Bulgarian Court: Ex-PM Boyko Borissov was Arrested Illegally

The arrest of former Prime Minister and GERB leader Boyko Borissov is illegal, the Sofia District Court ruled.

The General Directorate of the National Police must pay the costs of BGN 300 which Borissov incurred in the case, plus another BGN 10 for his filing.

According to Judge Nikolay Urumov, "to the time of Borissov's detention, no suitable evidence or means evidence has been gathered to indicate the applicant's possible complicity in the commission of the crime of extortion (of Vasil Bozhkov). The ECHR explicitly has stated that a reasonable suspicion of committing a crime presupposes the existence of facts or information that would convince the objective observer that the person in question may have committed a crime. However, such are missing from the cover of the case."

It is not clear from the detention order of the General Directorate of the National Police (GDNP) what the reasons are for Borissov to be arrested.

The SDC ruling says Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was also questioned, saying he met with European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kovesi on March 16th and was concerned that "the Bulgarian prosecutor's office did not act adequately" on the signals, and Kovesi replied that "action will be taken by the European Public Prosecutor's Office within its competence".

Petkov also expressed concern that Borissov and the others mentioned in the SFIA (State Financial Inspection Agency) report would gain access to it and could influence the objective investigation by destroying or concealing items and documents. They can also press witnesses.

However, Judge Urumov believes that "his doubts are not supported by any facts". He also explained that Petkov himself had not stated "in any way...