Press Release: Bulgarian Helsinki Committee Gravely Alarmed by Yet Another Police Brutality Case

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee is gravely alarmed by yet another case of police brutality in Sofia, which left Mr. Peter Nachkov with corporal damage. Despite the efforts of the management of the second regional police department to acquit the officers involved, the available medical reports, publicly broadcast in mass media, show unequivocally that the violence used was disproportionate, unsanctioned and, hence, illegal. There is no justification for the attack and infliction of serious damage to a 56-year-old man by a large group of armed police officers. They have acted out of a sense of impunity, as the incident took place during daytime, at a busy location in front of a large group of on-lookers.  

The Prime Minister Borissov’s call for resignation of those involved is insufficient. Resignation and disciplinary punishment are inadequate measures to compensate Mr. Nachkov and his family for the harm suffered. What is necessary is a quick, independent and objective trial that only the Prosecutor’s office can provide. The court should enforce fair punitive measures to those guilty of brutality. 

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee would like to call attention to their “Police brutality: stop now!” campaign, launched over a year ago in an attempt to harmonize the Bulgarian legislation with the European Convention for Human Rights guidelines and to ban the overuse of power and arms by the police. This has not happened yet. This new case of police brutality serves as a signal that the time has come for the authorities to fulfill their responsibilities and change the faulty law.