Bulgarian Police Brutality Stirs Parliamentary Brawl

The Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva (center), informed Interior Minister Tsvetanov will appear before the MPs Wednesday to discuss cases of police brutality in the country. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, will appear Wednesday before the Members of the Parliament to give explanations regarding the police brutality incident in the southern city of Kardzhali.

A 20-year-old girl was injured Sunday evening after policemen stormed a house by mistake, and thrashed a family inside.

The announcement about Tsvetanov's forthcoming appearance was made by the Speaker, Tsetska Tsacheva, and came as a response to the request of the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

Earlier Tuesday, the Socialists demanded that the Interior Minister comes to the Parliament to talk not only about the Kadzhali case, but about other police violence incidents that happened in the last year. Initially, Tsacheva said she would not allow a vote on the request because it had not been submitted in writing with the Parliament's administrative office, which MPs from BSP and the other main opposition fraction – the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party immediately did and the vote went on.

The Speaker explained Tsvetanov is informed about the request, but will appear the following day over the ongoing joint meting between the Bulgarian and the Greek cabinets on Tuesday.

The Minister, himself, informed earlier that he had ordered a probe in the case and, depending on its outcome, will decide on harsh disciplinary sanctions against the 4 police officers on the personal order of Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov.

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