10591 | 9 June 2025 | 12:50

The systematic disempowerment and closure of the Supreme Administrative Prosecutor's Office has led to terrifying situations such as the one in the village of Yagoda

 The stripping of power from the prosecution system has led to horrifying situations such as the "House of Horrors" in the village of Yagoda, Stara Zagora region, where cruel abuse of elderly people was uncovered, said the acting Chief Prosecutor Borislav Sarafov.

 "With the changes to the Constitution at the end of 2023, the prosecution lost its right to supervise legality, the Supreme Administrative Prosecutor's Office was closed, and this limited the ability of prosecutors to perform the important control function over the relevant state institutions - whether and how they fulfill their duties, i.e. to achieve the purpose of prevention. This applies to many other problems as well, including the unreasonable use of electric scooters, which have already resulted in fatal incidents," he added. Since the moment when the Prosecutor's Office in Stara Zagora was notified, they have actively participated in the investigation by collecting evidence and pressing charges against six individuals who were directly involved in the abuse of vulnerable people, Borislav Sarafov explained.

 Many state institutions were supposed to conduct systematic checks when these facilities were registered as homes for elderly people - social services, local authorities, etc., and later when they were transformed into accommodations, possibly following hotel standards. The question arises - do they have a categorization, who provided it and how? he asks.

 Regarding the last week's working meeting on the causes for delays in cases involving fatalities and injuries in serious road accidents with the Minister of Justice Georgi Georgiev and the chairman of the Commission on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in the 51st National Assembly Anna Aleksandrova, Borislav Sarafov commented that the lack of expert witnesses in key expertise processes is a major factor.

 "That is why urgent measures are needed at a legislative, expert, and organizational level if we want to achieve general prevention, reducing of serious accidents with fatalities and injuries, and above all, swift justice, especially for the drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol and drugs, because in the hands of a drunk or drugged driver, a car becomes a weapon," says the chief prosecutor.

 After a comprehensive analysis at his direction, it becomes clear that the leading, and often the only reason for the delay of cases for accidents is the time required for expert reports, without which the investigation cannot be completed, let alone an indictment to be filed in court. "There are entire regions in the country that have only one medical examiner. This is the case in Sliven, Yambol, Vidin, Montana, and Vratsa," Sarafov noted.

 Just last year, 3,000 pre-trial proceedings were initiated for road accidents - an average of 8 cases per day, involving death or bodily injury on the road. But the first steps to address the problem must be taken long before the intervention of investigators and prosecutors, before the crime has occurred, Sarafov pointed out.

 There is unanimous agreement and complete synchronization among the institutions of the executive, legislative, and judicial authorities on how to overcome this problem in order to reach good and effective solutions and to reduce the number of grieving parents, the chief prosecutor underlines. He welcomes the Minister of Justice's intention to create a completely new law for witnesses, which will speed up the work by creating a better mechanism for interaction and control between various units involved in the investigation. Another good idea is the possibility of video conference interrogations of witnesses in a courtroom, so that they can be questioned in several cases in one day, rather than having to postpone them because the expert is located in the other end of the country and needs to be interrogated for another case.

 The reason for the delay in transport cases is also the limited 6-month term for the secondment of prosecutors and investigators (for judges the term is 12 months - author's note), which was introduced with hastily adopted legislative changes, aimed solely at the destruction and dismantling of the prosecutor's office, says Borislav Sarafov. The seconded magistrate cannot complete the cases assigned to him in the hosting prosecutor's office within 6 months, especially if the cases are more serious and require multiple interrogations, search for witnesses, court hearings, etc. The limitation makes it impossible for the investigations to be completed in a timely, effective and high-quality manner, and this will ultimately lead to significant delays and postponement of cases for years, warns the Chief Prosecutor. Regarding the identified problems and difficulties, Borislav Sarafov remembers that he issued a deliberate order to accelerate the work on investigations involving deaths caused by road accidents and for active methodological assistance from higher prosecutors, so that the investigation is of high quality and fast and there are no decisions made by prosecutors outside the established deadlines by the CPC.

 The Chief Prosecutor Borislav Sarafov is confident that the citizens will restore their trust in the judicial system, in the institutions, in the state, "when they see that it takes care of their rights, protects their interests and makes decisions and takes actions that ease the processes." The recognition and trust in the work of the prosecution by people who have lost the most precious thing - their children, is deeply appreciated by the magistrates and can only act as a motivating factor, assures the Chief Prosecutor.