Journalist shoved: Military court releases NSO bodyguard

The military court in Sofia late on Friday released Martin V., an officer of the state protection service NSO, from custody and imposed no preventive measure on him. Military prosecutors accuse him of causing medium bodily harm to a journalist. According to BNT, the court found insufficient evidence that the officer pushed the woman in a way that caused this injury. There was no well-founded suspicion of a crime, it said. The panel accordingly accepted the defence's argument that the bodyguard had dutifully protected a protected person in a situation of sudden danger.

The defence had asked for a lighter measure instead of the detention sought by the prosecution. The defendant told the court: "I believe I have performed my duties lawfully." His lawyer argued that the officers could not have recognised the woman as a journalist because she was holding only a phone, not a microphone or camera. The incident occurred on Thursday after a party board meeting outside a party headquarters in Sofia, when the journalist tried to put questions to parliament speaker Mihaela Dotsova and reopened the already closed car door. According to BNT, a scan at the Military Medical Academy found a fracture of the left shoulder; the woman was discharged for treatment at home.

The case has had personnel consequences: NSO head Maj. Gen. Emil Tonev has submitted his resignation to head of state Iliana Yotova, according to the presidential office. According to the NSO, members of the security team have been removed from duty until the inquiry is completed. It was initially unclear whether prosecutors would challenge the release.