site.bta Interior Ministry Knew About the Recording and Still Lied, Says Assen Vassilev Regarding Ruse Police Chief Assault

The Interior Ministry knew about the recording and still lied, Continue the Change Chair Assen Vassilev told reporters in Parliament on Wednesday, speaking about the detained youths accused of assaulting the police chief in Ruse.

“Institutions must follow the law, take care of citizens, and report the truth in court, but they lied to the court and the citizens. That is reason enough for the minister to resign,” Vassilev added, commenting that a fair trial should have preceded the youths’ detention.  

The defendants have been charged with causing grievous bodily harm, but the recording shows two police cars arriving and an ambulance leaving 67 seconds after it came, with no one inside, Vassilev said. “If there was grievous bodily harm, the victim should at least have been examined,” he added. Vassilev emphasized that this wasn’t included in the police report and that the youths weren’t detained at this time.  

According to the court’s ruling, the youths behaved arrogantly, disturbed public order, and insulted people who tried to stop their actions. “The question is: what actions were those people trying to stop, when they were simply walking drunk down the street, as is evident from the recording that came out?” Vassilev asked.  

Vassilev further commented that similar actions took place in the case of Blagomir Kotsev. People inconvenient to those in power are repressed without reason, while the authorities protect those who are convenient, Vassilev said. 

He added that the Bulgarian people are being systematically robbed by those in power. “Bulgaria spends the most on prosecution and judiciary compared to all other European countries as a percentage of gross domestic product. We rank second in police spending,” he said, comparing Bulgaria's ranking 21st in healthcare spending and last in EU in terms of minimum wage. “This shows the government’s priorities,” Vassilev remarked. 

The Director of the Ruse Police, Senior Commissioner Kozhuharov, was attacked from behind and suffered blows that later led to his hospitalization with a broken rib, a torn kidney, a hematoma, and blood loss of about 1.5 litres, Interior Minister Daniel Mitov said earlier on Wednesday.