"It has recently become crystal clear to everyone that we are facing a choice between an independent court and a prosecuting republic." Lawyer Zdravka Kalaydjieva, a human rights activist, former judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, said this in the broadcast “First of all”.
"The need for changes to the constitutional framework of the judiciary which should clarify who is who and who does what, seems to have been misunderstood only by the Attorney General," she commented.
"Bulgarian Human rights lawyers" foundation insists it must be written in the constitution that judiciary is exercised by the court and prosecution is autonomous from the government. The opinion, which provoked backlash from Attorney General Ivan Geshev, was made public during consultations with the President on constitutional changes. "The opinion was prepared in response to the invitation and I can only thank Mr. Geshev for promoting it," Zdravka Kalaydjieva added.
"It is high time the Bulgarian people restored its awareness that justice is given by the court, not by the prosecutor's office," lawyer Kalaydjieva emphasized. "This is precisely part of the opinion drawn up at the invitation of the President. We believe that this is a principle well-known to everyone, but it is not yet well evaluated and defined in the Constitution and Bulgarian laws. The prosecutor's office cannot initiate proceedings which have been open for years affecting the name, property, honor and life, if you will, of the citizens as long as they judge it without giving the floor to the court. This is not justice. These are actions that should be distinguished from actual justice. "
"The need for reform has been clarified in a number of judgments of the European Court of Justice, the Venice Commission, and other international authorities. There is nothing new in our opinion. But so far no one has characterized my personal opinion or the activities of Bulgarian Human Rights Lawyers as "insolent." I expect a public apology from Mr. Geshev and I hope that the competent authorities for assessing his ethics and collegiality, such as the prosecutorial board of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Supreme Bar Council, will react, "Zdravka Kalaydjieva told BNR.
