Human
rights news: February 2004
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19 February 2004 |
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Romani man shot dead by security guard during attempted theft |
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A security guard shot and killed a 23-year-old man of Romani origin while the latter was attempting to steal several bags of wheat, the Regional Police Directorate in Veliko Turnovo reports. The incident happened on 17 February in the village of Paisii, near Gorna Oryahovitsa, between 1 and 2 a.m. The security guard working in one of the village's agricultural cooperatives heard noises during the night and went out to inspect. 41-year-old Georgi Dimitrov saw three men on the territory of the cooperative. He caught two of them and started leading them inside. Police say that at this point they attacked him. Dimitrov managed to take out his gun and fired. One of the two men, Apostol Apostolov, 23, was wounded fatally in the heart. The second man was also shot, but managed to run 200m before collapsing to the ground. The police found 13 cartridges from Dimitrov's gun. Dimitrov is said to have bruises on the head, face and other parts of his body. An investigation into the murder has been initiated. |