For the last five years, more than 150 permits have been issued to apply the SRS against magistrates. This is what judge Vladislava Tsarigradska, who has her guard down despite the threats against her, said in the program “Face to Face” on bTV.
She explained that they were issued with the permission of the former chairman of the Appellate Specialized Criminal Court, Georgi Ushev.
According to her, the pressure on the magistrates is carried out through media campaigns, slander and abuse of the SRS.
“I would like Mr. Sarafov not to set the agenda of the public conversation. Let’s talk about what we discussed with my colleagues – the judges, namely the threats to the judicial system”, she pointed out in connection with a question about the request of the chief prosecutor – the Ministry of the Interior to check the information about threats against her.
She also explained what judicial independence is and why it is important for Bulgarians.
“It depends on whether a judge is independent, whether he is free from any influences and influences, including from the internal bodies of the judiciary, whether he will be able to guarantee every single citizen an independent process and a fair judicial decision,” she is categorical.
Judge Tsarigradska spoke about the threats to her.
“Martin Bojanov was used. His case was pending and no one threatened me, no legal attempt to influence me. Just a week before I received the threats, I gave an interview and explained the danger all the judges are in. The then chief prosecutor, Sotir Tsatsarov, had taken the liberty of euphemistically threatening a three-member court panel, which freed the foreign citizen Jock Polfreeman. Then I illustrated how omnipotent the prosecutor’s office can be,” she said.
According to her, the reason for starting this self-dealing with her dates back to 2019, when Ivan Geshev was about to be elected as the chief prosecutor. At the time, her statements were perceived as opposition to the prosecution, and she only wanted to point out the possible risks for the judicial system in Bulgaria.
“Colleagues from the SJC asked to hear me in connection with my written requests from April and August of this year, in which I inform them about the outrages that are being committed against me. However, this is not only about insults to the personality of Vladislava Tsarigradska, but about institutional insults to judicial independence and judicial power. Bulgarian citizens need independent judges and this is their problem – to defend judicial independence,” she said.
She recalls that some of the threats to her were about “drowning her children”, about “dismembering them”, as well as about “hanging their intestines”.