Vice President of CITUB Trade Union Was Released nearly 3 Hours after Detention during Protest of Foretsry Workers

CITUB Vice President Todor Kapitanov was released nearly three hours after being taken into custody for questioning at the police station in the village of Trud on July 14. Kapitanov described the actions against him as pressure and police arbitrariness.

“My colleagues and I tried to exercise our legal right to protest, which was met with an unprecedented display of anti-union behaviour by law enforcement authorities,” Kapitanov said.

• Clashes Between Police and Protesters Near Plovdiv: Will the Trakia Motorway Be Blocked? (PHOTOS & VIDEO)

According to Kapitanov, the actions of the authorities represent a violation of both Bulgarian law and international directives.

“Apparently, in Bulgaria, workers’ protests are not well-received—especially when they are demanding fair increases to their miserable wages,” the CITUB vice president commented.

He showed the media an official detention order, a search report, and a citation issued for failure to comply with a police directive.

“Until the very end, I didn’t know the reason for my detention, especially considering that last week we had already clearly communicated our protest plans,” Kapitanov added.

Earlier, Alexander Markov from the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior – Plovdiv stated that Todor Kapitanov had not been arrested, but rather brought in for questioning.

This occurred shortly after the start of a protest on the Trakia Motorwayby employees of the state forestry and hunting enterprises.