After the reports and footage of police violence. The point of view of the Gendarmerie Directorate and how it responds to allegations of unlawful use of force against citizens.
“I was on the front line and from the very beginning I was hit with a stone in the intimate area. I fell to the ground, one of the colleagues saw me and pulled me back,” said the junior. Insp. Alexander Varbev. After the protest, he was hospitalized for two days.
“Personally, I have not witnessed police violence. In the active method of pushing out the crowd, we did not make any physical contact with the protesters. We personally did not have any clashes with the protesters in the evening itself. I haven’t watched all the videos, I came across some in which there was no police violence”, said Insp. Panov, Gendarmerie Directorate.
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Insp. Nikolov stated that they distance themselves from acts of violence. “I want to emphasize that there are monthly trainings in our service and we strive to observe the correct tactical and legal actions. Just tonight, I think we did our job as well as possible”.
“We cannot speak for the colleagues who did this thing. We are here to tell about our actions and everything that happened against us. We also show some of the equipment that was damaged – the helmets, the shields. Every single employee of the Directorate has the inscription “Gendarmerie”, reported Senior Insp. Ruskov.
The Directorate denies that there were any employees at the protest who were not identified. According to them, every uniform has a number. “Everyone has personal protective equipment. Each office has a person who has an individual camera and records constantly during the protest”, he added.
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“It should be clear to everyone – the water cannon is the most painless aid that the Ministry of Interior can use. The water jet has only a psychological effect against the protesters. The idea is to push them away just by the sight of the water, so that there is no contact between the police and the protesters. It was used at 1/3 of its maximum power,” said Senior Insp. Ruskov.
Reporter: Tatiana Yordanova
2023-11-21 06:23:21
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