site.btaAppellate Court Confirms There Are No Grounds to Terminate Trial against Continue the Change Co-leader Petkov

The Sofia Appellate Court upheld a ruling by the Sofia City Court to proceed with the trial against Kiril Petkov, Continue the Change (CC) co-leader and MP of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, who is facing charges of official misconduct during his tenure as prime minister (December 2021 - August 2022). The Sofia Appellate Court’s ruling followed an appeal by Petkov, the Court’s press service said on Wednesday.

On April 29, the Sofia City Court found no significant procedural violations in the indictment and proceeded with the trial against Petkov. The CC co-leader’s defence counsel, Daniela Dokovska, said that the case should be dismissed and returned to the prosecution service so that any violations could be addressed, but the court concluded that no such violations existed.

Kiril Petkov has been indicted on charges of exceeding his authority when, in the City of Sofia on March 17, 2022, in his capacity as prime minister, he ordered a chief and a deputy chief of an Investigation and Investigation Methodological Guidance Division at the National Police General Directorate, as well as a chief investigating police officer at the division, to take actions at variance with the law.