Bulgarian MPs OK Controversial Replacements at Supreme Judicial Council

The Bulgarian Parliament elected Kiril Gogev (left) and Nestor Nestorov (right) as members of the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS).

The Bulgarian Parliament has elected two new members of the the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS), Kiril Gogov and Nestor Nestorov.

The two vacancies at VSS opened about two years ago, after Stoyko Stoev and Ivan Dimov were removed due to their involvement in the scandal with the notorious judicial system lobbyist, Krasimir Georgiev, also known as Krasio "the Black".

Georgiev allegedly acted as an intermediary, offering the "sale" of top magistrate positions about EUR 200 000.

The Krasio scandal started on June 18, 2009, when VSS member Ivan Kolev, revealed information that "some guy called Krasio from Pleven" promised appointments to magistrate positions in exchange for EUR 200 000. Krasio was said to be able to "guarantee" the support of 8-13 members of a total of 27 members of VSS.

30 acting high-ranking Bulgarian magistrates, and 14 candidates for top positions (5 of whom already appointed), and 4 Members of Parliament were exposed to have been in contact with Krasio after the scandal broke out.

Gogov and Nestorov were nominated by independent MPs who had left the ranks of Bulgaria's conservative Order, Law and Justice (RZS) party.

No political party presented candidates of its own, leaving Gogov and Nestorov as the only contenders.

This caused the opposition to accuse ruling party GERB of being non-committal about the procedure, which would give it a reason to stick to its current detached attitude towards VSS and its appointment decisions.

Socialist MP and former Interior Minister Mihail Mikov commented that the election of VSS members from the parliamentary quota happened in a politically incorrect and illegitimate way because the nominations were not put forth by the ruling party.

Mikov accused the independent MPs of acting as intermediaries of the governing majority, which used them to shirk responsibility for "a very important choice in a very difficult situation".

MP and Deputy Chair of the ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), Lyutvi Mestan echoed the claim of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) that GERB must assume responsibility for the appointments.

In the meantime, non-governmental organization Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives (BiLI) sent a letter to Parliament, harshly criticizing the choice of the two replacements.

In its written account of the matter, the NGO reminds that Nestorov has clocked up too many disciplinary penalties to qualify, his name has been associated with a high-profile antique smuggling case and he twice has been investigated for unaccounted wealth.

Nestorov was Sofia City Prosecutor prior to a penalty imposed by VSS, after which he worked as a lawyer.

Regarding Gogev, a Sofia Military Prosecutor, BiLI states that, although he has not earned a notorious name, there is nothing to justify his qualification for post. Gogev's name made headlines after the failed investigation of the death of 14 Bulgarian soldiers in August 1995, when the truck in which they were traveling crashed and burst into flames, leaving only one survivor.

The appointment of the new VSS members coincides with the release of a scathing EC report on Bulgaria's as-yet-unreformed judiciary.

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