There is no evidence of any lies from the Ministry of Interior. We left Ruse on the same day with a briefing with the Minister of Interior, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior, the mayor and the regional governor of Ruse. This was announced by Filip Popov, Deputy Minister of Interior, to Nova TV.
„The briefing is an outdated concept, I assume that the official bulletin is meant, which is until 00:00 on the relevant day. The prosecutor's office was immediately notified with a report and an investigative case was opened at the OP-Ruse, from now on the prosecutor's office is the only competent authority that can disclose facts in the case. Even from the new recording that leaked from these „BG trolls” – "The BG elves," some fairy-tale characters, I don't see how this changes what the Ministry of Interior said," he expressed his opinion.
“The footage shows a car that is definitely speeding down this street. The camera recording shows excessive speed. Even if we assume that the entire incident was caused by Senior Commissioner Kozhuharov's neighbor, how does this change the fact that a police officer, in order to fulfill his official duties, was severely beaten, with a torn kidney, with hematomas, with a liter and a half of blood lost?“, he also asked.
“If the speed had been normal, would the mother have pulled the child? It is obvious that the car is going at a fairly high speed in urban conditions on this narrow street. We have submitted all available records to the Ministry of Interior, we have done our job”, the deputy minister also said.
According to him, in the first moment after the incident, Kozhuharov did not feel bad, but later sought medical help: “Nobody lies – he was examined at midnight, when he was beaten, and then he felt bad and was admitted to the hospital. A Bulgarian policeman was beaten like a dog, and you ask me if he went to the ambulance twice.”
”I do not know if he consumed alcohol, and it is irrelevant to the case. What does it matter whether someone drank one or two beers? Only the driver of the car was tested for alcohol and drugs, Popov explained.
He does not know if there are any body camera recordings of the police officers who arrived at the scene.
“It is perverse that you ask me about the tomatoes, what do they have to do with the beating of Senior Commissioner Kozhuharov? For me, they have absolutely nothing to do with it,” he added.