site.btaIt Is Too Early to Talk About Resignations, GERB-UDF Deputy Floor Leader Angelov Says on Police Violence Case

GERB-UDF Deputy Floor Leader Kostadin Angelov commented Thursday the calls for Interior Minister Daniel Mitov's resignation after a man in Varna died due to alleged police violence. "The first thing we expect is to see results from the work of the Ministry of Interior. It is early to talk about resignations," Angelov said.

He expressed condolences to the relatives of 36-year-old Yavor Georgiev, who died after he was taken in custody. The young man's relatives and friends have come out in protest as they believe police violence was perpetrated against him and are demanding a full clarification of the truth.

"We believe that the reaction of the Interior Ministry is overdue," Angelov added.

"We are definitely not satisfied with the results achieved by the Interior Ministry. We insist that these results, which are adequate to all that we did for the Ministry, be achieved very quickly. Bulgarian citizens should feel the security of the flag and it should be worn with honour", the GERB-UDF Deputy Floor Leader said. "We have increased the salaries of those working in the system of the Interior Ministry and we expect results from them," he said.

"We expect results from the Minister of Interior. We believe that for these months the time of adaptation is over," Kostadinov added.

"We expect the professional leadership of the Interior Ministry to apply all the strictness of the law and to enforce the law, to conduct all the necessary training, briefings so that this kind of police violence will never be allowed," Angelov stressed. The Minister of the Interior has the ability to fire, to punish, to hold accountable, to conduct an investigation, he said.

Regarding Democratic Bulgaria's bill on the mandatory wearing of the so-called body cameras by police officers,  Angelov commented that this draft law was submitted to the 49th National Assembly and received negative opinions from all institutions because it duplicates an existing regulation of this problem. "Body cameras were introduced in the third term of the government of [GERB leader] Boyko Borissov. Currently, the Ministry of Interior has more than 4,000 body cameras, of which 3,000 are in the security police and 1,000 in the traffic police," he argued.