The police chief of Bolintin Vale (a city in Giurgiu County, southeastern Romania) has been dismissed less than 24 hours after a video of him assaulting a gypsy man in his backyard hit social media.
The short video shows a scene with several gypsy people laying on the ground and the Bolintin Vale police chief, Commissar Șerban Costel Marian, beating one of them in front of his colleagues and gendarmes. Police were at the location because a group of gypsies were having a party, listening to very loud music and consuming alcohol, activities that are prohibited under the present curfew. The identity of the person who captured the brutality on camera is still unknown. A young Romanian entertainer published the video on social media, and it has so far accumulated over 2 million views.
Police intervention in this particular case was legal, but the commissar’s use of brutal violence was not warranted in the slightest, prompting Minister of Internal Affairs Marcel Vela to dismiss the police chief. Furthermore, a criminal case has been opened against the policeman for abusive behavior.
Title image: Bolintin Vale police station. Image credit: bolintin-vale.cylex.ro
