Bulgaria’s Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) backed the sole candidate for next chief prosecutor, Ivan Geshev, on October 24 despite significant controversy over the procedure, numerous objections by NGOs and protests in the capital Sofia.

Geshev, who is currently deputy chief prosecutor, was the SJC’s sole candidate to replace his boss Sotir Tsatsarov whose seven-year term in the post will expire in January. The chief prosecutor is one of the most powerful positions in Bulgaria. According to the country’s legislation, the chief prosecutor cannot be investigated unless he or she starts the investigation. The EU has repeatedly insisted that the legislation has to be amended to allow probes and removals of chief prosecutors.

Geshev’s nomination has already raised many objections and protests among citizens, politicians and NGOs in Bulgaria, but these were ignored by the SJC. 

The new chief prosecutor was approved by 20 members of the committee in charge of his election, which includes all members of the SJC, representatives of the parliament, the Justice Minister Danail Kirilov, the head of the Supreme Cassation Court Lozan Panov and the head of the lawyers’ council.

The vote took place came following a day-long hearing of Geshev that was live broadcasted by national televisions station BNT, and was marred by protests and demonstrations that left the centre of Bulgaria’s capital Sofia blocked for most of the day.

Geshev’s nomination was more than compromised for many Bulgarians as Geshev is notorious for his failure to deliver significant results in a trial concerning embezzlement at one of Bulgaria’s biggest banks, Corpbank, staging an action movie-style arrest of a Sofia district mayor and raiding the offices of an independent publisher. Nonetheless, he was chosen by all members of the SJC and backed by Tsatsarov.

His selection comes at a time when people’s trust in the prosecution service is fading away, and the country has been urged by the EU to adopt legislation allowing the chief prosecutor to be investigated. Currently, no chief prosecutor can be investigated by any institution unless he or she allows this.

In his answers during the hearing, Geshev denied accusations that he was backed by those in power and that he would not investigate influential figures.

However, many in Bulgaria fear that Geshev would use his post to go after critics of the establishment. His statements in an interview with BNT shortly after his nomination have increased those concerns.

In the interview, Geshev named independent publisher Ivo Prokopiev and “the political circle and related to him media and oligarchs, gravitating around the defendant Prokopiev” as those who will attack his candidacy.

He went even further, stating that people close to Prokopiev have an interest in appointing a chief prosecutor who will make sure “they will not be sentenced and will not return the stolen [assets]”.

During Geshev’s hearing, Bulgarians posted videos on Facebook showing groups of apparently organised people who were gathered in front of the SJC’s building to support the candidate. They were heavily guarded by the police, which did not let anyone against Geshev go close to the building.

Protesters against his election, who planned to demonstrate in front of the SJC during the hearing, were pushed away by the police and decided to block one of Sofia’s key boulevards, the Eagles’ Bridge, and peacefully demonstrate there.

“He [Geshev] is not the only one unfit for the post who will take it, we had so many of them in the past,” one of the protesters said.

An old man held a poster calling on Laura Kovesi, the newly-appointed European Union top prosecutor, to help the country.

“Prosecutor Kovesi, Bulgaria needs your immediate attention,” the poster read. Kovesi was formerly the head of Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), where she oversaw investigations into and prosecutions of dozens of current and former top officials. She was forced out by the government in 2018. 

Other protesters in Sofia angered by the police’s decision not to allow them to demonstrate in front of SJC’s building. 

Geshev’s appointment still has to be signed by President Rumen Radev. He can refuse to sign the decree once and return the procedure to the SJC. However, if the same candidate is approved for a second time, Radev is obliged to sign his appointment.

It is hard to predict what president’s move will be as he has remained silent on the issue for the last few months and refrained from commenting on Geshev’s nomination or the procedure. People are divided in their expectations as to whether he will delay or refuse to sign the decree.