In a statement for the press on Friday, the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) - Bulgaria says that it is following with concerns cases of police brutality against members of the public and the press during the Thursday night riots of football hooligans in Sofia. They call for an independent investigation of these cases - rather than a probe by the Sofia Directorate of the Interior.
The riots took place during a protest against the management of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) while the Bulgarian national football team was playing a European qualifier with Hungary to empty stands as per a BFU decision.
AEJ has gathered information on several incidents involving journalists and calls on other colleagues who have been targets or witnesses of violence to contact them. They will verify and systematize the information, which will be presented to the responsible institutions and their international partners.
The organization has so far catalogued several cases of police violence.
In one a reporter of online media outlet Gospodari.com was deliberately hit 2-3 times with batons by police officers while live-streaming, despite saying he was from the media (he was not wearing a "PRESS" sign), was punched in the stomach by at least two police officers, as one of them was heard yelling "What are you doing here?". A cameraman from the same media was also hit with a baton.
Police tried to force a photojournalist of the online media outlet Dnevnik.bg to delete photos showing police officers dragging a boy away and slamming his head into a garbage can. The officers chased him while threatening him and deliberately punching through his camera. The photographer refused to delete the pictures, and after the intervention of a Nova TV crew, the police retreated.
Two reporters of Darik Radio's sports show were briefly detained by police along with protesters and random members of the public that were passing by. They witnessed the police invade a bar area and started broadcasting live. One reporter was hit several times with a baton.
A photojournalist from an international news agency was sprayed in the face by a police officer.
Sofia Police Chief Lyubomir Nikolov said earlier on Friday that a total of six briefs have been opened regarding cases “where it can be said that police officers possibly had physical contact with citizens at the protest”, to use Nikolov’s words. The cases would be investigated and information made public in less than a month, said the Interior Ministry.
The AEJ expresses belief that the Interior Ministry's decision should be reconsidered "because the practice of the Sofia Directorate of the Interior checking itself for police violence, including against journalists, has not proven effective." They call for an independent investigation into the cases of the evening of November 16 "to avoid Interior Ministry’s vicious practice of checking and therefore covering up their own officers".
/RY/
news.modal.text
