Today, 04.02.2025, new requests were submitted to the registry of the 51st National Assembly to lift the immunities of MPs Jeyhan Ibryamov and Mario Rangelov.
In accordance with the Constitution, the Parliament was notified of requests for permission to initiate criminal prosecution against J. Ibryamov on 13.11.2024 and against M. Rangelov - on 19.12.2024. The National Assembly, by decision of 24.01.2025 refused to grant permission to conduct investigations against persons with immunity.
The supervising prosecutors at the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office (SGP) have prepared repeated proposals to lift the immunities of J. Ibryamov and M. Rangelov on the grounds that there is currently sufficient evidence within the meaning of Art. 219, para. 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code to hold the two members of parliament criminally liable and to bring charges against them. In the course of the investigations, a number of actions have been carried out - searches and seizures, interrogations of numerous witnesses, written and material evidence has been collected, etc.
The SGP prosecutors have presented additional arguments for their requests. It is pointed out that a basic principle in the criminal process is the consideration and resolution of cases within a reasonable time, as is the practice of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The refusal to grant permission to initiate criminal prosecution actually blocks the path to revealing the objective truth and obstructs the administration of criminal justice, which is not in the public interest, the requests state.
With regard to J. Ibryamov, the accusation is that in October 2019 in the city of Sofia he requested and accepted a gift that was not due to him in order to exert influence in making a decision by an official from the Ministry of Health in connection with his service - to issue a permit to place a group of biocides on the market (a crime under Art. 304b, para. 1, item 1 of the Criminal Code).
On 26.09.2024 in the city of Sofia, in order to obtain material benefit for himself, J. Ibryamov initiated a delusion that if he gave him the sum of 400,000 leva he would exert influence in the decision-making of officials from the Ministry of Defense in connection with their public procurement service. On 02.10.2024 in the city of Sofia, he maintained this delusion at M.T. and made an attempt to cause him property damage, the attempt remaining unfinished for reasons beyond Ibryamov's control - a crime under Art. 210, para. 1, item 5, in conjunction with Art. 209, para. 1, in conjunction with Art. 18, para. 2, in conjunction with Para. 1 of the Criminal Code.
In the present case, a contradiction is established in the approach of the National Assembly, since by a decision of the Chairman of the 50th National Assembly, permission was granted to initiate criminal prosecution in relation to J. Ibryamov at the initial stage of the proceedings, and with its decision of 24.01.2025, the 51st National Assembly refused to grant such permission in the face of a significantly richer volume of evidence.
With regard to M. Rangelov, the supervising prosecutor indicated that the collected evidence was sufficient to charge him as an accused: for forming and leading a group with the aim of committing crimes against the political rights of citizens (a crime under Art. 169d, para. 1, items 1 and 2 of the Criminal Code); for having provided a property benefit and having organized the giving of a sum of
15,000 leva in order to persuade voters to exercise their electoral right in favor of a certain coalition in the elections for members of parliament on 27.10.2024 – a crime under Art. 167, para. 4, item 1 and 2 of the Criminal Code; 3, in conjunction with para. 2 of the Criminal Code and Art. 167, para. 3, in conjunction with Art. 26, para. 1 of the Criminal Code.
The request to lift M. Rangelov's immunity states that the nature of the crimes investigated in the specific proceedings and the declared intransigence of all political entities towards the encroachments on the political rights of citizens, presuppose high expectations of society towards the fight against them and towards the bodies tasked by the Constitution and the laws to implement it. The legislative power should guarantee its legitimacy through an uncompromising attitude towards such acts.
With regard to the two members of parliament, it should also be noted that the Code of Criminal Procedure regulates the rights of each accused person through the presumption of innocence and, in particular, through the possibilities for the defense of the accused person expressly provided for in Art. 55 of the Criminal Procedure Code.