site.btaProsecutor General: Citizen's Arrests Are Illegal

Prosecutor General: Citizen's Arrests Are Illegal

April 15 (BTA) - The citizen's arrests are illegal, said here on Friday Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov. "Nobody can assume the functions of the State, tie people up and act like a cop. Everyone who dares to break the law will be prosecuted and taken to court," said Tsatsarov. He added that protests will not change the State's legislation, there are laws and they must be observed.

Tsatsarov was commenting the unlawful arrest of three Afghan men by vigilantes near a village some 30 km away from the Turkish-Bulgarian border. Peter Nizamov of Bourgas, the protagonist in the most recent such case, has been arrested and faces up to six years' imprisonment upon conviction.

The Prosecutor General further said that such citizen's units appear when the State is not strong and efficient enough. They are usually inspired by ultranationalist or other sentiments in an attempt to assume the State's function, which leads to mob law. Similar manifestations can be seen in conventional crime, which is present everywhere, but is escalating in some places, he said.

Answering a question, Tsatsarov confirmed that alerts have been received about border police officers taking possessions from detained refugees, but the checks into them had not led to the collection of sufficient evidence.