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© Julia Lazarova
I expect punishments both for the provocateurs, who provoked the protests’ disturbances, and for the policemen, who exceed their rights and beat innocent citizens, President Rumen Radev said today in a meeting with Interior Secretary Ivaylo Ivanov, the director of SDVR , Georgi Hadjiev and the head of SANS, Dimitar Georgiev. . “I am equally concerned about the police and the protesters,” he added. The head of state insisted that the detainees have a lawyer in a timely manner and that the police act in such a way as to avoid excesses.
The reason for the meeting was the events of September 2, when there were clashes between protesters and police, arrests and information on police violence. According to data from the Interior Ministry, 80 Interior Ministry employees were injured that day and 126 people were arrested. No information was provided on the injured protesters.
At the beginning of the meeting, there was a difference in the positions of the president, who claimed that the police had illegally used innocent protesters, and Ivanov, who believed that the operation had been carried out very well.
The secretary general of the Ministry of the Interior pointed out that during the protests on the morning of September 2, policemen from the cordons were trapped in the groin. Ivanov admitted that an employee had been “burned”, but promised to verify all those cases and punish the guilty.
As for the injured journalists, the Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior implied that there were people with a journalist card who attacked the police with various objects and fireworks. “The press card does not grant immunity to anyone when they do not fulfill their obligations,” Ivanov said.
SDVR Director Georgi Hadjiev noted that the police had been passive for about an hour to preserve civil peace and more clearly identify the most aggressive people present at the protest. According to him, there are about 700-800 people. Hadjiev summarized that in case of massive riots there can be no casualties on both sides.
SANS President Dimitar Georgiev commented that there was no preliminary information in the service about the planned provocations of the protests. In response, Rumen Radev noted that he hopes SANS will work more actively to receive such up-to-date information.
