With 18 votes “in favor” the Supreme Judicial Council elected Sotir Tsatsarov for the Prosecutor General post. Three members of the Council voted “against” and three abstained. The hearing lasted for 9 hours and was followed by debate within the SJC. The deputy Prosecutor General Galina Toneva, the Head of the appellate specialized prosecutor’s office Borislav Sarafov and the President of the Plovdiv regional court Sotir Tsatsarov presented their concepts and answered questions before the vote. The whole procedure was broadcasted live on the Bulgarian national television as well as on the Supreme Judicial Council website.
Mr. Sarafov was the first to present his candidacy. His hearing lasted for 2 hours. Then Mrs. Toneva answered to questions and shared her ideas about the Prosecutor’s office. Her hearing lasted for 3 hours. The last to be presented was Mr. Tsatsarov.
After the hearings the SJC members discussed the nominees presentations and qualities. Afterwards, they voted via an electronic system. According to the rules, the nominees were to be voted for in order of the candidacy submission. In case the first to be voted received more than 2/3 of the votes (17 votes “in favor”) the other nominations would not be voted. Thus, Mr. Tsatsarov was the first and only one to be voted and was elected with 18 votes “in favor”.