Bulgarian police detained a man after he pointed a gas pistol at a Turkish minority party leader as he was delivering a speech at a party caucus in the capital Sofia on Saturday. No shots were fired.
A man has jumped on state while Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) was on stage, and aimed a gun at Dogan’s head at close range. Ahmed Dogan is the leader of Bulgaria’s ethnic Turkish party. Security guards tackled the offender to the ground during live a televised conference, but only after the gun was aimed squarely at the speaker’s head.
Several men beat and kicked the offender as he tried to sit up. Police identified the offender as Oktai Enimehmedov, 25, from the eastern coastal city of Burgas. Police said he was carrying the gun and two knives.
Ahmed Dogan, escaped uninjured, and it was not immediately clear why the attacker targeted him at the party congress in central Sofia.
Television footage showed the man jumping out of the audience brandishing the gun which he pointed at Dogan’s head. Security guards pulled him to the ground and he was repeatedly beaten and kicked by conference delegates. Enimehmedov was taken away with a bloodied face.
Movement for Rights and Freedoms, (MRF) is a centrist political party in Bulgaria, relying on the votes of the Muslim minority.
A gas pistol is a non-lethal weapon used for self-defense and other purposes. It is typically a close-to-exact replica or conversion of a real handgun made to be able to fire tear gas cartridges only.
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