site.btaUPDATED Interior Minister Says Sofia Municipality Approved Protest but Not March on Monday, Securing Unauthorized Route Is Impossible

Speaking in Parliament's debating chamber on Thursday, Interior Minister Daniel Mitov said that the Sofia Municipality had approved a protest, not a march, on December 1, and it was impossible, in practice, to secure the protection of a crowd moving along an unapproved route. Mitov was speaking at a hearing regarding the actions of the Interior Ministry and the Sofia Directorate of Interior during and after a large-scale protest in Sofia on December 1.

The Sofia Municipality approved the protest to take place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. near the Council of Ministers building and the National Assembly building, the Minister said. He noted that 21 security checkpoints were set up within the perimeter of the approved event.

"Around 8:30 p.m., [former CC co-leader] Kiril Petkov and [CC-DB co-Floor Leader] Nikolay Denkov led part of the protesters along Dondukov Boulevard," Mitov said. In practice, it is clearly impossible to ensure the security of a crowd moving along an unauthorized route that is not included in the Sofia Directorate of Interior’s plan or in the protest route approved by the Sofia Municipality, he added.

Individuals displaying aggressive behaviour were spotted among the peaceful protesters and were monitored by operational officers. "As it was not possible to remove hostile protesters from the peaceful protest without risking mass unrest, their actions were recorded and tracked," Mitov said.

Before, during, and after the mass gathering, no physical force was used against the protesters. Only pepper spray was used, he added.

"What is most important is that, following all events of the evening, not a single participant in the protest suffered serious injuries as a result of police actions to restore public order," the Interior Minister noted. Three officers from the Sofia Directorate of Interior were injured, one of whom was hospitalized. A total of 75 people were detained, 23 of them already known to the Interior Ministry for involvement in unrest during previous protests. Nine of the detained were aged under 18, Mitov added.

He said that police officers arrived immediately when the unrest outside the headquarters of the Movement for Right and Freedoms - New Beginning on Vrabcha Street began. Special police forces also intervened right away, he noted.

Mitov denied claims that "someone from the Interior Ministry had organized aggressive actions." He clarified that when it comes to the organization and tactical actions during the protest, the minister cannot issue instructions or interfere in the work of the Ministry’s professional leadership.

Addressing MPs in the debating chamber, Chief Commissioner Lyubomir Nikolov, Director of the Sofia Directorate of Interior, said that even during preparations for the mass event, the police had been instructed to monitor the actions of provocateurs and aggressors who might try to provoke the authorities. "I ordered about 170 operational officers to closely observe the actions of individuals identified as potential provocateurs," he added. "The claim that police were not present on site and that there were not enough officers to respond to potential aggression is not true," Nikolov said. He noted that the MRF - New Beginning headquarters was guarded by a platoon of highly equipped officers from specialized police units. "The march was accompanied by police and monitored by security and operational staff, who recorded every action that constituted a serious public order violation," the Chief Commissioner added.

Asked by a GERB MP why the police vans had no protective grilles, Nikolov said that when tensions began to escalate, the vans of the specialized police units were on Dondukov Boulevard and were not involved in securing the march and responding to anti-social actions. "Installing grilles would have prevented the damage that was later observed," he noted.

Bozhidar Bozhanov MP of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria accused the Sofia Directorate of Interior of lying. "At 9:10 p.m., there was no police presence in front of the MRF - New Beginning headquarters and the provocateurs were already heading there," he said and asked why these groups were not removed in a timely manner.

Nikolov said that the organizers, the Sofia Municipality, and the police have a shared responsibility. The Interior Ministry identifies individuals whose actions violate public order, and the mayor assesses whether a permitted or approved event should be halted if it is likely to disrupt public order, he added. Since the Interior Ministry cannot restrict the right of protesters to freely express their voices, stewards from the organizers were expected to indicate to the police which individuals should not be allowed to attend the protest when the checkpoints were set up. "During our screening, no such instructions were received from the organizers," he noted. "When tensions escalated - first in front of the MRF headquarters - the police could not in any way remove aggressive individuals from the peaceful crowd, as this would have led to further escalation," the Sofia police chief said. 

Thursday's hearing was also attended by Ivan Georgiev, head of the Sofia police mass gatherings unit, and Nikolay Nikolov, director of the gendarmerie.