I am a "good law abiding" citizen Десен.
Dumb laws - I use discretion - it's a Bulgarian thing, but hey - thanks for bringing us back to my favorite topic - me;)

Cops in BG are regular folks and they know it. Cops in the US think they are not.
That's much more disturbing to me than an occasional petty bribe.

This case is one of overshow of force, for whatever reason, and this is why I likened it to the US.

Since [...]

Read the full comment this is about me, let
me tell you a story;
the first time I was pulled over, in BG, it was on an empty street in Sofia. Four am a cop car's just quietly following me. I stopped and they just came up parallel to me and through the window asked me how things are going... then asked me for my license.
After seeing my California license they started chatting and one of them remembered tha last guy they pulled over with such license - the poor fellow had his hands on the steering wheel and was affraid to move!
Since I had no other place to go, besides go to bed, and it was practically in front of my home, we ended up sitting there, chattig and of course went through the Sofia center schools, to find out if we have common friends, being the same age and all with one of them. It went on until they were called somwhere.

I was not prepared for such a lack of professionalism, but I came to prefer it.

"Cops in BG are a joke, and that's how I like them..."

Maybe you're not a law abiding citizen, that's why you like them this way...

Too bad cops in BG are not smart enough to know the joke is on them.

For God sake! such a demonstrative arrest by arm to teeth members of force authorities dont' do no good, especially such is being exercise at Hospital. No consideration is given to the OFFICE he held,a Defense Minister in any country is regarded as third or fourth in command. The manner of arrest is disgraceful to such Office. We shall also not forget that everyone have a skeleton in his cupboard. Sooner or later these skeletons will be uncovered.

Yeah I am sure there are good people in every line of work.
I think it's the pride and authority people feel in "the uniform" in general that rubs me the wrong way... I mean, how "proud" can you be - you are wearing an uniform!

Cops in BG are a joke, and that's how I like them...

Oh, of course I know that in many countries, such as the U.S., there exists the a legal premise of 'innocent until proven guilty'. But, along with the strength of this legal premise do come some very serious and unavoidable weaknesses. There are very real human rights abuses occurring everyday around the world, to call what was said a human rights violation in my opinion is a bit overboard.

Well Valeri, you are certainly not alone in your feelings about cops in the U.S., and with good reason. For me, sometimes I despise them too. At [...]

Read the full comment the same time, I am sure there are some very decent ones. That being said, I don't personally know any.

"Too many run ins with the police in the U.S. Valeri? :) LOL."

No, too many dumb run ins with the cops - like getting pulled over with wife and kids in the car by 4 black&whites with lights going crazy, shouts left and right, kids crying.... the contempt I feel for American cops is almost boundless... insecure pricks...

"There is absolutely no way that the courts would tolerate such media coverage, or police involvement with it, in the UK or Republic of Ireland."

So?

Is this some sort of Gold Standard that we should all follow? They are Anglo countries and have a different justice systems. The French have completely different for example, where jury trials are not guaranteed.
Why do Anglo folks always give themselves as examples?

I am not a lawyer, but do we have such non sense like "innocent until proven [...]

Read the full comment guilty" in BG? If he is presumed innocent why is he getting arrested? That just dumb.

I am amazed that the sorts of arrests that are shown on Bulgarian TV every night have not resulted in cases being thrown out of court as prejudiced.

There is absolutely no way that the courts would tolerate such media coverage, or police involvement with it, in the UK or Republic of Ireland.

As 'American Expat in BG' should know the principle of any civilized judical system is 'innocent until proven guilty' and police and media treatment will undoubtedly eventually follow suit in Bulgaria whatever Tsvetanov says.

Whether [...]

Read the full comment it takes court cases at a European level or not though remains to be seen.

Too many run ins with the police in the U.S. Valeri? :) LOL.

I saw the videotape and was a bit surprised to see the arrest go the way it did with the guns and such....normally you'd only see this style of arrest in the U.S. if the suspect was being arrested on charges of some type of violent crime. White collar crimes generally warrant a regular cop and not a SWAT team to make the arrest.

I am sure that having him lay on the ground, etc., was meant to humiliate [...]

Read the full comment him to a certain degree, at least that's my take on it. Although, some may disagree with the tactics used, I have to say, I also don't like when everybody lawyers up and threatens to sue over 'human rights violations'. I think that while what was said could be interpreted as unprofessional, not sure I'd call it a human rights violation. This is also so typical in the States.

"This showed a confused but compliant Tsonev being arrested by armed, masked police officers. Police, who were pointing their guns at him, shouted at him to remain calm."

Too many American movies. Cops in the States are like that.