Former interior ministry chief secretary Petar Todorov is among the witnesses in the trial of Kiril Petkov. Before the hearing, he told reporters that the order to arrest Boyko Borisov came from Asen Vasilev, who was prime minister and deputy prime minister.
On the evening of the arrest in March 2022, at around 7pm to 7.30pm, Todorov was on his way home. He was discussing work matters with Ventsislav Kirchev, then director of the National Police Directorate General. Todorov said Kirchev was at the Council of Ministers and passed on an instruction from Vasilev to arrest Borisov.
Todorov said he was surprised. He asked why Borisov was being arrested and whether Laura Kövesi had taken out any documents. He was told the GERB leader would be arrested over the "Boets" case file. Todorov said Kövesi was at the interior ministry on the day of the arrest.
Todorov said he knew the file. He said it held only general information from newspaper clippings, with nothing concrete on investigative steps. Even then, he told Kirchev that the interior ministry had no power to investigate a former prime minister, because that was a job for the National Investigation Service.
"You are making Boyko Borisov a hero right now, because this is completely unlawful," Todorov said at the time.
On his first day as chief secretary, he warned interior minister Boyko Rashkov that he would not take part in political dismissals without enough evidence and reasons. Todorov said that explains why he was not told in advance. "I found out when they were already at Borisov's home, so I was told after the fact," he said.
Todorov also commented on reports that Borisov will call on GERB voters to back the Gyurov–Kandev ticket. He asked how this demagoguery could be justified, and whether it was not a second "sglobka", made for the sake of power and to shake the government through backroom deals. If Borisov urges a vote for the people who arrested him, readers can judge for themselves whether there is a "sglobka", Todorov said.
The case against Kiril Petkov is over crimes in office as prime minister. It concerns the 2022 arrests of Boyko Borisov, Vladislav Goranov and Sevdelina Arnaudova. The trial has heard that a meeting took place in the prime minister's office with then ministers Boyko Rashkov and Asen Vasilev and senior officials of the National Police Directorate General. They discussed steps in the investigation that led to the three arrests, BTA reported.