The Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) has issued a final decision in the case of the former Pleven district prosecutor Ivo Radev against the prosecutor's office, Lex.bg reported. The magistrate will receive compensation in the amount of 121,000 leva for damages suffered from an illegal accusation.
The amount initially awarded by the lower courts was over 220,000 leva, but the supreme judges reduced it to 100,000 leva for non-pecuniary damages and 21,000 leva for attorney's fees. The decision was made by a panel of judges with chairperson Veska Raicheva and members Genika Mihaylova-rapporteur and Zlatina Rubieva.
The investigation against Radev began in March 2015, when he held the position of district prosecutor of Pleven. The reason - a signal from prosecutor Snezhana Georgieva-Blazheva to SANS about pressure exerted on magistrates. It is important to note that at that time the two were competitors in the competition for district prosecutor.
For six months, Radev was the subject of special intelligence means, including wiretapping and surveillance. After his involvement as an accused, he was removed from office and resigned as deputy chairman of the Prosecutors' Association.
The Supreme Court of Cassation emphasizes in its decision that Radev's negative experiences continued until 2019, when the final acquittal was issued. "The negative experiences related to this – "Shame and embarrassment in front of colleagues, awareness of career collapse, disappointment and horror that precisely in the capacity of an administrative manager he could be unjustly convicted 'for edification', are the reasons for the illegal accusation," the magistrates state.
The chairwoman of the panel, Veska Raicheva, expresses a special opinion, according to which the compensation should be lower. She argues her position by saying that magistrates are exposed to greater public interest and have higher ethical obligations.