In brief
A National Security Service officer was arrested after video showed him pushing Sonya Koltuklieva onto a Sofia pavement on Thursday, 22 October. Prosecutors opened proceedings to test whether the force was disproportionate.
AGI reported a shoulder fracture that could need surgery, while Bulgarian media cited by Greek outlets listed a dislocated shoulder, a collarbone fracture and a concussion.
Mihaela Dotsova returned to apologise, called the incident unacceptable and said she would ask the security service chief for the strictest measures.
Boyko Borisov, the opposition leader and former prime minister, demanded Dotsova's resignation after the video spread on social media.
A criminal investigation by the Military Regional Prosecutor's Office is examining whether the officer used disproportionate force, and the security service pledged a detailed review of the footage.
The confrontation outside party headquarters
On Thursday, 22 October, Sonya Koltuklieva, a reporter for the PIK news site, tried to question Mihaela Dotsova, the speaker of Bulgaria's parliament, outside the Sofia headquarters of the governing Progressive Bulgaria party. The encounter came just after a closed-door party meeting that Prime Minister Rumen Radev had attended. Video shared widely on social media shows the reporter opening the door of Dotsova's car while filming her with a phone. Dotsova avoided the questions and got into the vehicle. A male officer then stepped out and pushed Koltuklieva onto the pavement, and the footage shows her lying there, barely moving from the pain, as the car pulled away.
Injuries and the arrest
Accounts of her injuries differ. AGI reported a shoulder fracture that could require surgery and further checks for internal injuries, while Bulgarian media cited by Greek outlets described a dislocated shoulder, a broken collarbone and a concussion. In a Facebook post she wrote that she was still alive:
“Thank God I am still alive! It was brutal, truly cruel.”
The officer, a man from the National Security Service, has been arrested. ProTV reported that he was led out of the military district prosecutor's office in handcuffs and then taken into custody by military police.
Political fallout
Dotsova returned to apologise to the journalist and said the reporter's attempt to ask about the Atanasov case had caused her stress. She called the incident unacceptable and affirmed her respect for the press. Iliana Yotoiva, the president, who oversees the National Security Service, also condemned the attack. Dotsova said she would ask the security chief for tough measures:
“I will ask the head of the National Security Service to take the strictest possible measures, because this must not happen again.”
Boyko Borisov, the opposition leader and former prime minister, demanded that Dotsova resign after the video spread. The Association of European Journalists in Bulgaria called for an investigation and accused the officer of leaving Koltuklieva without checking her condition.
Inquiries and background
Prosecutors opened a criminal investigation to determine whether the officer used disproportionate force. In a statement on Friday, 23 October, the National Security Service said its press office would examine the footage in detail and that the harshest measures would follow if any action was found disproportionate.
The confrontation came as Koltuklieva was pressing Dotsova for comment on parliamentary hearings about a pardon granted by President Iliana Yotoiva to drug trafficker Ognyan Atanasov. NewsIT said those hearings had been postponed several times. AGI described Koltuklieva as a 69-year-old veteran journalist.