The deputies listen to the chief commissioner of the SDVR Lyubomir Nikolov in the National Assembly about the police reaction to the multi-thousand-strong protest in Sofia.
„Even at the beginning of the preparation of the mass event, colleagues were instructed to observe every single action of persons - provocateurs and aggressors, who would try to provoke the police authorities to enter into a confrontation with them“, Nikolov explained.
He explained that during the briefing he ordered about 170 operational workers to briefly observe the actions of the persons who had previously taken as possible provocateurs. “We brought such individuals to the checkpoints, they were constantly monitored by our officers. Subsequently - after the start of the unregulated procession, they were tracked to the place where the escalation of tension began“, said the chief commissioner.
Lyubomir Nikolov revealed that the escalation of tension began in front of the headquarters on “Vrabcha“ Street after repeated warnings from the field manager Mr. Georgiev. The person in question warned the organizers that such a procession would cause a gross violation of public order. “In this regard - the claim that the police officers were not on site and were not in the necessary number to respond to possible aggression is not true“, Nikolov categorically stated.
According to him, the building of the headquarters of “DPS–New Beginning“ was guarded by a platoon of highly equipped police officers from specialized police forces. “The procession, accompanied by our police officers, was closely monitored. When tensions escalated, the buses were located on “Dondukov“ Blvd. and were not included in the actual guarding of the aggressive procession, which is why bars were not installed, since they did not participate in the actual repelling of anti-social manifestations“, he commented.