Ad Hoc Committee in Parliament to Look into Nov. 16 Protest of Football Fans

UPDATED Ad Hoc Committee in Parliament to Look into Nov. 16 Protest of Football Fans

BTA Photo

Sofia,

24.11.2023 10:30 | UPDATED 24.11.2023 20:01

(BTA)

Voting 123-28 votes with 31 abstentions, Parliament decided Friday to establish an ad hoc committee to look into a November 16 protest of football fans against the leadership of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU). The motion for the establishment of the committee was a joint one, submitted by GERB-UDF floor leader Dessislava Atanassova, who chairs the internal security and public order committee.

The November 16 protests started as a peaceful rally against the football union leadership but went violent, leading to clashes between football hooligans and police. Multiple videos published on the social media showed police officers using unnecessary force against random people and members of the press. Those prompted calls for the resignation of Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov, to which the Prime Minister said he was willing to consider his replacement but GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms are adamant that Stoyanov should stay.

The ad hoc committee has 18 members, three from each parliamentary group, and a term in office of one month. It is expected to establish if the legislation regulating the work of the Interior Ministry and rallies were observed, to prepare a report and propose legislative changes, if necessary.

The committee will be headed by Atanas Atanassov (Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria).

He said that the committee will have to clarify contradictions in the coordination among the authorities in charge of public order and security. He also said because of these contraditions, legislative changes are needed to improve cooperation.

The decision for the establishment of the committee was backed by Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, GERB-UDF, BSP and There Is Such a People. It drew ire from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and Vazrazhdane.

MRF floor leader Delyan Peevski said that the committee is "absolutely unlawful", that there was nothing to probe because the police "did their job and contained swiftly a monstrous act of vandalism, and that there are prosecutors and Interior Ministry inspectors to do investigations.

Peevski added, though, that his party voted in favour of Atanassov. That showed that the committee could not have a chairperson elected without MRF, he argued.

Vazrazhdane leader raised objections to the election of Atanassov as committee chair because he is one of the ruling majority and "will have to investigate himself".

GERB leader Boyko Borissov said that "while it is true that Parliament is not an investigative body and the committees of inquiry are mostly talk", he believes that "the public should know who, why and how allowed football fans to hold 'a peaceful protest'". He also said that it is important to understand "who drove the people into the narrow streets, and also the policemen should understand once and for all that they cannot use more than the admissible force when they make arrests".

Later on Friday, a group of supporters of the BOEC civil movement gathered to protest against police brutality in front of the Interior Ministry's building. Georgi Goergiev of BOEC demanded that Stoyanov bears responsibility for the police officers who exceeded their powers and his resignation. According to Georgiev, the officers in question and their supervisors should also be dismissed.

/MR/