Bulgarian Judges Association Spokesperson Condemns Retaliatory Dismissal

Neli Kutskova, Spokesperson of the Bulgarian Judges Association (BJA), has defined the dismissal of Judge Miroslava Todorova as sheer muscle flexing on the part of the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS). Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Neli Kutskova, Spokesperson of the Bulgarian Judges Association (BJA), has defined the decision of the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) to penalize Judge Miroslava Todorova with dismissal on disciplinary grounds as muscle-flexing.

Kutskova told journalists Thursday that the VSS had taken advantage of its last chance to demonstrate how powerful they were.

"Judge Miroslava Todorova was penalized once for delaying proceedings in the same period and it was a common perception that it was just a retaliatory measure against Miroslava Todorova because they did not manage to frighten her or to crush her," the BJA Spokesperson noted.

When asked how and when the next BJA Chair would be appointed, she explained that the General Assembly of the organization appointed a Managing Board, which in turn elected a Chair of the entity.

"If anybody assumed they were going to guillotine the BJA, they were very much mistaken because it will not be that easy," Kutskova emphasized.

"When an organization like the BJA opposes the government and criticizes the VSS, obviously everybody affected takes aim at the Chair of the entity. Miroslava Todorova is by no means the only one who registers delays and she has had a massive workload," the BJA Spokesperson stated in a follow-up interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

Stressing the ongoing procedure for the appointment of the next VSS and the forthcoming EC report on Bulgaria's progress in the sphere of justice and home affairs, Kutskova argued that the dismissal could be interpreted as an attempt to silence critical voices.

She referred to Todorova's dismissal as a case of particularly selective application of the law.

Kutskuva also reminded that the VSS decision for Miroslava Todorova's dismissal could be appealed before the Supreme Administrative Court (VAS).

Miroslava Todorova, Chair of the Bulgarian Judges Association and judge at the Sofia City Court, gained reputation as the strongest critic of the Supreme Judicial Council and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

She filed a libel lawsuit against Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov with the Sofia Regional Court on February 06.

The step was triggered by two consecutive interviews of the Interior Minister in which he accused her of incompetence and of patronizing organized crime because of the delayed presentation of the written motives to an eight-year jail sentence handed down to drug lord Vasil Manikatov.

Todorova insisted that Tsvetanov had voiced untrue and defamatory allegations about her work as a judge and as BJA Chair.

She cited Tsvetanov as having said "There are approaches applied in the judiciary by like-minded judges who are actually not in the service of society, we, the people who keep paying our taxes to support the judiciary, but rather in the service of organized crime" in an interview for bTV.

Todorova is not seeking a monetary award and if the Interior Minister is found guilty, he will be penalized with a public reprimand and a fine of BGN 5000-15000 which will go into the state coffers.

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