Mladen Marinov: more than 5,000 vehicles were returned by police officers

More than 5,000 vehicles were returned from checkpoints because they were unable to prove the necessity and urgency of the trip. This was stated in an extraordinary briefing by Interior Minister Mladen Marinov.

“By all reports, it was obviously the busiest day today because there wasn’t as much work traffic during the week as on Thursday, realizing that most of the statements are incorrect,” he said.

Marinov added that police officers at today’s checkpoints were subjected to extreme humiliation by citizens “who do not understand or neglect the danger or want to prove that no law is applied to them.”

By order of the Minister of Health, Sofia was closed for traffic from 00:00 on April 17 until the second request. Outside of the time windows of 06:00 to 08:00 and 18:00 to 20:00 there will be no way for private cars to move to and from Sofia, Mladen Marinov said. Within Sofia, within established control points, they can move freely at the moment.

These are the windows where people with private cars going to work with a full statement and proven need will be able to leave Sofia. For the rest of the time, only cargo and specialized services remain, he said.

For a second request, the reasons why this temporary restriction was imposed must be overcome, the health minister explained.

“The statement, which has been submitted to date, remains valid, indicating the workplace and phone number of the manager or company owner to confirm when the police believe they have to verify,” the minister said.

Regarding the vehicles returned to the checkpoint today, the minister said it was a cat and mouse game:

“I go there because I have to put away my cabbage or throw it away and a bunch of different nonsense that … can’t determine all the simplicity my colleagues heard there.

However, I do not know those who have managed to deceive them, how they will return under these imposed measures, because I promised them all and yesterday I told them that from a small part of the verified statements we found very serious violations. Those who have completed incorrect data will have problems with justice, “said Mladen Marinov.

“I have ordered the police to have all of today’s statements across the country and that statements to be completed on weekends take precedence for this check, so anyone who has entered incorrect information will also have problems.”

I didn’t want to get here, but after seeing today that society shows self-discipline, I think that in order to protect everyone who follows the measures, everyone who understands seriousness and helps us protect their interests, we must be more strict – for those who they ignore them, Marinov added.

Organized road passenger transport, including long-distance passenger transport, also stopped moving under second orders, the health minister added.

Regarding people who have already left Sofia and will want to returnMaj. Gen. Mutafciski recalled that a massive review of the documents presented at launch began.

“These citizens will also receive some procedural action when they enter. If they were employed, of course, they should return to Sofia,” he said.

The general added that police officers deserve material and moral compensation:

“Because they carry such a large burden on their shoulders, both at checkpoints, in neighborhoods, and when controlling quarantines, the police are doing the main job right now during an epidemic, so it turns out “

“The Prime Minister has ordered, and we make the appropriate calculations within the ministry, and we determine the category of employees who should receive additional compensation for efforts they make outside of those in a normal situation to counter the coronavirus. Naturally, not all employees are exposed to one and the same workloads, but those on the front line who control how quarantine is performed and maintained, and those in a risky environment will receive additional rewards, “said M Aden Marinov .

“With respect to the scope of control points, because until now our efforts have not been to hinder citizens, but to strike a balance between security and to facilitate citizens who really go to work and home, or those who do not live in the center of Sofia but live in the Sabes neighborhoods , Sofia is a specific metropolis for the scale of our country and most people travel 30-40 km a day. There is no point going through 3 checkpoints to get to Bozhurishte and get to work. That was the idea and it was a good intention, but obviously only with good intentions things are not happening, so these measures are rigorous enough right now, if they don’t work they will probably be more stringent.

With respect to those who go homein fact, most of them will find it difficult to explain the purpose of the trip as of today and why they have to go home after indicating that they live at an address outside of Sofia. Most likely, they did so in the omitted statements. But let’s see what happens by then, “added the interior minister.

Mladen Marinov said he was extremely disappointed in the citizens’ attitude towards the police.

“We cannot go to the police when we have a sunrise or ask for help, and when the police work for our safety, we cannot bother with their work.” This should not be allowed in any country.

With respect to the detours used by some citizens, Today we have made changes to the checkpoints, mainly between Pernik and Sofia, so that we stop passing unobstructed to some settlements around Sofia and Pernik. We can’t cover absolutely everything, our goal is to cover core traffic. “

For the moment this measure only applies to Sofia, because in other regional cities traffic is much less and people seem to be more respectful, said the minister.

“There are A legal opportunity for the military to get involvedBut we have to wait for this moment since the police officers are working in a risky environment and we currently have 30 police officers with positive coronaviruses. If that time comes, much of the police force is in quarantine so that we can deploy new forces – the army, “he added.

“Measurements are designed for people to conform to measurementsthen we give them these windows. Therefore, each employer, in view of the state of emergency, needs to change their schedule, change their shifts so that they can pass. There is no way back. Sofia has 1.5 million, maybe 2 if we take measures for 10 people, 15, 100, 1000, we cannot reach the goal “.