Court Proceeds with Trial Against Continue the Change Co-leader Kiril Petkov over Alleged Official Misconduct

Diana Dukovska, Konstantin Kostov

Continue the Change Co-chair Kiril Petkov in the Palace of Justice, April 29, 2025 (BTA Photo/Milena Stoykova)

Sofia,

29.04.2025 12:10

(BTA)

The Sofia City Court Tuesday found no significant procedural violations in the indictment and proceeded with the trial against Kiril Petkov, Co-chair of Continue the Change and MP of the Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria coalition. Petkov is accused of official misconduct in his capacity as prime minister (December 2021 - August 2022).

According to the indictment submitted by the Sofia City Prosecution Office to the Sofia City Court on February 14, 2025, Petkov exceeded his authority on March 17, 2022. He allegedly ordered a chief and a deputy chief of the Investigation and Investigation Methodological Guidance Division at the National Police General Directorate, as well as a chief investigating police officer at that division, to act in breach of the law.

The court also revoked the recognizance order against Petkov.

Bulgaria's former prime minister and leader of GERB (then the largest opposition party) Boyko Borissov, former finance minister Vladislav Goranov, and public relations advisor Sevdelina Arnaudova were arrested on March 17, 2022. The Interior Ministry then said the operation was part of an extortion investigation prompted by probes by the European Public Prosecutor's Office. The three were released after 24 hours without pressing charges.

In April 2022, the Sofia Regional Court (SRC) ruled that authorities had failed to collect "a single good piece of evidence of the accused parties' complicity in the alleged crime."

In August 2022, the Sofia Administrative Court confirmed the SRC's judgment according to which Borissov, Goranov and Arnaudova had been arrested illegally.

/DD/