President Rumen Radev sought answers from the heads of the security services during an interview related to the violence during the September 2nd protest. The Head of State addressed his questions to the Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior Ivaylo Ivanov, the Chairman of the State Agency for National Security (SANS) Dimitar Georgiev, and the Director of the Sofia Metropolitan Directorate of Interior (SMDI) Georgi Hadzhiev.
I am extremely concerned about the health of both the citizens and the police. That is why I’m asking the questions: Why were provocateurs allowed in the triangle of power, for the protection of which the police and the gendarmerie are responsible?
The Head of State also asked if there was information about who the „provocateurs“ were and who sent them.
Why did the police use brutal force against citizens who had nothing to do with the provocateurs? Are there staff of police officers using unregulated means to influence citizens?
Radev also drew attention to some distinctive signs on the uniforms of the employees of the Ministry of Interior, who send provocative messages. He also asked why journalists „who identified themselves and did not provoke with their actions“ were beaten.
The Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior, Ivaylo Ivanov, gave an emotional answer, stating that he did not agree that „the police officers had committed brutal actions and brutal violence„. Ivanov was adamant that he had never tolerated the abuse of police powers, and if an officer who did so was identified, he would be punished. This has happened in previous protests and the punishment of employees has been severe.
If that’s not enough, should we shoot these people? I do not know.
Ivanov did not want police officers to be involved in political intrigue and said „for those who are protesting and those who will come to power: the police on the cordons will still be the same.“
He was often asked „Why do you protect these people?“, and he is adamant that he does not specifically protect anyone, and this was his job as an employee of the Ministry of Interior, as it was for his colleagues.
The Secretary General law enforcement officers had been extremely tolerant, especially since they had not been protested for more than 50 days except this September 2nd.
What did they expect, throwing bombs at us for so long that we would take off our masks and shields and die? For me, it’s an attack, a threat to kill – when you throw a bomb at a bunch of people, it’s a threat to kill, and we classify it as hooliganism.
He emphasized that no physical force had been used to remove the tent camps or to deal with „those who had consumed large amounts of alcohol in the morning“ and that the impartial cameras of the reporters could prove this. He also noted that the spray used by the police during the protest the other day was as harmless as possible – pepper spray, not like the „CS“ gas used by the protesters.
In his opinion, the operation was perfectly planned and perfectly executed, given that the officials did not allow the buildings in the power triangle to be „bathed in blood„.
Should the police be afraid to do their job?
Although he would understand if the „12 hours of shelling“ made some of the employees nervous enough to exceed their authority, he is adamant that he would not justify their actions. He stressed that the police were also human beings – „not machines, robots or janissaries“ – and mistakes were made, but there would be penalties for such.
Regarding the accusations of violence against journalists, Ivanov said the following:
Being a journalist does not mean that you can break, beat police officers, commit violations or crimes. If someone throws a bomb at me and then shows me a journalist card, well, yes – he will be detained.
However, Ivanov stressed that he admires the journalists and has said many times that „on the professional holiday of the Ministry of Interior they should have a holiday too“ because everywhere they worked together and talked constantly.
SANS Chairman Dimitar Georgiev also congratulated police officers on the operation. Asked by the president whether the whole situation could not have been prevented thanks to preliminary information available to SANS, Georgiev was adamant that such information did not exist.
SANS works in close cooperation with the Ministry of Interior. If we had specific information, these individuals would have been neutralized.
Radev made it clear that he condemned the aggression against the police and did not even understand why the uniformed men were passive for an hour of shelling by provocateurs. The answer to this was given by senior com. Georgi Hadzhiev from SMDI.
Tactically, the leaders decided that it was better to be passive. At the moment when a group of 700-800 people emerged – extremely aggressive and arrogant, we took action to push and split them.
In conclusion, Radev stressed that he would not want to interfere in their work, but also called for the protests to remain peaceful. This would give people confidence that „their health, rights and dignity will be protected“ if they go out to exercise their constitutional right to peaceful protest. He also called for the services to be more open to the public in order to create trust in the people.
