After the reports and footage of police violence, the Directorate of Gendarmerie also gave its point of view on the accusations 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 my colleagues saw me and pulled me back,” said Junior Inspector Alexander Varbev. After the protest, he was hospitalized for two days, NOVA reported.
“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 Inspector Panov, Gendarmerie Directorate.
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,” he said.
