Strasbourg Court Condemns Bulgaria for Police Abuse During 2020 Protests

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has condemned Bulgaria over police brutality linked to the July 2020 anti-government protests. The ruling came in the case of Dimitar Pedev, a young television director who was detained during the unrest, as highlighted by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, which represented him before the Court.

The Court found that Bulgaria violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights by subjecting Pedev to degrading treatment. After his arrest and the violence he endured at the hands of police, Pedev was hospitalized at Pirogov, where he was handcuffed to a hospital bed for 24 hours despite his injuries and serious medical condition. This measure was deemed unnecessary and served only to humiliate him and add to his physical suffering.

Additionally, the ECtHR identified a procedural violation of Article 3. It found that the Bulgarian authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation into the allegations of police violence at the time. It was only after the Court formally notified Bulgaria of the complaint in 2022 that the prosecutor’s office launched pre-trial proceedings. The Court interpreted this delay and belated investigation as an implicit admission by the Bulgarian government that the original inquiry was flawed.

The government’s own submissions acknowledged shortcomings in the initial investigation, further affirming the Court’s findings.

As a result, the ECtHR awarded Pedev compensation for non-pecuniary damages and emphasized Bulgaria’s duty to protect citizens from police violence, as well as to ensure prompt and independent investigations into such abuses.

To recall, on July 10, 2020, amid large-scale protests against the government of Boyko Borissov in Sofia, Dimitar Pedev was arrested by police on Orlov Most while heading home. Despite asserting that he had not taken part in the protests, he was detained and later charged with hooliganism. Following his arrest, Pedev required hospitalization but was restrained by handcuffs even while receiving medical care, highlighting the mistreatment he faced.