The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) will take the detention of three of its mayors to all European institutions and all law enforcement and judicial bodies, the party said in an official statement. The mayors of Sungurlare, Belitsa and Kardzhali were detained on three days in a row, one each day.
DPS leader Delyan Peevski told reporters in parliament yesterday that Radev personally orders the police raids, including the one in Sungurlare. He was replying to the prime minister, who opened the cabinet meeting with remarks about "the top of the oligarchy".
See also: Peevski says Radev personally orders police raids
In its statement, DPS calls the raids a show. It says they reveal how Progressive Bulgaria and prime minister Rumen Radev see the election campaign. The party asks whether this is a settling of scores with its voters.
"Radev will not hide his failure behind show raids by the police. He will not silence the voice of the opposition. And he will not scare us," DPS said.
The party gives several possible reasons for the detentions. It says it has promised to expose the corruption schemes of Progressive Bulgaria and of the "Radev-Koprinkov" model. DPS mayors refused to back that model in return for "peace and protection", and the party calls the offers "shameful". It has also criticised the cabinet's foreign policy, which it calls "spineless".
The complaints will be about "police repression and pressure, and the turning of the security services into a political club". DPS says this recalls the days of State Security. The party believes that using the police and the services shows fear and panic over the failure of Radev's rule, while protests grow stronger every day.
DPS says Progressive Bulgaria, with its "incompetence", has declared war on everyone: people struggling with high prices, pensioners, children and the sick, trade unions, business, farmers, traders and bankers. The list also includes students, young doctors, the civil service, state employees, and owners of property and cars.
The party says it will keep exposing the corruption of the "Radev-Koprinkov" model and will not abandon its voters. It adds: "We existed before Radev, and we will exist after his noisy failure."
Follow-up: Mayors of Sungurlare and Belitsa charged with criminal conspiracy to peddle influence