Bulgaria's prime minister has furiously slammed prosecutors' decision to not protest the acquittal of the defendants in the highly publicized SAPARD money laundering case.

"I could not believe my ears when I heard the prosecutor stepped back from his protest against Mario Nikolov. This is a catastrophe for the prosecutor's office," Boyko Borisov fumed on Thursday.

He said he would be at a loss how to explain the outcome of the trial in Brussels, which has been following it closely.

"It is high time that the judges and prosecutors face the music and be held responsible for their actions by the European Commission and the Bulgarian people," Borisov added.

The statement came a day after prosecutors stepped back from their protest at the acquittal of businessman Mario Nikolov and the other defendants in the country's highly publicized SAPARD money laundering case.

They were charged with participating in an organized crime group engaged in laundering EUR 7.5 M drained from the EU agriculture program SAPARD.

The move fully cleared the defendants of all charges, bringing to an end a strongly politicized trial, which was closely monitored by the European Commission.

Later in the day on Thursday it emerged that Stoycho Nenkov, Prosecutor from the Sofia Appellate Prosecutor's Office, has decided on his own to not file an appeal and will be probed. The Supreme Judicial Council, VSS, the Inspectorate of the Supreme Prosecutor's Office of Cassations, and the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office have been notified.

The probe will be for obstructing justice.

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