Bulgarian President Rumen Radev fired Prosecutor-General Ivan Geshev on June 15, halfway through his seven-year term amid growing domestic and Western frustration with his failure to tackle endemic corruption.
Radev signed a decree dismissing Geshev three days after Bulgaria’s Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) voted 16-4 to oust him following months of political intrigue, which included an alleged bomb attack against the prosecutor-general.
Geshev, 52, was appointed for a seven-year term in 2019 with sweeping powers to oversee the work of all prosecutors. But his appointment sparked protests by people who accused him of protecting corrupt politicians, oligarchs, and mafia kingpins, who were never brought to justice.
The United States and Britain in February sanctioned several Bulgarian individuals for corruption in what some experts interpreted as growing frustration in Washington and London over Geshev’s failure to crack down on powerful people involved in graft.
Geshev initially enjoyed the backing of the SJC, which is responsible for all judiciary appointments, but the council's support evaporated after Geshev on May 15 at a press conference referred to lawmakers as "political garbage" that should be "swept away" by parliament in response to parties demanding his resignation.
The majority of the council believed that the comments undermined the prestige of the judiciary and Geshev therefore could no longer hold the post of prosecutor-general.
The SJC’s vote came on the heels of a new coalition government in Bulgaria that had made the removal of Geshev a priority.
The alleged roadside bomb attack on May 1 proved to be a turning point in efforts to oust Geshev. After he claimed he had been targeted, critics said the attack was staged in an attempt to boost his image as an anti-corruption crusader.
Details emerged showing the explosion did not even damage his armored car, and Geshev admitted on May 7 that his family was not traveling with him after media reports said they were. Geshev was later rebuked by a deputy for not quickly addressing the misinformation circulating in the media.
After the explosion he left for Turkey and the United States, while his deputy, Borislav Sarafov, began publicly attacking him for interfering in the political process. Geshev then lost the favor of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's GERB party, which called for his resignation.