Seven out of nine police chiefs in Sofia replaced

The chiefs of seven police stations (out of nine) in Sofia were replaced after numerous inspections, caretaker Minister of Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev told a briefing on October 24. He said that the inspections were initiated following the investigations into the serious accident in Sofia in July, in which two young women were killed and taxi driver injured after former football player Georgi Semerdzhiev, ran a red light at a large intersection and following the crash on the Ring Road in September in which a French citizen died.

the cretaker minister specified that the people who will be replaced did not provide police protection in these cases, but also did not take the necessary actions to prevent such incidents.

"The people we are going to replace did not exercise an umbrella over anyone, but they also did not exercise the necessary control, they did not establish actions that would not lead to a case like the one with Georgi Semerdzhiev and like the other case with the crash on the Ring Road," he said.

The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth police departments will have new heads. They were chosen on the proposal of Ministry of Interior Chief Secretary, General Petar Todorov.

The leadership in the Kyustendil Police Department will also be changed. The current deputy director will be appointed as the head of the department.

"Senior Commissioner Svetoslav Grigorov dared to blatantly violate the rules, dared to lie to me directly to my face," Demerdzhiev said, adding that during the pre-election period Commissioner Grigorov had met with "sufficiently high-ranking" GERB representatives.

Demerdzhiev commented that the line of political appointments should not continue in the Ministry of Interior.

"Without rotations, we cannot ensure good organisation in the regional offices of the Sofia Directorate of Interior," he said.