The full file on the pardon of Ognyan Atanasov went to prosecutors in a referral from President Iliana Yotova dated 19 October, her press office said. A check inside the presidential administration found that the needed documents are there and that the pardons commission followed its own rules.
On Sunday, Ivaylo Mirchev, co-leader of "Yes, Bulgaria", accused Yotova of lying about the drug trafficker she pardoned.
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Yotova asked prosecutors for an objective and full check on two issues. The first is the claims made in public of breaches in the pardon procedure, including possible corrupt practices. The second is how security camera footage from Sofia Prison was stored and shared. She expects the check to finish within the legal deadlines and the authorities to publish the results promptly.
Atanasov is known as the Petrich Escobar. After his request, the commission asked the Main Directorate for the Execution of Sentences at the Justice Ministry for information on him. It also attached the expert opinion of the medical commission under Article 138 of the Law on the Execution of Sentences and Detention. That commission wrote its findings after the convict appeared before it in person and it studied his medical records in detail.
The findings say he has serious illnesses that pose a direct danger to his health and life. His condition requires treatment in a specialist neurosurgical hospital, where he can be under constant watch.
The file holds seven prosecutors' orders to pause the sentence, 13 medical assessments and three rulings of the TELK, the medical board that rules on disability. It also has results of various medical tests and outpatient records from check-ups.
Since 11 September 2026, the president's administration has answered 14 requests under the Access to Public Information Act. Five came from MPs. The rest came from politicians, journalists and public figures. The press office said the questions covered a wide range, the answers went out within the legal deadline, and all the information that national and EU law allow was provided. It called claims that the administration is hiding information manipulative.
"It is unacceptable for the presidency's compliance with the law to be turned into a political tool for insinuation," the press office said. It also rejected claims that the pardons commission sat in an unlawful composition from November 2017 to January 2018, saying the rules in force at the time were followed.
On 13 October, parliament failed to get a quorum for an extraordinary sitting on Atanasov's pardon. Today's sitting on the case ended after two failed attempts to get a quorum.
"We Continue the Change" said it has collected signatures for a new extraordinary sitting next Wednesday. The party said the sitting is "on the two cases of drug dealers pardoned by Iliana Yotova – the so-called Petrich Escobar and the Sliven drug dealer nicknamed Dinko the Madman".