site.btaInterior Minister Marinov on US Visit

105 POLITICS - SECURITY - INTERIOR MINISTER - U.S. VISIT-ampl.1

Interior Minister
Marinov
on US Visit


Sofia, March 18 (BTA) - Interior Minister Mladen Marinov is paying a visit to the United States, his Ministry said. He is accompanied by Chief Commissioner Ivailo Spiridonov, head of the Directorate General for Combating Organized Crime, and Svetlan Kichikov, head of the Border Police Directorate General.

The Bulgarian officials are scheduled to meet with the directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Secret Service, and with representatives of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), of the Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, and of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Marinov will visit the US-Mexico border in the hope of exchanging experience in dealing with migrant pressure.

Marinov will also meet with representatives of the Bulgarian
community in Washington, DC.

* * *

Marinov commented to the Bulgarian National Radio from Washington that the Interior Ministry has no information on contacts between alleged Christchurch mosque gunman Brenton Tarrant and locals during his stay in Bulgaria between November 9 and 15, 2018. The sole purpose of Tarrant's visit was tourism and he did not know any Bulgarians. The Interior Minister said Tarrant arrived in Sofia on a flight from Dubai and toured historical sites, several towns and the cities of Sofia and Plovdiv.

The Interior Minister condemned the New Zealand mass shootings.

He also commented on the treatment of migrants in the context of the US Department of State's Human Rights report which mentions mistreatment of migrants and police abuse of power as some of Bulgaria's main human rights issues. "I must state that the law and the rights of migrants and detainees are fully respected. Each of them has access to legal assistance and the option to ask for asylum. Any case of, or alert to, police abuse of power is probed immediately," said Marinov. LI/IG/DD


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