The prosecutor’s office did not initiate a single investigation into corruption at the highest levels of government in 2021, despite US sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act, the annual report of the non-governmental organisation Anti-Corruption Fund presented on Tuesday.
Bulgaria has been criticised by the European Commission for failing to tackle corruption among politicians since its pre-accession negotiations 17 years ago, but the problem seems to have deepened during the mandate of the Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev.
In June 2021, due to corruption allegations, the United States sanctioned seven Bulgarian citizens, including DPS MP and former media magnate Delyan Peevski.
The Bulgarian prosecutor’s office started investigations, but criminal charges never followed. According to the Anti-Corruption Fund, 2021 is a “zero” year in the fight against high-level corruption.
Even in the cases in which it has started active investigations, the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office still does not have success. Statistics from the office show that it achieves convictions in over 90% of cases when they are brought to court. However, in corruption cases against high-ranking government officials, the success rate is only 20%.
In 2021, only one case against a high-ranking public official was finally concluded, the criminal trial against the former head of the Commission for Energy Regulation Angel Semerdzhiev. The case ended in failure for the prosecution when Semerdzhiev was acquitted.
Source: euractiv.com
