Investigation probes whether Bulgarian chief prosecutor attack was staged

The National Investigation Service’s investigation into the explosion on 1 May near the armoured limousine of Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev is also examining whether it was staged, Deputy Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov told Bulgarian National Radio.

On the day of the explosion, Sarafov explained that it was directed to kill Geshev, and only a happy coincidence saved him. The deputy prosecutor general also said his boss was in the car with his family.

Last Friday, however, during parliamentary scrutiny, acting Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said that Geshev was only with his bodyguard and driver. According to the interior minister, Geshev uses the most protected car available to the state, more protected even than the presidents. Demerdzhiev also pointed out that the explosion only damaged the headlight of Geshev’s car.

After Demerdzhiev’s statement, Geshev spoke for the first time six days after the accident, placing the blame for the conflicting information on Sarafov. Geshev is currently on a visit to the US.

Provoked by his boss’s remarks, Sarafov announced that he had misled him over his family being present in the car.

In the public sphere in Bulgaria, since the day of the explosion, many have speculated that the attack was staged, including lawyer Mihail Ekimdzhiev who said it could be linked to Geshev falling out of favour with his political patrons.

“I cannot exclude that, losing the protection of the puppeteers, he is trying to make a deal with the American secret services – for example, not to be included in the “Magnitsky” list in exchange for compromising information about Boyko Borisov, Ahmed Dogan (honorary chairman of the Turkish minority DPS party) and about the Bulgarian mafia in general”, the lawyer told EURACTIV.bg.

So far, the US has sanctioned nine Bulgarians for corruption under the Global Magnitsky Act, including Borisov’s former finance minister Vladislav Goranov and DPS MP and tycoon Delyan Peevski.

According to Ekimdzhiev, one of the positive effects of the case is that the total distrust towards Geshev and the prosecutor’s office was clearly seen. “Probably, the screenwriters themselves were taken aback by the public reaction. And this reaction made them realise that Geshev was not the right horse to bet on. Even not only for the experts, but also in the eyes of the general public,” Ekimdzhiev said.

“Disciplinary proceedings should be initiated immediately against both Geshev and Sarafov for damaging the prestige of the judiciary with this ridiculous vaudeville in which the Bulgarian society was dragged,” he added.

(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)