The hearing of the caretaker Minister of Interior Boyko Rashkov on the shocking footage of police violence against protesting Bulgarian citizens on July 10, 2020 began in the Parliament. The extraordinary sitting of the National Assembly began with applause to three young people who are on the balcony and who have become victims of the police violence in question.
In front of the deputies, Boyko Rashkov announced that the word „behind the scenes“ is very modern in Bulgaria at the moment, but now there is a new word “behind the scenes”. From the plenary rostrum Rashkov announced:
“I have been asked very difficult questions by parliament today. I want to emphasize that we must not equate a dozen police officers with the rest. Most of the Bulgarian police officers do their job conscientiously. But, of course, we should not remain indifferent when we come across something like this, which repulses us, disgusts us, and it turns out that no one has taken any measures. And if he has taken any, it is simply to say that an attitude has been taken. Three inspections were carried out in the SDVR for these actions. Notice this service is self-checking. As it became clear during the wiretaps, the prosecutor’s office is self-checking and it can present to us whatever it wants. This is what happened with these three inspections. In this case, it is no coincidence that the protesters were dragged behind the column. There is a modern word that is used in Bulgaria – behind the scenes, and there is a backyard. It was clear that the camera would not work there or even if it worked, there was no one to provide information. But she worked this camera and filmed exactly what was happening there. This record was kept in the NSO and on July 17 it was requested by the SDVR and was received by the NSO in the SDVR. That is, everything was known even then. The police have not exceeded their powers a bit, and their behavior borders on crime.”
The Minister was adamant that so far he has not received any information against some of the law enforcement officers involved in the police violence to be prosecuted. His words come amid reports from prosecutors days ago that charges have been filed against four uniformed men. Rashkov was adamant that the state prosecution had these records for a long time, but did nothing. Even the case was closed.
It also became clear from Rashkov’s words that the prosecutor who dealt with the case is already a member of the European Prosecutor’s Office. She found no evidence of a crime. The Minister expressed hope that she had not won her place in the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in this way.
“There have been no cases against police officers. But a lawsuit has been filed against a citizen who was dragged behind the columns. And it has not been completed for more than a year. We can only assume that they cannot find evidence, but in the style of our prosecutor’s office, this case is not in a hurry”, Rashkov revealed.
Before Rashkov, the petitioners for the hearing, Victoria Vasileva from „There is such a people“ and Nikolay Hadjigenov from „Stand up BG! We are coming!“. Here is what Vasileva said:
“Last summer, for the first time, thousands of people protested to demand justice. They demanded that the supply of the drawers with ingots and bundles be stopped and that the chief prosecutor resign. The people’s anger was sincere, so they were stubborn in their presence and demands. We were there, in the square, every night. We saw what happened, how employees checked us on the approaches to the square. Someone knew that this embers needed a little breath to ignite. The question is who was interested in clashes with the police. The footage that came out is not new. They are official. Amateur footage of the violence came out on July 10, but we didn’t need it because we saw it with our own eyes. We saw a group of young people being dragged by a group of ferocious police officers and victims of violence. Many of the police sympathized with us and shared that their children were among us. That’s why we want to know who organized this provocation and made us lumpen. A provocation that wanted to pit people against the police. There are people in power who organized the September 2 pogrom. There were people who inflamed the crises. Whether they were professionally trained, whether they were forced or deceived. We want to know who issued the order to use tear gas. We want to know who sent people to fight in the small streets, long after the protest ended. The only fault of these people was that they were young, educated and cared for their homeland. This time there must be punished. Otherwise, the only one punished will be its fragile democracy.”
“Borissov’s government has no analogue in the EU. A horrible dictatorship handling the means used during World War II. They are piling up citizens who are defending their rights. You did not accumulate corpses, not servicemen from another country, but your own citizens. But these are not the usual victims of police violence. They didn’t just survive, they won. It was they who overthrew Borissov’s dictatorship. They survived the beating under the pylons. They went to court and won. And this is the reason why they are here and now – so that you can see them and know that a dictatorship can never defeat an ordinary citizen who has gathered the strength to stand up to power. This was not the usual police violence we were used to during the GERB rule. The direct perpetrators will bear their responsibility, but the real perpetrators are up. We go through the chiefs of SDVR, the ministers and we reach Boyko Borissov. Because none of us has the illusion that ordinary employees of the Ministry of Interior have made this decision themselves. I am convinced that they carried out an order – something we have seen many times over the years. And this was done with one – the only goal – to keep the power of the dictator at all costs”, said Nikolai Hadjigenov.
