The Prosecutor General received the Grand National Award for Magistrates 2022 - "The coward dies every day, the brave - only once" in memory of the Italian magistrate Giovanni Falcone.
"All of us - the executive, the judiciary and the legislature - can unite in the interest of the people and work together. The people are rightfully desperate, the people are distrustful. We owe them more." This was stated by the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ivan Geshev, upon receiving the Grand National Award for Magistrates for 2022 - "The coward dies every day, the brave - only once" in memory of the Italian magistrate Giovanni Falcone.
The Prosecutor General thanked for the award and stressed that it was "for all the prosecutors and investigators we have worked with in the last 3 years since I have been Prosecutor General, despite the unprecedented political pressure.
The result - 95% convictions on an annual basis - is unique in Europe. The award is also for the colleagues from the Ministry of Interior, Customs, Security Services, because the results I described are impossible to achieve without cooperation with them", added Ivan Geshev.
The award named after the Italian magistrate Giovanni Falcone, the Prosecutor General received for his commitment and initiative in solving a number of problems related to the protection of citizens and their security.
In a statement to the National Assembly, the Prosecutor's Office declared against a bill to amend and supplement the Law on the Control of Narcotic Substances and Precursors, which proposed the legalization of the processing of industrial hemp in Bulgaria.
The award is also for the constant efforts of the Prosecutor's Office, insisting for years for changes in the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code related to combating serious transport crimes, including confiscation for the benefit of the state of cars of drivers who have used drugs and alcohol.
During the ceremony, Ivan Geshev said that he hopes the despair of the people he met the day before (relatives of accident victims) will be heard, because "it's time for changes that can very quickly produce results."
He gave the example of Austria, where a car is impounded and auctioned for speeding, even if the driver was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
"There are measures that the Bulgarian state owes its citizens".
I am sure that all together, united, we will achieve the result that the people expect - justice", stressed Ivan Geshev.
Ivan Geshev has been honored with the "Giovanni Falcone" award for the third time. He received the first two in 2017 and 2019 for a real contribution to curbing the distribution and use of drugs, corruption, terrorism, prostitution, child pornography, etc., and supporting causes for the benefit of society to form humane models of behavior in the younger generation.
At this year's ceremony in memory of Giovanni Falcone, the Deputy of the Prosecutor General - Krasimira Filipova also received an award. She was awarded for high professionalism and for the expert proposals for amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and the Criminal Code.
14 administrative heads of Prosecutor's Offices and prosecutors and investigators from all over the country were also nominated for exemplary performance of official duties and high results in their work on various cases of high public significance.
Two international awards were also presented at the ceremony.
For their fight against the drug mafia and narco-terrorism and their participation in operations in which tons of drugs worth billions of euros were seized, the Minister of Justice of Belgium Vincent Van Quickenborne and the Federal Prosecutor of Belgium Frederic van Leeuw. The awards were received by the first secretary of the embassy of Belgium in Bulgaria Mr. Mr. Jérémy Thirion.
Before the ceremony in front of journalists in Blagoevgrad, the Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev described as a serious success the drug distribution group that was detected together with the Ministry of Interior. Geshev emphasized that "200,000 doses of marijuana did not get into our children or into drivers to cause tragedies on the roads."
The competition in memory of the Italian prosecutor Giovanni Falcone was established in 2009 by the Municipality of Blagoevgrad, on the idea of the Municipal Council on Narcotic Substances, with the assistance of the Embassy of the Republic of Italy in Bulgaria. It is supported by Prof. Maria Falcone and the Giovanni Falcone Foundation. By holding it, the Municipality of Blagoevgrad aims to support the efforts of magistrates and police officers, to protect public interests and the authority of their profession, to help limit corruption, the influence of organized crime, crimes against children via the Internet, as well as to reduce crime at the local and national level.