Martin Varadinov, the detained guard of the National Protection Service (NSO), has told investigators that a superior ordered him not to let journalist Sonya Koltuklieva near parliament speaker Mihaela Dotsova, according to unofficial information. The military prosecutor's office has not confirmed this.
The incident happened on Thursday evening, 22 October, outside the Progressive Bulgaria headquarters in Sofia, after an event with Rumen Radev and a meeting of the party's executive bureau. Koltuklieva wanted an interview with Dotsova as she was getting into her official car. The journalist opened the car door, which had already been closed, and an NSO guard shoved her. She fell onto the pavement. The video spread on social media, and the NSO referred the case to the military prosecutor's office. Koltuklieva has a fractured shoulder, and prosecutors have opened a pre-trial investigation.
How it began: NSO checks guard who knocked Sonya Koltuklieva down outside party headquarters
Varadinov gave his statement of his own free will. It is not clear who gave the order, or whether it came before or after the journalist opened the car door. According to the same information, the guard admitted that he was upset about something else at the time and lost his temper. He gave this as the reason for using excessive force on the reporter.
At 12.30am, Varadinov was led out of the Military Appellate Prosecutor's Office in handcuffs. He is being held in the cells of the Fourth District Police Department in Sofia. Prosecutors are unofficially considering asking the court to keep him in custody, but there is no confirmation of such a request.
Koltuklieva's colleagues, cameraman Hristo Poryazov and journalist Dimitar Georgiev, gave investigators their video of the clash. It will be part of the evidence used to establish how the guards acted.
After the incident, the journalist was examined at the Military Hospital and sent home for treatment. She told BNT she had about 6 scans of her head, neck, spine, internal organs and legs. Dr Ivanov of the Military Medical Academy told her: "Of all the worst things that could have happened to you, this is not the worst."
Later reports say Koltuklieva may need surgery. Medical records and expert reports will show how serious her injuries are. She has not yet seen her own records, because they are with the Military District Prosecutor's Office.
The journalist was questioned there after the examination and stayed about two and a half hours. Dotsova and Anton Kutev arrived at the building at about 10.10pm, and the speaker spoke to Koltuklieva in person. Dotsova called for a full check and the toughest action.
Koltuklieva described the talk differently. She says Dotsova expressed regret but in fact made excuses and kept saying she was startled when she came out of the headquarters and saw only the journalist outside. Koltuklieva says she told her to leave. "Nothing she says is sincere, and they are trying to make me look guilty when I am the victim," she told BNT.
Dotsova did not apologise and did not turn to see what was happening when Koltuklieva fell, the journalist added. She believes the guards told Dotsova only that she had fallen.
GERB called for Dotsova to resign. President Iliana Yotova condemned the guard's actions and called on NSO chief Maj Gen Emil Tonev to resign. She said the case must be cleared up quickly and that someone must take responsibility if rules were broken.
The NSO has begun an immediate internal check into whether its staff followed the rules on protecting officials. The service called for respect for the inviolability of the people it guards.