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Elected official accused of killing Roma in Elin Pelin

By Liz Fekete

1 March 1997

The chair of the municipal council in Elin Pelin is accused of killing the 24-year-old Roma, Valentin Gheorghiev.

Gherorghiev and his brother were in the act of stealing galvanised iron sheets from the yard of a private estate owned by the public official when he rushed out crying, 'Dirty Gypsies, I'll kill you all.' At first, Petar Savrov fired shots into the air, but when the Roma ran away, he continued to shoot. Savrov was initially detained by the police but later released. He remains chair of the municipal council.

Background

According to ERRC, impoverished Roma in this district often resort to stealing metal and metal parts, including telephone wire and other copper wiring. They are, however, small fry in a non-Roma criminal network, reselling the metals to secondary processing companies. Within this network, Roma perform the task only of pulling hot coals from the fire. Attempting to steal metal frequently ends in death or serious firearms injury for the Roma.

Newsletter of the European Roma Rights Centre, Autumn 1996

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