site.btaPolice Officers Acted within Law during February 22 Protest against Eurozone Entry, Interior Minister Says

Interior Minister Daniel Mitov was asked during Parliament's Question Time about police actions against Vazrazhdane supporters during a February 22 protest against Bulgaria's eurozone entry. "If necessary, further checks will be carried out on the circumstances," he said on Friday.

Asked why three of the detainees were left in just their underwear for several hours, and who would be held responsible, Mitov said police officers acted within the law and observed relevant regulations. He explained that procedural-investigative actions were carried out against the detainees in the presence of witnesses. Three of them had given written consent, the fourth had not, and then the text of the law on actions under urgency was applied. The detainees were provided with other clothes brought by their relatives, the Minister added.

Vazrazhdane MP Viktor Papazov said that the fourth detainee was left 15 hours without shoes. Papazov argued that search and seizure should only be carried out in broad daylight and, in cases of urgency, at night when a serious crime is involved.

"Nothing required these people to be stripped and held naked for hours at night. Standing around without clothes humiliates people. My advice is that those responsible should be disciplinarily dismissed because Bulgaria will again be sued in Strasbourg for human rights violations," Papazov said.

In response, Mitov said that the only humiliation he had seen was "the photographing and distribution of these people in their underwear for the whole of Bulgaria to see." He explained that this was not allowed and the police had made it clear to the person with immunity who took the photographs that it was not allowed to take such pictures. "The humiliation is a fact, but I do not think it came from the police," Mitov stressed.

Asked about the inspection of buses with citizens near Simitli and Veliko Tarnovo, Mitov said that the police actions were within the law. The stopping of buses was done in accordance with the functions of the Interior Ministry officials and were on the occasion of what happened in front of the European Commission (EC) building in Sofia, said Mitov.

He added that during the protest in front of the EC building in Sofia there were people who were incited to violence, who were exercising or trying to exercise violence. "If you are politically responsible people, you will have to be careful what you call your supporters to, because then they suffer because of you, they are your responsibility, because of you they are where they are," the Мinister added. He pointed out that the actions of the protesters constituted a gross violation of public order.

"I do not know how legitimate actions of the Interior Ministry can be defined as repression," Mitov said.

On 22 February, Vazrazhdane organized a protest for the preservation of the Bulgarian lev, in front of the Bulgarian National Bank. Later, tensions escalated in front of the European Commission's representation in Sofia after anti-euro protesters threw red paint and bombs at it. The door of the building was set on fire. The bombs continued to rumble for several minutes and police officers pushed the protesters further away from the building. Firefighters and gendarmerie representatives came to the scene. Six people were detained because of what happened. The court permanently remanded four of them in custody, imposed a precautionary measure "petition" on one of them and released one of them because he was a minor. The pre-trial detention measures are not final and are subject to appeal and protest.