Bulgarian Ex Police Brutality Defendant Thrashes Teen Girl

Former Bulgarian police officer, Georgi Kalinkov, who is known as being one of the exonerated defendants in a high-profile police brutality case, has thrashed a young girl.

The incident happened in the southern city of Blagoevgrad and had been concealed for two days before leaking to the press.

The girl, identified as Vanessa Victorova, 16, has been listed with injuries in the city's hospital.

Victorova entered into an altercation, allegedly over a boy, with Kalinkov's 14-year-old daughter, Nadiya, which grew to a fist fight. The father interfered in defending his daughter, severely hitting Vanessa, who told the story to the investigators.

She is undergoing medical examinations to determine the extent of her injuries. The probe is ongoing. Both sides in the conflict have filed claims.

On June 9 2011, the Supreme Court of Cassations, VKS, conclusively acquitted the five policemen charged with the murder of Angel Dimitrov-Chorata on November 10 2005, during the specialized police operation codenamed "Respect" in Blagoevgrad. The decision of VKS, which came after 6 years of protracted court battles, cannot be appealed.

Prior to the June 2011 verdict, Bulgaria's Military Appellate Court issued two rulings on the case, the first one involving 18 years behind bars for Major Miroslav Pisov and 16 years in jail for the other four, captain Ivo Ivanov, chief-lieutenant Boris Mehandzhijski, and sergeants Georgi Kalinkov and Yanko Grahovski, and the second, revised verdict envisaging 9 years behind bars for Pisov and 8 years in prison for the other anti-mafia police officers.

VKS decided that according to the latest medical expertise, Chorata's death was caused by asphyxiation and was further facilitated by his health condition and drug abuse. Dimitrov's death was first declared the result of a heart attack but the first expertise showed that he had passed away due to blows to the head.

The initial harsh sentences for the police officers triggered mass protest rallies of policemen and citizens in the summer of 2009 in the capital Sofia and in Blagoevgrad. Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, at the time also voiced support for the accused police officers.

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