 2009 and 2013

All this and more, can be read and distributed (en/de/fr/it/bg) via
We're looking for further publicity and are willing to get people in touch with local lawyers, experts, journalists, activists, for further details and opinionsdocs.google.com/document/d/1So…

Reviewing this tweet, I have to admit a mistake. the specialised prosecution does not contradict the cited art. 119(3). The specialised court - where the cases raised by the specialised prosecution are seen - is unconstitutional

Peevski is also making international headlines by being present in this list of Eastern Europe's most notorious oligarchs. thesrpskatimes.com/17-oligarchs-w…

@IvanGeshevPG not alone in not noticing the Peevski's presence around. @hansvanbaalen, @guyverhofstadt et al at @ALDEParty also do not notice the oligarch in their election lists. A silence so laud that the word goes of "the Bulgarian elephant in the room" euractiv.com/section/politi…

Another detail: according to ar. 126(1) the prosecution of Bulgaria is organised following the organisation of the courts. This is why the existence of the specialised prosecution is viewed as a direct consequence of an unconstitutional construct

@threadreaderapp unroll