The Sofia Regional Court on Thursday ruled that the March 17 detention of former Prime Minister and GERB leader Boyko Borissov was unlawful. The decision is not final and can be appealed within 14 days.
The court pointed out that the arrest warrant was not based on the law, as it was issued for a person who had not been proved to be a criminal.
Borissov was arrested together with Vladislav Goranov, the finance minister in one of his governments, and GERB PR officer Sevdelina Arnaudova to be questioned in an extortion case based on a complaint by exiled former gambling mogul Vassil Bojkov. In his complaint, Bojkov said that he was forced to pay Borissov a cut of the profit from his gambling businesses for long years in exchange for which they secured favourable legislation that maximized the profits for Bojkov's gambling companies. He also said that he fell out of favour when he decided to sell his business.
Borissov, Goranov and Arnaudova were remanded in custody by the Interior Ministry and the prosecution service was not informed about it beforehand. They were released on the day after the arrest and none of them was charged.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Borissov thanked the Bulgarian court. "Nobody is above the law!" he wrote.
In Parliament, Borissov's GERB party grabbed the opportunity and issued a declaration slamming Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and the Interior Ministry for the unlawful arrest. They believe that Petkov was the mastermind of the arrest.
While GERB-UDF floor leader Desislava Atanasova was reading the declaration, the MPs in her group stood up and chanted "Resignation!".
Miroslav Ivanov MP (the ruling Continue the Change) urged good manners and said that GERB's joy could prove short-lived as the court ruling is appealable.
/RY/
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