Bulgarian Top Cop under Oppostion Fire over Police Brutality

Bulgarian left-wing and right-wing parties both demand the resignation of Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, over the more and more frequent cases of police brutality in the country. Photo by BGNES

The Bulgarian right-wing Union of Democratic Forces party, UDF, issued Monday a declaration strongly condemning police brutality in the arrest of a Sofia family.

UDF further demand the resignation of Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

Over the weekend, Malina and Petar Nachkovi complained of police brutality and reported they have been severely beaten and, with no sound motivation, detained by police, who after that went on to violently break in and search their home.

On Monday, Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, apologized and promised dismissals at the Interior Ministry over the scandal. He called the hosts of the morning political talk show of the largest private TV channel bTV, while they were having a conversation with the family in question in the studio.

The right wing stresses that police brutality has become the norm in police work and reminds of several recent cases – of Radoslav Bozhinov who was beaten by police in downtown Sofia for no apparent reason; of the police busting inside the home of an innocent family in the city of Kardzhali, and of Tsvetanov harassing and humiliating Bulgarian doctors.

The declaration points out the groundless "strong hand" and incompetence of Bulgaria police.

UDF further ask the Interior Minister several questions – did the police apply unnecessary force during the detention and the search of the couple's home; why officers from the Main Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime, GDBOP, have been engaged in the arrest of two citizens, who obviously don't belong to an organized crime group; what imposed the repressions; was any proof of criminal activity found, except 5 pack of cigarette without excise duty labels, to be used as grounds for the arrest and taking the couple to the police precinct in the aftermath; and was there any connection between the fact that the couple's daughter had founded an anti-Borisov Facebook page.

In conclusion, the declaration demands clear answers from Tsvetanov and his institution. It points out that this is another chance for Borisov to undertake decisive measures to guarantee the rights of Bulgaria citizens, which begin with the immediate resignation of the Interior Minister.

The calls for resignation of Tsvetanov were joined by the opposition, left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP.

Party leader and former PM, Sergey Stanishev, stresses that the Interior Minister is the mastermind of violence exerted on Bulgarian citizens, which is the only way he can guarantee safety and order in the country.

According to Stanishev, Tsvetanov uses police to demonstrate force and instate fear for political gains.

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