Former Bulgarian Prime Minister and the leader of the populist GERB party Boyko Borissov said on Wednesday he would wave his parliamentary immunity as he is being probed over suspected money laundering in a case known as Barcelonagate
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th July, 2023) Former Bulgarian Prime Minister and the leader of the populist GERB party Boyko Borissov said on Wednesday he would wave his parliamentary immunity as he is being probed over suspected money laundering in a case known as Barcelonagate.
Requests to deprive former prime ministers Borissov and Kiril Petkov of parliamentary immunity were submitted in early June by then-Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev. While Geshev was later removed from office, a special commission was created to review his requests.
"I will waive my immunity despite all the things so obviously done by the former chief prosecutor against me. I trust the Bulgarian court and the Bulgarian prosecutor's office. I will not be a victim of blackmail and extortion," Borisov was quoted by the state-run Radio Bulgaria as saying.
Prosecutors believe that the former prime minister provided third parties with illegally acquired funds for buying or renting foreign property. This includes a 4 million euro ($4.3 million) mansion in Spain's Barcelona, where former model Borislava Yovcheva, allegedly linked to Borisov, and her child are believed to be living, an allegation rejected by the ex-prime minister.
Petkov is being probed over an official declaration in which the ex-prime minister withheld information about his Canadian citizenship. Petkov also waved his immunity last month.
