Bulgarian interior minister advises Algerian ambassador to be “careful” about his remarks

Bulgarian interior minister Tsvetelin Yovchev criticized Algeria’s ambassador to Algiers Ahmed Boutache following clashes between Algerian immigrants at a temporary detention center and the Bulgarian police.

The minister called on the ambassador to be careful in his remarks, a Bulgarian news website reported.

It added that the minister is unsatisfied over the Algerian ambassador’s remarks about the events. “I think that in similar cases, foreign diplomats should take in consideration respect duty,” he said.

“First of all, remarks must be based on acts,” he added, saying the investigation results has not been known yet.

He also said the Bulgarian interior ministry will use video tapes as evidences as they show that policemen did not provoke the Algerian immigrants.

“There is no person who has broken head and arms because of the clashes. Surveillance cameras showed that reasons behind the events are not those reported by media.”

The Minister also said he did not notice any illegal behavior among the Bulgarian policemen.

He added that about 120 Algerians went on a hunger strike a few days ago due to difficult conditions inside the detention center. Some of them tried to force others to stop eating. The police isolated them. Because of that, the clashed took place.

Spokesman for the Algerian foreign ministry Amar Blani told Echorouk the ambassador started conducting official procedures at Bulgarian authorities to draw their attention to wrongdoings and violent acts which happened on November 30^th against Algerian nationals.

He added that some remarks reported by Bulgarian media were overstated. “We need to calmly wait for the results of investigation meant to shed light on those clashes.”