Violence against men

With 144 votes "in favor", the Bulgarian parliament adopted the amendments to the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence in the first reading. With them, "intimate relationship" is equated to marital partnership and cohabitation without marriage, and victims receive the same opportunities for protection.

At an extraordinary meeting, the legal commission in the Bulgarian parliament adopted changes to the Criminal Code and the Law on Domestic Violence. Penalties for minor and moderate bodily harm are increased, and intimate relationships are equated to cases of domestic violence along with de facto conjugal cohabitation.

A drunken 45-year-old man beat his wife and father-in-law in front of his daughter in Burgas. The report of domestic violence was filed shortly after midnight from an apartment in a building in the "Slaveykov" district, bTV reported.

10 people were detained for illegal migrant trafficking during the specialized operation against illegal migration from today, BNT reported. 9 of them were detained by "Border Police", the tenth - by the Metropolitan Directorate of Internal Affairs.

At the beginning of June, the Czech Justice Ministry unveiled the Childhood Without Violence Initiative aimed at reforming the Civil Code and bringing the Czech Republic up to date with its international obligations on child protection and the fight against domestic violence.

The Bulgarian police took down a human trafficking network from Turkey through Bulgaria to Western Europe.

Five people were detained on the territory of Haskovo. The organizer of the trafficking ring, a Syrian, and four Bulgarian citizens, complicit in the criminal activity, were detained.

According to BNT, the Syrian has humanitarian status in Germany.

A 53-year-old police sergeant on the island of Lesvos was sentenced to 16 years in jail for repeatedly committing lewd acts against a 14-year-old girl and trying to solicit her to take part in pornography.

The court ruled that the sergeant should not be granted extenuating circumstances, but found him not guilty of rape of a minor. 

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate, who was detained in Romania, has been charged with rape, human trafficking and setting up an organized crime ring to sexually exploit women. His brother Tristan and two of his associates face the same charges.

Both of them denied the charges.

The Romanian organised crime prosecutors on Tuesday charged brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate with organising a criminal group, aggravated human trafficking, aggravated rape, unlawful access to a computer system, tampering with the integrity of computer data and instigating battery or other violence.

The same human trafficking ring responsible for Wednesday's shipwreck off Pylos in southern Greece had ferried people from Libya to Italy 18 times in two months, according to reports.

Europol's assistance has already been sought to dismantle the ring.