Balgarianovinite.com Citizens gathered for a protest in front of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on Thursday, calling for the resignation of acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov. The event was organized via Facebook by the Justice for Everyone initiative.
There was an increased police presence in the area, with checkpoints set up on some nearby streets. Protesters occupied only the sidewalks in front of the SJC building, and traffic in the area remained unrestricted.
The demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Sarafov out,” “We don’t want the SJC to serve a pig,” and “Every day will be like this until the resignation.”
Protesters threw eggs and plush rabbit toys at the SJC building. In 2025, Georgi Cholakov, who served as acting President of the Supreme Administrative Court, distributed plush rabbits to new administrative judges appointed or promoted during his term.
Alexander Tanev of the Students Against the Mafia association said that they submitted a student proclamation to the SJC registry, after failing to deliver it to Sarafov. “In it, we demand that the SJC uphold the law. According to the law, Sarafov has no right to serve as Prosecutor General,” Tanev said. In addition to the proclamation, he also left a plush rabbit toy at the registry.
Protests calling for Sarafov’s resignation were also held on Wednesday in Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv. The rallies were organized by Justice for Everyone and Students Against the Mafia.
Speaking to the media during the protest on Wednesday, lawyer Emil Georgiev of Justice for Everyone said that the protest organizers insist on including an agenda item concerning Sarafov in the SJC first plenary session for the year. The session is scheduled to begin at 9:30 am on Thursday.
Georgiev said that the Constitutional Court refused to consider Sarafov’s opinions in constitutional cases, which means it regarded him as lacking legitimacy. He noted that Sarafov’s continued holding of the post amounted to a clear violation of the law. The organizers do not expect Sarafov to be replaced, which is why they are seeking to prompt such a change, Georgiev added.
Sarafov has been acting Prosecutor General since June 2023, following the dismissal of the former officeholder Ivan Geshev. As the law entered into force on January 21, 2025, legal experts and a ruling of the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) consider his six-month term to have expired on July 21, after which the SJC should have appointed a new acting Prosecutor General. Instead, the Prosecutors College of the SJC ruled that the limitation applies only to the next acting official, effectively allowing Sarafov to remain indefinitely. A regular procedure to elect a new Prosecutor General cannot be launched either, because the mandate of the SJC itself expired back in October 2022. The Judges Association has submitted a list of relevant court rulings to the Supreme Court, showing that the majority of judicial panels consider Sarafov’s mandate to have ended after July 21. Although the SCC’s Criminal Chamber has internally adopted a position that Sarafov lacks legitimacy after that date, this decision is not an interpretative ruling and therefore is not legally binding on other courts. Meanwhile, the issue of Sarafov’s legitimacy is also before the Constitutional Court. The case was initiated by the Varna Court of Appeal, which is asking the Constitutional Court to strike down the six-month limitation, arguing that the SJC inaction has created an unacceptable legal vacuum.
Citizens Protest Outside Supreme Judicial Council, Call for Resignation of Acting Prosecutor General 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-01-22 09:18:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law