© Nadezhda Chipeva, Capital
–
Presidential candidate Boyan Rasate has been detained on charges of attacking a community LGBTI center in Sofia over the weekend. Once earlier in the day the prosecution said it could not find him, to serve the indictment, he appeared in a pre-election campaign on BNT, after which he was arrested by the police.
Yesterday, October 1st, Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev requested Rasate’s immunity, and shortly afterwards the Central Election Commission (CEC) unanimously approved the request. The prosecutor’s office also clarified that it is still unknown what measure of restraint will be imposed on him.
The state prosecution announced today that they cannot find Rasate at the address he lives in, as well as in other places he is known to visit. Tonight, however, he appeared in a dispute on Bulgarian national television. Immediately afterwards, he was detained in front of the public media building and taken to the First District Office to be charged.
On Saturday, October 30 Rasate and a dozen more stormed the center while an event was taking place. They destroy the property, and Rasate punches a girl in the face. Police arrived shortly after leaving the group. So far no one has been detained for the case.
The attack was strongly condemned by the ambassadors of 11 countries in Bulgaria (United States, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland and France). Some of them visited the center as a sign of solidarity.
The commissioner on Tuesday on Human Rights of the Council of Europe Dunja Mijatovic also condemned the attack and called on authorities to investigate quickly. In Bulgaria
–
