TV presenter Sonya Koltukliyeva is in the emergency department of the Military Medical Academy after an incident with a National Protection Service (NSO) guard of parliament speaker Mihaela Dotsova. It happened in the evening outside the headquarters of Progressive Bulgaria on Hristo Botev Boulevard in Sofia. The incident was filmed, and the video is spreading on social media.
Koltukliyeva had been covering a briefing by prime minister Rumen Radev, set for 5pm. She stayed on afterwards and broadcast live on her personal Facebook page.
Dotsova came out of the headquarters and got into the back seat of an official car. The presenter opened the door herself and asked Dotsova why Progressive Bulgaria had already twice derailed the hearings on the pardons granted by Iliana Yotova while she was vice president.
The video, shot at sunset shortly after 6pm, shows an NSO guard pushing the presenter away from the door. She falls on her back onto the pavement. It is not clear whether the push directly caused the fall. By the end of the video, several men try to bring her round, and nothing suggests she can move her body or head.
When the video was posted, it had been circulating for about 15-20 minutes. Enough people were at the scene to have seen what happened.
Dotsova's guard is being sought, and the military prosecutor's office is to be notified of the violence against Koltukliyeva.