Position of the ACF: Nominating Borislav Sarafov for Prosecutor General While He is Still Investigated for Possible Ties with The Eight Dwarfs Network is a Disgrace

A day before the nomination deadline of the procedure to elect a new head of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) has put forward only one candidate – Acting Prosecutor General, Borislav Sarafov.

This is not the first time that the SJC has nominated a single candidate. In 2019, former Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev also faced no competition for the post.

Three members of the SJC, Stefan Petrov, Plamen Naydenov, and Svetlana Boshnakova, have nominated Sarafov.

It should be noted that since 2020, when the Anti-Corruption Fund Foundation (ACF) published its investigation The Eight Dwarfs, many reports have surfaced of close ties between Borislav Sarafov (then acting Prosecutor General and Director of the National Investigation Service) and Petyo Petrov “The Euro”, the leader of a criminal network exerting influence within the judicial system.

For example, Iliya Zlatanov, one of the key witnesses featured in “The Eight Dwarfs”, claims that Borislav Sarafov and Petyo Petrov were close, adding that he has seen Sarafov at The Eight Dwarfs restaurant, waiting to meet with Petrov, on more than one occasion[1].

Zlatanov’s claims are confirmed by pictures, which ACF received from an anonymous source and published in 2023, showing Petyo Petrov and Borislav Sarafov engaged in a friendly conversation at the restaurant.

Furthermore, a witness interrogated by the authorities on  31 May 2023, and whose identity has been kept hidden, said that the restaurant was frequented by Sarafov and other senior magistrates seeking to meet Petrov. Her testimony was obtained as part of proceedings initiated by the Sofia Regional Prosecutor’s Office on 29 May 2023, a day after ACF published the photos showing Petrov and Sarafov together in front of The Eight Dwarfs restaurant.

Because of his suspected ties with the network around Petrov and The Eight Dwarfs, Borislav Sarafov is still being investigated by Special Prosecutor Daniela Taleva.

Nominating him as a candidate for the post of Prosecutor General at a time when Taleva’s probe is ongoing is reprehensible and disgraceful. Last summer, Borislav Sarafov claimed that a thorough investigation of Petrov’s network would be the key to bringing order back to the work of the public prosecution. Sarafov’s nomination today is a clear sign that this restart is postponed for another seven years.

[1] Claim by Iliya Zlatanov, documented in The Eight Dwarfs, Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrY1cBSY0JU&t=917s