With Full Majority Parliament Called on Chief Prosecutor Geshev to Answer for Police Violence

Politics » DOMESTIC | August 17, 2021, Tuesday // 15:58
Bulgaria: With Full Majority Parliament Called on Chief Prosecutor Geshev to Answer for Police Violence prb.bg

Members of Parliament adopted a decision by an absolute majority, according to which the Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev must submit a report on the investigation of the police violence. The report must be submitted to parliament by Friday, August 20th.

The draft decision is by "Democratic Bulgaria", "BSP for Bulgaria", "There Is Such a People" and "Stand up BG! We are coming". The decision “For” voted 167 MPs, "against" - 0 and "abstained" - 0, with which it was adopted.

The report must cover the activities of the prosecutor's office and investigative bodies in law enforcement in connection with cases of police violence and use of additional means by officials against protesting citizens in the period July 1 - September 30, 2020, including the actions taken to designate persons who have exceeded their powers, as well as the reasons for the delay of the investigation.

"This is a central question of how the penal policy is applied in the country," announced the chairman of the DB group, Hristo Ivanov, from the rostrum. He recalled that the state had lost more than 50 cases to the European Court of Human Rights for police violence, which had turned into a system. He announced that this was the reason why Bulgaria was placed under another supervision, "another shame".

Hristo Ivanov stated that there is one way for Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev not to come to the National Assembly for a hearing - to resign.

In a statement, deputies condemned the acts of police violence during the protests in 2020. The resignations of the two interior ministers from the government of "Borisov 3" Mladen Marinov and Hristo Terziiski were also demanded.

Toshko Yordanov, chairman of the PG "There Is Such a People", said that today the Bulgarian parliament has completed the work of the Bulgarian prosecutor's office. According to him, the debate in the hall has shown clear evidence that there are "sadists" in the Bulgarian police, which means that there is no filter for the appointment of people in the police. Toshko Yordanov called on two former interior ministers Mladen Marinov and Hristo Terziiski to resign. He pointed out that anyone who does not feel empathy is a sociopath, and said that two of these sociopaths are in this room, referring to the two interior ministers. "You, as a party, can remove them, if they had any moral foundations, they would leave on their own," Yordanov said, addressing his colleagues from GERB.

Yordan Tsonev, Deputy Chairman of PG DPS, pointed out that the movement strongly condemns what happened. Tsonev said that the brutality of power in Bulgaria has roots and traditions and refers to Bulgaria's totalitarian past. "Police violence and the police have traditions in this country," Tsonev said, adding that the “policeness” in this hall have always been used to the detriment of the people and honest police officers.

"Violence in this country must stop and everyone must make an effort," urged Radomir Cholakov of the GERB-SDS. According to him, the violence was provoked last year.

"We will need a responsible government to govern, including as you believe, the Interior Ministry, which will protect citizens against external and internal threats," he insisted. And he reminded that a wave of migrants was coming.

"You couldn’t tell the young people that you regret that they were beaten. Resign now and keep your dignity and that of the party you represent," Antoaneta Tsoneva of the DB addressed former interior ministers and current GERB MPs from the rostrum, Mladen Marinov and Hristo Terziiski. "You want us to believe that you, Borisov, Marinov, Terziiski, haven't seen this recording, that you can lie to us here in groups. You've seen and covered up this recording - go to the front and say two words, 'sorry,' 'resign,'" she continued.

According to her, these atrocities are covered up by the police and the police by the prosecutor's office. "We found out today that the prosecutor's office" saw "the atrocity only after the recording went around the media on Friday. There is no category for the way Geshev treats this atrocity," Tsoneva added. Therefore, the Prosecutor General must submit a report on systemic problems in the event of police violence.

Tsoneva pointed out that the young people who were beaten last year and were on the balcony of the National Assembly today, probably left unsatisfied with what this hall is doing.

From the statements of Ivan Geshev yesterday it became clear that he does not intend to come to the parliament. "There is a long-standing practice of the Constitutional Court, which excludes parliamentary control over the work of specific magistrates and unfinished cases," Geshev told BTA yesterday. Formally, the prosecutor's office is still investigating the beating behind the columns of the Council of Ministers last summer. /OFFNews

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Tags: Ivan Geshev., Chief Prosecutor., police

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