Bulgaria's Top Cop: Claims of Police Brutality Are Often Fake

Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minster and Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, says police chiefs are now afraid to plan actions over complaints of police brutality. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minster and Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, believes that cases of criminals with groundless claims of police brutality are increasing in the country lately.

Speaking in an interview for the largest private TV channel bTV Tuesday, the Minister warned that such claims are not "always 100% true."

Tsvetanov statements came on the heels of the Saturday police action in the village of Mirovyane near Sofia, which stirred outrage in society, NGOs, and the opposition, over reports of excessive police force and police brutality.

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.

Three senior police officers were sanctioned with reprimands, despite calls for dismissals from Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov.

In front of the camera, Tsvetanov admitted mistakes in the police operation such as sending a large number of police task force, which is usually done in actions against serious organized crime, but stressed that participating policemen continue to insist they never pushed or yelled at and cursed the family.

"Everyone who had committed a crime can have a media appearance; this is the easiest thing. They hit their head against the wall and later complain of police brutality," said the Minister.

He vowed a full probe to clarify the case, but asked the hosts if they really believed that a policeman would hit someone who is laying on the ground with tied hands.

Tsvetanov complained that police chiefs are now afraid to plan actions over complaints of police brutality. He explained that the punishment of the three senior officers had nothing to do with Borisov's reaction and his calls for dismissals.

On another topic, the Minister informed that the Interior is currently conducting a special police ops, codenamed "The Bankers," on suspicions of loansharking activities and have detained a man with BGN 55 000 in cash.

"The police acted wisely and arrived at the address in a fire truck – the suspect opened the door to what he believed were firemen, thus both – destroying evidence and police brutality had been prevented," Tsvetanov told the hosts.

"The Interior will always protect human rights, but for us the most important is to arrest criminals," he concluded.

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