BG Ombudsman: It’s Important to Punish Those Responsible for Police Violence During Protests

"The footage we saw was shocking," Diana Kovacheva said

"I was notified with signals from citizens as early as last year. The Ombudsman's team carried out an inquiry. It was found that there is violence, which is evident from the footage we have already seen. Some of the beaten people were visited in "Pirogov". I sent a signal to the Minister of Interior to carry out an adequate inspection.“ This was stated in the studio of "Hello, Bulgaria" by the ombudsman Diana Kovacheva in response to a question whether anyone had protected the rights of the victims during last year's protests.

According to her, the interior minister has officially replied that disciplinary proceedings have been instituted in cases of police violence and the information has been sent to the prosecutor's office.

"I received information that there were indeed police officers with brass knuckles and threatening emblems. But there is no indication of who these people were. Emblems are not part of police uniforms. The videos we saw are shocking. The state has a positive obligation to investigate objectively and to establish who the perpetrators are and to punish them ", the ombudsman is categorical.

According to her, trained police officers should be sent to places where there are protests. "They must be people who do not lose their temper, do not use violence and do not hurt. Because what we have witnessed is inhuman treatment and torture of protesters." "It is important to punish the perpetrators, but the message that we do not tolerate violence is also important," Kovacheva said.
/NOVA

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