49 Arrested in Bulgaria`s Schengen Raid amid Alleged Police Brutality

The special police operation codenamed "Shock" has so far resulted in 49 arrests and claims of police brutality. File photo

A total of 49 people have been arrested so far as part of the ongoing special police operation code-named "Shock", which was launched in the small hours of July 06 on Bulgarian territory and abroad, according to Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

The operation, conducted in close cooperation with Europol and the US Secret Service, was requested by Italy in connection with an uncovered drug crime group trafficking drugs and cars stolen from the EU to Bulgaria.

"Shock", ordered and headed by the Interior Ministry's Chief Secretary Kalin Georgiev, is being carried out in Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv, Burgas and Blagoevgrad, under the supervision of the Supreme Prosecutor's Office.

According to unconfirmed reports, the operation also targets people involved in financial crimes.

The main focus of "Shock" is people and vehicles wanted under the Schengen Information System.

Mariyana Todorova, defender of one of the detainees under the operation, has complained of police brutality during the arrest.

In Todorova's words, police officers have busted the door open without necessity, showing "stray sheets of paper" announced as a European Arrest Warrant, shot the family's pet dog in the presence of over 10 people, including little children, and arrested the man without informing her or calling her to the respective police directorate.

"You must ask police officers why they overstep their rights and why, after a person is detained and files a police brutality complaint with the police or the prosecutor's office, that same person is found to have resisted arrest", Todorova said, insisting that police brutality has become an everyday fact of life in Bulgaria despite the scant media awareness of it.

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