The Supreme Judicial Council dismissed Ms. Galina Toneva as Deputy Prosecutor General under proposition of the Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov. Seventeen of the SJC members voted “in favor”, two – “against”, and four abstained. Ms. Toneva was one of the three candidates for the highest position within the Prosecution Office and the only Deputy Prosecutor General from the team of Boris Veltchev (former Prosecutor General), who remained on the position after Sotir Tsatsarov took the lead of the Prosecution Office (apart from Boiko Naidenov, who under the law is a Deputy Prosecutor General as Head of the National Investigation Services). Ms. Toneva will remain a regular prosecutor in the Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office.
Mr. Tsatsarovs proposition was entered as an additional point in the agenda for the SJC session last Thursday. He hadn’t spoken to his deputy about his decision. Shortly before the session he called Ms. Toneva to inform her that he would propose her dismissal, but didn’t share his motives with her.
The reason he gave on the session of the SJC was that there were “differences in their concepts for team work”. After the session Mr. Tsatsarov made an official statement for the media making it clear that his decision had to do with the signals for wrongful termination of proceedings concerning the power industry, submitted by RZS Party leader and head of Parliamentary commission for fight against corruption Yane Yanev. More on the subject (in Bulgarian)