Sofia Regional Court will hear Miroslava Todorova’s libel case. That is what the Supreme Court of Cassation ruled after all the judges of the Plovdiv Regional Court recused themselves from trying the appeal against the Plovdiv District Court sentence of not guilty against the former Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov.
Miroslava Todorova sued Tsetanov for libel last March after he publicly accused her of guarding the organized crime by delaying the reasons to the guilty sentence of Vassil Manikatov, sentenced for drug trafficking. The case was heard in Plovdiv, because all judges of the Sofia District Court recused themselves on the grounds that Ms. Todorova was a judge in a higher court. The Supreme Court of Cassation then ruled that the District Court in Plovdiv shall serve as a first instance court on the case. In October, 2012 Tsvetan Tsvetanov was found not guilty. The court’s primary arguments was that he was acting as a citizen and expressing his own opinion thus exercising his right of freedom of speech.
After the sentence was enacted and consequently appealed before the Plovdiv Regional Court all judges of that court also recused themselves, which led to the change of court. Their main argument was the suspicion of media as to the impartiality of judges in Plovdiv which necessitates that they issued recusals.
Miroslava Todorova is a party in another case in the Supreme Administrative Court where she is appealing her disciplinary dismissal from the judiciary. On May 16, 2013 a 5-member panel of the court heard the oral arguments of the parties and announced that its decision will be issued in a month. Representatives of international organizations of jurists were also present at the hearing.
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