site.btaPoliticians React to Death of 36-year-old Yavor Georgiev in Varna

Tension arose after the death of 36-year-old Yavor Georgiev, who died after he was taken in custody in Varna, on the Black Sea. 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. Interior Minister Daniel Mitov Thursday called the case a "police overreach" and dismissed Interior Ministry's Varna Directorate Director Andrey Angelov from his post to restore confidence in the seaside city's police. Parliamentary parties reacted to the case on Thursday. 

Vazrazhdane Floor Leader Kostadin Kostadinov read a declaration in Parliament on behalf of the parliamentary group, calling for Interior Minister Daniel Mitov's resignation over the death of Yavor Georgiev. “The Interior Ministry is seriously gangrenous and needs to be cut,” Kostadinov said. Kostadinov also demanded hearings of the Interior Minister and the Minister of Health.

Democratic Bulgaria once again submitted an amendment bill to the Ministry of Interior Act, which would oblige police officers to wear body cameras, announced Yes, Bulgaria Co-Chair and Democratic Bulgaria - Continue the Change (CC-DB) MP Ivaylo Mirchev in Parliament. He said that DB proposed a bill, making body cameras mandatory, back in February 2024 and that the bill was stopped by GERB-UDF MP Manoil Manev, Chair of the Internal Security and Public Order Committee. Mirchev stated that the responsibility for police violence is now on GERB.

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

MRF-New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski was adamant that Interior Minister Daniel Mitov must not resign. Asked if Mitov should resign over tensions sparked by the death of a 36-year-old man who was taken into police custody, Peevski told reporters: "I stand behind this very democratically minded minister. The competent authorities should say what happened. We should not be hasty with criticism, nor should we undermine the state institutions." Peevski further said it is not fair to generalize about all police officers based on a single case. 

MECh leader Radostin Vassilev told journalists in Parliament that according to him GERB in the face of the group's deputy floor leader Kostadin Angelov have practically removed confidence from the interior minister. According to Vassilev, there is now way back for Interior Minister Mitov. Vassilev commented on the case saying that the situation is because of many years of politically incompetent appointments. "Daniel Mitov is the most incompetent minister who has ever appeared in this ministry and he should have left a long time ago, when we all found out in the hall that he was protecting the smuggling channels in Plovdiv, that he was protecting an organized criminal group operating on the territory of the Interior Ministry's Burgas Department, and because there are no angels and demons for him in the system, there are obviously some people who need to be politically used," Vassilev said.

The MECh leader said that his party will support a bill of Democratic Bulgaria on body cameras worn by police officers.