Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Police hold GERB leader Boyko Borissov in custody for 24 hours (update)

Police search Boyko Borissov’s home within the frameworks of a large-scale law enforcement operation

| updated on 3/18/22 8:42 AM
Police car in front of the home of ex-PM Boyko Borirsov during last night's police operation
Photo: BGNES

Following a two-hour search operation, police took the leader of the biggest opposition party and former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to the General Directorate National Police and are holding him in custody for 24 hours.

“No charges have been brought and no charges can be brought because by Bulgarian law, charges can only be pressed by written authorization of a prosecutor,” explained lawyer Menko Menkov after meeting with former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.  In his words, the grounds for detention are extortion, “though it doesn’t say who has been extorted by Mr. Borissov, when they were extorted, for what or how.”

A large-scale operation of the General Directorate National Police is underway in connection with 120 cases of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Bulgaria, the press office of the Ministry of Interior announced. Searches and seizures are being carried out at many locations in Bulgaria.

According to the police, at the moment, besides Boyko Borissov, former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov and the former head of the government information service Sevdalina Arnaudova have also been detained. Even though initially the Interior Ministry announcement included the name of Menda Stoyanova as being among the persons detained, the former chair of the parliamentary budget committee denied being among the detainees. 

“Nobody is above the law!”, Premier Kiril Petkov wrote on Facebook.

Representatives of GERB’s youth organization, MPs and the leadership of GERB party gathered in front of Boyko Borissov’s home and called the operation “political repression”.  

“Bulgaria's Prosecutor's Office has not been notified about the investigation of political figures", the Spokeswoman of the Prosecutor General’s Office Siyka Mileva said for bTV. In her words, more information should be sought from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

On Thursday, 17 March, Bulgaria’s Minister of Interior Boyko Rashkov held a working meeting with European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi to discuss Bulgaria’s work on establishing a team of investigators in the Ministry of Interior to cooperate on cases of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

PP-DB and MECH have differences when it comes to coalition partnerships

PP-DB and MECH have common goals regarding anti-corruption legislation, but have differences when it comes to possible partnerships in government.  The two parties met to discuss the possibilities of forming a government, but during..

updated on 11/12/24 5:36 PM
Caretaker Minister of Health Dr. Galya Kondeva

The construction of a proton therapy center is a priority for the Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health firmly supports the idea of building a proton therapy center. According to a statement from the Health Ministry's press office, the public procurement for its design has been entrusted to the University Specialized Hospital for..

published on 11/12/24 5:08 PM

Bulgaria has been experiencing shortage of aviation equipment for years

During the official presentation of the results of the inspection in the Air Force after the fatal crash of a training airplane at the "Graf Ignatievo" airport, which cost the lives of two pilots, caretaker Minister of Defense Atanas..

published on 11/12/24 4:26 PM