Bulgaria: Five Wounded in Racist Assault on Roma in Pazardjik
MINELRES moderator
[email protected]
Thu, 02 May 2002 20:48:45 -0700
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Human Rights Project <[email protected]>
Subject: Bulgaria: Five Wounded in Racist Assault on Roma in Pazardjik
Human Rights Project *
Press Release
Five Wounded in Racist Assault on Roma in Pazardjik
Sofia, April 19, 02 - The Human Rights Project has received a
complaint from Roma people concerning a racial motivated assault.
Our representative Mr. Dimitar Georgiev has checked the situation and
after the visit of the place of the accident it was found out that on
April 16, around 5.30PM a group of around 15 Roma (there were several
women and children among them) were assaulted by some people. The Roma
came back from religious meeting at Benkovsky stadium, organized by
the Pentecostal Church.
Near to the Police school the Roma was attacked by five or six persons
that get off from a jeep. Beside these attackers some more persons
persecuted the group of Roma on the streets. The attackers has reviled
the group of Roma. They were armed with bats, chains and knuckle -
dusters. As a result of the assault five people were beaten up and was
taken off to a hospital. Atanas I. /18/, Metody G. /20/ and Assen A.
/32/ have medical certificates and it is written in them that they
have a lot of traumas some of which according to the opinion of the
physicians are punctured ones. The victims recognized one of the
assailants - Marko Valev.
It should be noted that some not Roma people, attracted by the cries
of the beaten up people got off from the big house located near by the
"place of the battle" and helped to the Roma to beat off the attack of
the vandals.
The beaten up people brought suites before the local police station.
It is the second case of the racial motivated assault on Roma in that
town. On February 2 six young Roma people /there were two girls among
them/ were assaulted by three assailants. As a result of the attack
Dimiter Sh. and Dimiter M. have hospitalized with bullet wounds.
Our observations show us that with the coming of the birth day of
Hitler - April 20 - as a rule the number of the racist motivated
assaults have increased.
Because of it the Human Rights Project insists the police, the
prosecutor's office and the courts to take all necessary measures for
the stopping of the cases of racial motivated violence against Roma.
For example only during the last year our organization investigated
mor than 20 cases of assaults against Roma in different places in
Bulgaria.
*Human Rights Project was established in the summer of 1992 as a
non-profit organization focusing on monitoring the human rights
situation of the Roma in Bulgaria, and on legal defense in cases of
serious human rights abuses. The HRP monitors the human rights
situation of the Roma community in Bulgaria and reports on the cases
which it had investigated; works with Roma volunteers from all over
the country who report on the human rights observation in their
region; conduct independent extrajudicial investigation into
allegations of human rights violations against Roma; hire lawyers to
take up selected cases and monitors the process of legal defense;
advocates legislative and policy changes in favor of Roma.
Rumian Russinov is Chair of the Board of HRP. Dimitrina Petrova and
Nikolai Gouginski are members of the Board.
Emil Cohen is Executive Director.
Our address: 23 Solunska St., 6th floor; 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
Tel./fax: (+359 2) 986 35 46 and (+359 2) 981 50 66; E-mail: =
[email protected] and [email protected]
--
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe
Submissions: [email protected]
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected]
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================