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Background information on criminal justice system

By Liz Fekete

1 December 1996

According to Krassimir Kanev of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the apparatus of the Bulgarian law enforcement agencies is slipping from democratic and judicial control.

Police brutality and rising crime rates are contributing to the climate of insecurity which has accompanied the collapse of communism and the introduction of a deregulated market economy.

In May 1995, the interior minister announced that 17 people died while in custody during the previous 14 months. The fact that detainees have scant protection while in police custody, and the lack of redress for the victims of police violence, are major contributors to these deaths. For instance:

There is no legal mechanism to ensure detainees access to a solicitor or doctor at the police station, although these rights exist on paper.
Under Bulgarian law, only a military prosecutor can bring a prosecution against a police officer. Ethnic minorities are particularly affected by a system which ensures no private prosecution is possible.

Fortress Europe 1.10.96

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