Dismissal Threat of Bulgaria's PM Referred to Chief Prosecutor

An NGO has notified Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor about the threats of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski to dismiss public officials attending anti-government rallies.

The Association for European Integration and Human Rights submitted a signal to Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov on Monday.

On Friday last week, Oresharski declared that the authorities were collecting data about who attended demonstrations against the Cabinet.

According to the Association, as cited by Sega daily, the statement of Oresharski is a crime or an attempt at a crime, and there is sufficient data to justify initiating pre-trial proceedings.

Article 169 of the Penal Code envisages a penalty of 5 years of imprisonment for public officials who prevent people from exercising their political rights through violence and threats.

"The threat to dismiss protesting government officials on the part of the Prime Minister in itself generates reasonable fear and obstructs the free exercise of the rights to peaceful association and expression of opinion protected by Article 43, Para 1 and Art 39, Para 1 of the Constitution" the signal of the Association says.

According to the Association, the collection of operative data is a crime related to abuse of power.

They point out that the direct threat about violating constitutional rights of a majority of citizens implies a high degree of public risk.

This is combined with the fact that the author of the threat is a government official heading the executive branch, which necessitates the immediate and decisive intervention of the prosecuting authority, according to the signal of the organization to Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov.

They insist that the prosecuting authority may find that the crime has not been completed, which means that measures should be taken to stop its preparation and limit its potential dangerous consequences.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!