“What justice and reform are we talking about when magistrates and officials break the law and prosecutors remain silent?”
This was asked by the National Association of Municipalities of the Republic of Bulgaria. They shared with Iskra.bg a striking case in which the mayor and deputy mayor of the Pleven village Kushin is subjected to constant harassment by judge Dimitar Kirilov of the Pleven District Court. Plamen Petkov has been the mayor of the village for many years and is a member of the Management Board of the association. According to the National Association of Municipalities of the Republic of Bulgaria, the mayor, representing the state in the village, is trying to regulate the processes in the village so that they happen in a legal way, but was prevented by the high magistrate.
The mayor first reported the actions of the judge to the Municipality of Pleven, but so far there has been no response from the local authorities, and a report was also sent to the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property. The NSKKRB states that in the case of 2019, an inspection was carried out by the Commission for combating corruption and confiscation of illegally acquired property, during which there was an opinion that there was a crime of a general nature, but the prosecutor’s office again did not take any action on the case.
The Association of Mayors has sent an open letter to various institutions and the media with a request for assistance. They state in it:
“Plamen Petkov has been conscientiously managing the town hall in the village for 11 years, but in the last 3 years he has been subjected to systematic harassment by Dimitar Kirilov. The magistrate has launched 9 complaints against Petkov, two of which are about his mental state. On the first of these appeals, all prosecutorial instances, including the VKP, have ruled. The judge has launched a new complaint about the mayor’s health. Prosecutor from RP-Lovech Vasya Radevska, without having met with Petkov and interrogated him, although he had requested this in writing, the prosecutor requested from RS-Pleven that Petkov undergo a mental examination and that he be placed for treatment. The prosecutor himself says in his request that there is no evidence of aggressive behavior on the part of the mayor and unity is based only on the complaints of judge Kirilov, without any other additional evidence.”
“The harassment consists in covering up the illegal actions of the magistrate and officials from the Municipality of Pleven to lease pastures, meadows and meadows. Separately, Kirilov has filed other complaints against Petkov. HCHD No. 1204/2021 year was filed by the magistrate for defamation against the mayor, which was lost by Kirilov in RS-Vratsa, after which Petkov received a threatening letter in which Stephen King’s „Bag of Bones“ was quoted”, the Association emphasized.
According to them, the chief prosecutor, the former minister of justice, Nadezhda Yordanova, is familiar with the case, and the spokeswoman of the prosecutor’s office, Siika Mileva, has announced that they will start a new investigation into the case. A re-examination of prosecutor Boryana Betsova was ordered by the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office, although new facts and circumstances were indicated, she gave her opinion on the grounds that the case was examined once and there was a ruling and it was not examined a second time. The National Association of Town Halls requests:
“We ask that the case be investigated and that the colleague from City Hall Cushin be heard before the proper committees and authorities, where he will present documents regarding the magistrate, who created and provided false and untrue documents.”
The Association of Town Halls draws attention to the fact that the magistrate is asking/insisting for the second time to check Petkov’s mental state, even though a year ago there was a ruling by all the prosecutors’ offices that there was no basis for one.
The first meeting was behind closed doors and was held on March 15 this year, which was attended by representatives from the Association of Mayors, the Municipality of Pleven and residents of the village. They are not allowed in the hall.
Lovech District Court returns the case to another court panel for reconsideration. Today at 10:00 an open court session will be held again behind closed doors.
From the editorial office of Iskra.bg, we tried to find the phone number of judge Dimitar Kirilov in order to talk about the case. We called the Pleven District Court but were refused his contact number.
Once again, at the Meeting of Town Halls, Petkov defended the interests of the residents of the village. A letter with a signature was sent to the mayor of Pleven Municipality, Georg Spartanski, requesting that the contract, which was concluded for 5 economic years between the Municipality and the magistrate, be terminated, contrary to the ZSPZZ, art. 37i, para. 4, but to date there has been no answer.
The property given to Kirilov has the number 000113, which was used for sports purposes of the population. The local residents point out that the children in the village will not have a playground because it has been given to the magistrate in violation of the law. The Association claims that all this is because of two of his horses. On 01.11.2022, a request was again made with an attached signature to the mayor of Pleven to terminate the contract with attached documents and a letter dated 21.09.2022 to carry out an inspection of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency-Pleven and others.
On this occasion, we looked for the mayor of the village of Kushin, Plamen Petkov. He told Iskra.bg:
“I firmly stand behind the truth, with which I hope to show the public that such arbitrariness is unacceptable, regardless of the official position. I hope the whole truth comes out. Everything that is being done against me is to cover up the illegal actions of the judge Dimitar Kirilov, so that my name can be tarnished and I can be removed from office. I have all the necessary documents and facts for the actions of the magistrate.”
“I want the people in a Bulgarian village to be strange and not to trample on their demands and wishes. I have always worked in the name of local residents and I will not give up”, said Petkov.
People hope the threats, denunciations and harassment against their mayor will stop. According to them, over the years, this judge began to disregard the law and tried to use his position as a senior magistrate to take advantage of his official position for personal benefits. The local residents hope that the state will take the necessary action and regulate the illegal actions of the magistrate.
From Iskra.bg, we remain open for all parties involved in the case to speak. In the second part of the series, you will be able to familiarize yourself in detail with the actions of judge Dimitar Kirilov.
