site.btaKardzhali District Prosecutor's Office Issues Statement in Support of Deputy Prosecutor Kamenov

The Kardzhali District Prosecutor's Office issued an official statement in support of Deputy Prosecutor Dafin Kamenov regarding public statements made on May 28, 2026, concerning legal proceedings in the municipality of Kardzhali, in which his name was mentioned, the Plovdiv Appellate Prosecutor's Office press service reported on Friday. The statement was addressed to the Prosecutors Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council, with copies to acting Prosecutor General Vanya Stefanova and to Plovdiv Appellate Prosecutor Tihomir Stoev.

The letter reads: "With this statement, we express our institutional support for Deputy District Prosecutor Dafin Kamenov regarding public statements made by the Minister of the Interior [Ivan Demerdzhiev] on May 28, 2026, containing allegations of obstruction of procedural actions by the magistrate and interference aimed at further obstructing such actions."

According to the statement, cases received by the District Prosecutor's Office in Kardzhali are assigned to prosecutors via an electronic system on a random basis. It is the prosecutor's duty, in all cases where circumstances exist that cast doubt on their impartiality and lack of interest in resolving the case, to file a recusal with the higher-level prosecutor's office. This legal mechanism, according to the magistrates, is one of the guarantees of impartiality and objectivity in criminal proceedings, based on the understanding that there should be no doubts regarding the uniform application of the law.

The text also states that it is legally and professionally incorrect to interpret a request for recusal as an obstruction of urgent procedural actions without having provided the prosecutor with evidence justifying such actions.

It is further explained that undertaking urgent investigative actions is a legal option provided for only in cases where their immediate execution is the sole means of collecting and preserving evidence. No such information was reported to the on-duty prosecutor Kamenov.

In the statement signed by the acting administrative head and all prosecutors at the Kardzhali District Prosecutor's Office, excluding Kamenov, calls for respect for the principle of separation of powers and for due respect for the prosecutor's professional actions, as well as non-interference in the prosecutor's internal conviction.

"We categorically oppose the unfounded attacks and baseless criticism directed at Prosecutor Kamenov's professional judgment, as well as the doubts cast on his integrity and impartiality," the statement concludes.

Earlier Friday, Kamenov also issued a statement regarding Demerdzhiev's remarks. It reads: "I expressly state that the public accusations levelled against me and my official actions are completely false and do not correspond to objective reality. In all my actions, I have been guided solely by the law and my freely formed personal conviction. All my official actions have been lawful, and I have promptly notified the leadership of the prosecution service of their execution. In this regard, there is no possibility for the prosecution service to restrict the investigative police officers' authority to take any actions under conditions of urgency, if the authority deems such conditions to exist. I believe that the minister's statement and the preceding actions of the Ministry of Interior undermine the independence of the judiciary and violate the principle of separation of powers."