Ivan Geshev
[2][3] He was appointed to the position by Bulgaria's Supreme Judicial Council in late 2019, but his election was initially vetoed by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev.
[14][15] Political scientist Evgenii Dainov criticized the nomination: "Ivan Geshev clearly told us he will prosecute people from a list, without respecting the separation of powers.
He believes the prosecution is a body whose main purpose is to arrest and conduct show operations and convict people instead of sending the suspects of a crime before a court which can hand down a verdict".
[19] Prominent civil society members and NGOs, including the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, asserted that Geshev lacked the professional and moral qualities which are required for the position because of his record of abusing the law and human rights.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, however, refused to sign the decree formally inaugurating Geshev, remarking that his candidacy had been backed only by government-controlled institutions and that no other alternative was provided.
[6] In response to the protests, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the rule of law deficiencies in Bulgaria, citing "a significant deterioration in respect for the principles of rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights, including the independence of the judiciary, separation of powers, the fight against corruption and freedom of the media" and expressing "solidarity with the people of Bulgaria in their legitimate demands and aspirations for justice, transparency, accountability and democracy".
[28][29][30] Deputy prosecutor general Borislav Sarafov reported that Geshev was traveling with his family when an “extremely strong” explosion occurred that generated a towering pillar of fire and left a 3-meter-wide crater.
This led opposition parliamentarians like Asen Vasilev and Atanas Atanasov and former Bulgarian ambassador to Moscow Ilian Vassilev to allege that the assassination attempt had been staged.
Sarafov issued a statement, in which he accused Geshev of meddling in the investigation of the assassination attempt and pushing the prosecutor's office in the field of politics.
Sarafov later claimed that Geshev used his influence to steer key investigations for the purpose of blackmailing political figures, further saying he felt his life was threatened and requested to be provided with personal bodyguards.
[37][40] Clients of the bank have also submitted a claim against Delyan Peevski and Bulgarian institutions in New York under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Journalists commented that "the message was clear" – "if lawyers do not want to end in trouble, they should choose their clients carefully and avoid those who the prosecution wants to convict not based on proof, but on bla-bla from 1001 Nights".
[50] In the summer of 2018, Ivancheva was escorted to hospital with handcuffs, leg cuffs and a protective belt, which human rights experts deemed to be an example of torture.
[58][60] In July 2019, the personal data of millions of Bulgarians was distributed to the media – it appeared the database of the country's National Revenue Agency was hacked.
[61] "So, at least for a year, the Bulgarian society, politicians, those who are in charge of the country, they knew quite well about the serious cybersecurity problems in the government infrastructures and they didn't do anything about it", a victim was quoted saying.
[62] Geshev also said the prosecution found "horrifying things" on the security worker's computer: he was searching information about Delyan Peevski, Boyko Borisov and Sotir Tsatsarov.
[66] Life sentences without parole were imposed by the Specialized Criminal Court on Meliad Farah and Hassan al-Haj, accused by the Specialized Prosecutor's Office as perpetrators of the attack on Sarafovo Airport in 2012.The court also upheld the civil claims for non-pecuniary damages caused to the dead five Israeli citizens and one Bulgarian citizen, as well as for the many victims during the attack amounting to a total of over BGN 100 million.
Meliad Farah and Hassan al-Haj were sentenced also to the maximum conviction of 10 years in prison each for using false official documents - false driving licenses of the State of Michigan and a social security card in order to conceal their identity on Bulgarian territory.The court held that the collected written, oral and physical evidence clearly indicated that Meliad Farah and Hassan al-Haj were the perpetrators of the organized terrorist attack against Israeli tourists on Bulgarian territory.
The two defendants owning Australian and Canadian passports, were found to be of Lebanese descent and had links to the radical wing of the Shiite group "Hezbollah".
Checks and investigations have been commissioned for identifying misuse of European Funds – Rural Development Program – Family Hotels; in addition, some of those involved were indicted for.
An in-depth review of the 30-years period of privatization of state-owned properties was commissioned based on information on possible harming of the public interest of billions of Euros.
A few days ago, the largest pollutant incinerating of hazardous waste, which many media have report over the years for, have ceased operations after an order of the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic Bulgaria.
[72] Another case saw land baron Svetoslav Ilchovski accuse Borisov in a parliamentary committee of possessing large wads of cash, gold ingots, and a pistol by his bedside drawers (depicted in a photograph), extortion, and racketeering, alleging he was made to pay sums of "700-800 thousand levs a year" (~€350,000-400,000) in exchange for his continued survival, on pain of "burn[ing]".
Over the period 2008 to 2019, Bulgaria's Press Freedom Index had fallen from 59th to 111th globally, according to former US ambassador James Pardew a product of the news-media monopoly of Delyan Peevski, and further compounded by Geshev's words of contempt for media "not to his liking.
[75] This comes after a Bulgarian court ruled that the Magnitsky Act, a measure intended to sanction foreign officials perceived as endorsing or engaging in acts of human rights violations or corruption, could not be applied in Bulgaria,[76] thus contending to nullify the levity of sanctions placed on a number of high-profile Bulgarian oligarchs such as Delyan Peevski; and Vassil Bozhkov, whom Geshev had investigated previously for his involvement in bribery, but failed to apprehend before his flight to Dubai.
[78] On the 27 January, the "political platform" officially held its founding meeting in the city of Burgas, with Geshev outlining the goal of the organisation as being to "return power back to the citizens".
[80] In a wide-ranging interview, Geshev saw the decision to keep churches open to the public for Easter in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria as a "sign from God that things will be all right for us [Bulgarians]."
He went on to question the faith of other Orthodox churches that closed down services to the public, and described opposition to the decision in the country as an "anarcho-liberal circle which doesn't like anything Bulgarian or national."
The Chief Prosecutor attempted to allay fears of an economic crash by sharing he has read that, if need be, the population could be fed fish for a year without any import.
[54] In 2019, media reported that Detelina Hancheva had common business interests with the key witness in the Mladost case in which Geshev was the main prosecutor.
