European rights court fines Bulgaria for ill-treating anti-govt protester

Sofia: Bulgaria was fined for the police’s degrading treatment of Dimitar Pedev, who took part in a demonstration in July 2020 – which the court said violated his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled on Tuesday that Dimitar Pedev had been subjected to degrading treatment upon his arrest by the Bulgarian police during an anti-government protest on July 10, 2020, in Sofia.

The applicant alleged that Pedev had been beaten, handcuffed and dragged along the ground by officers during his arrest and detention, and had then been attached to his bed for part of his three-day stay in hospital.

The act occurred during one of the most tense nights of the protest wave that targeted the long-lasting governance of the GERB party and its leader, Boyko Borissov, who was Prime Minister in three government between 2008 and 2021.

In the case Pedev v Bulgaria, the court unanimously ruled that there had been two violations of Article 3 (prohibition of degrading treatment/obligation to conduct an investigation) of the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of Pedev’s immobilisation while in hospital.

On the night of July 10, Pedev allegedly abused several police officers and was arrested for 24 hours. He was examined by an emergency doctor that evening and again examined by a doctor at the police station, then taken to hospital to be treated for concussion and dizziness.

Pedev was discharged on July 14 after being examined by a forensic medical examiner who noted the presence of injuries, scratches, and haematoma on several parts of his body, including his elbows, wrists, knees, arms and back.

Following a preliminary investigation, the public prosecutor’s office in Sofia decided not to institute proceedings against the officers, finding insufficient evidence of a criminal offence.

A simultaneous disciplinary inquiry concluded that no disciplinary offence had been committed. In parallel, the authorities charged Pedev with swearing and spitting at the arresting officer and he was convicted of those offences.

But the ECHR notes no indication in the case file that the applicant had behaved aggressively towards the police officers or hospital staff, or had attempted to injure himself.

The court has told Bulgaria to pay the applicant 6,500 euros in damages and another 3,510.73 euros for costs and expenses.

Police violence against demonstrators during the anti-establishment protest wave of 2020-2021 was widely discussed at the time, with the police denying wrongdoing.

When an interim government took over in 2021, footage of police brutality from the night of July 10 was released, and a prosecution probe followed. But in 2023, media reported that the Sofia court and the Prosecution had delayed the case for so long that the statute of limitations for prosecuting a minor injury by a law enforcement officer had expired.

The protest wave was among the factors that triggered a cycle of elections between 2021-2024.

The unrest served as a platform for a new generation of politicians across all spectrums: the nationalist There’s Such a People first benefitted from the widespread frustration, then centrists. However, in January, another GERB-led government took over, currently in coalition with There’s Such People and the pro-Russia Bulgarian Socialist Party.