Journalist Sonya Koltuklieva was pushed by an officer of the National Security Service and fell onto the pavement outside the headquarters of Progressive Bulgaria in Sofia.
The incident occurred on the evening of October 22, shortly after Prime Minister Rumen Radev’s briefing, while the journalist was trying to ask National Assembly Speaker Mihaela Dotsova a question.
Video footage of the incident shows Koltuklieva opening the door of the official vehicle in which Dotsova was sitting. At that moment, a security officer pushed Koltuklieva, causing her to fall backward onto the pavement, where she remained motionless. The vehicle and its security convoy then left the scene. The footage does not show any NSS officer offering assistance to the fallen journalist, BGNES reported..
Koltuklieva was examined at the Military Medical Academy. According to her, doctors diagnosed her with a fractured shoulder.
The NSS officer involved in the incident was detained by the Military Prosecutor’s Office.
Dotsova later apologized to Koltuklieva. The parliamentary speaker explained that she had been startled upon seeing Koltuklieva in front of the vehicle but had not witnessed exactly how the incident unfolded.
Opposition parties in Parliament called on Dotsova to take political responsibility and resign.
President Iliana Iotova condemned the NSS officer’s actions as an unacceptable and excessive reaction that could not be justified by the performance of official duties.
Edited by Ivo Ivanov
Translated by Kostadin Atanasov