Frum Doctor Shot to death in exam room in California

Newport Beach, CA - A doctor was fatally shot in an examination room of an Orange County medical office, and the man who police believe shot him was taken into custody in the same room without a struggle, authorities said.

Several 911 calls reported six or seven shots fired Monday afternoon at the medical office near Hoag Hospital in Orange County, Newport Beach police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe told The Associated Press. Officers found a man dead from gunshot wounds in a patient examination room, Lowe said.

They took into custody another man in the room.

The victim was a doctor, Deputy Chief David McGill told the Los Angeles Times. The doctor’s name and relationship to the gunman weren’t immediately clear.

However the Daily Pilot and other news sources identified the victim as 53 year old Dr. Ronald Gilbert, A neighbor who lives near Gilbert’s large hacienda-style home in Huntington Harbour said the family was “really nice.” “I have nothing but good things to say,” neighbor Betty Combs said. “They are practicing orthodox Jews. On Saturdays, they dressed to the nines and walked to synagogue.”

Witnesses told several media outlets the doctor was a urologist. The floor of the shooting included the offices for Orange Coast Urology, which lists three doctors on its staff. A phone message at the clinic said the office was closed.

Becky Calderwood said she works two doors down from the office where the shooting took place, and said the gunman was a patient.

“I sit right at the front desk, I would have caught the first bullet,” Calderwood told the Times.

No one else was injured or targeted, Lowe said. “It does appear to be an isolated incident,” she said.

Detectives were interviewing employees and patients in the building.

Kristen Cotty, who works as an office supervisor at a lab one floor above, said she thought the gunfire was construction noises.

“What’s going on with the world today?” she told the Orange County Register. “I mean, schools, now I got to worry about going to work. This has got to stop.”

Police investigate as medical personnel exit the scene outside a medical office near Hoag Hospital where shots were fired on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013, in Newport Beach, Calif. Police say a doctor has been shot and killed and a man is in police custody. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Joshua Sudock)

Police and medical personnel stand outside a medical office near Hoag Hospital where shots were fired on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013, in Newport Beach, Calif. Police say a doctor has been shot and killed and a man is in police custody. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Leonard Ortiz)

Frum Girl Suspended from Yeshiva because she sang on "The Voice"

An Orthodox school in Israel suspended Ophir Ben-Shetreet, a 17-year-old girl, after she sang on the Israeli version of The Voice, arguing that her appearance violated the laws of kol isha that forbid men from hearing women (who are not their wives, mothers or young daughters) sing.

Sexual Abuse Case against Yeshiva Torah Temimah will go forward!

A Brooklyn judge has rejected an Orthodox Jewish day school’s attempt to settle a civil lawsuit brought by a boy who said he had been sexually abused by one of the school’s teachers.

Supreme Court Justice Jack Battaglia denied Yeshiva & Mesivta Torah Temimah Inc’s motion to enforce a confidential settlement because the parents of the alleged abuse victim changed their minds and rejected the deal after they signed it in 2011.

“The court cannot say on the record presented that the refusal of (plaintiff)‘s parents to proceed with the settlement in accordance with the Feb. 15, 2011, settlement agreement is unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious,” Battaglia wrote in a ruling Wednesday.

The underlying lawsuit was one of several filed by alleged abuse victims and their parents against Yeshiva & Mesivta Torah Temimah, which operates Orthodox Jewish day schools in Brooklyn, the ruling said

The case was brought in 2006 by a boy who said he was abused by Rabbi Joel Kolko during the 2003-2004 school year. It was not immediately clear whether Kolko still teaches at Yeshiva Torah Temimah.

The boy, who according to the ruling is now 15 years old, is not named in the decision. His parents are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

The claims include negligence in hiring, supervising and retaining Kolko and breach of fiduciary duty.

In 2011, the parties reached a confidential settlement agreement, which was signed by the boy’s parents, the ruling said. Days later, the parents reversed course and said they no longer agreed to the settlement, which they said had been signed under “duress,” the ruling said.

The parents also said they had come under fire from some members of their community. A rabbi at the school told them they would “bankrupt” the yeshiva and destroy it in the way “the Nazis (have) destroyed” the “yeshiva in Europe,” the ruling said.

Lawyers for the school disputed that the parents had signed under duress, according to the ruling. They moved for an order approving an infant compromise, which would allow the court to approve a settlement involving a claim brought by a minor.

Battaglia rejected the request.

The settlement “might well be found to be in the infant plaintiff’s best interests, but that is not the standard for a settlement contrary to the judgment of the infant plaintiff’s parent and counsel,” the judge wrote.

The school and a lawyer for the plaintiff did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday.

CRIMINAL CASE

Kolko, a first-grade teacher who taught at the Yeshiva Torah Temimah in Brooklyn, was indicted by local prosecutors in 2007 for sexually abusing a former student. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and was sentenced to three years’ probation.

He was rearrested in 2010 after prosecutors accused him of violating a protective order that barred him from interacting with the boy who had accused him of abuse. Following a jury trial last year, Kolko was acquitted of violating the protective order.

A lawyer who represented Kolko in the criminal case did not immediately return a request for comment and Kolko could not be reached for comment.

It is unclear if the boy in the criminal case is the same as the one in the civil lawsuit before Battaglia. It is unclear whether Kolko still teaches at Yeshiva Torah Temimah.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has come under scrutiny in recent years for his office’s handling of sex abuse cases involving members of Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community. In some media reports Hynes has been accused of helping community leaders cover up high-profile accusations. Defending his office’s actions, Hynes has said secrecy may be necessary in some cases to help shield victims from harassment and intimidation.

In 2009, Hynes created a program called Kol Tzedek—Hebrew for “voice of justice”—to help victims of sexual abuse in Brooklyn’s insular Orthodox Jewish communities come forward. The program has led to 112 arrests and there are about 50 cases pending, according to Hynes’s office.

On Tuesday, a Brooklyn judge sentenced an Orthodox counselor, Nechemya Weberman, to 103 years in prison for abusing a young female patient.

The case is John Doe No. 4. v. Yeshiva & Mesivta Torah Temimah Inc, New York State Supreme Court, Kings County, No. 37492/2006.

For the plaintiffs: Frank Floriani and Glenn Nick of Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo.

For the defendant: Avraham Moskowitz and M. Todd Parker of Moskowitz & Book.

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Weberman's tiny victim took down a big monster!

Some things are worse even than dying.

The shy, pretty victim, now all of 18, summoned enough courage into her 100-pound body to stand up and face her tormentor yesterday in Brooklyn Supreme Court. For unrepentant monster Nechemya Weberman stole this young lady’s youth, her purity, her very identity.

And he wouldn’t dare look her in the face.

Weberman, the sadistic Satmar freak, savagely sexually abused the young girl for three years, burning her flesh with lighters and telling her she was human garbage. Yesterday, he slumped his gigantic girth into a courtroom chair, looking slightly annoyed, as a Brooklyn judge sentenced him to 103 years in prison.

He’ll likely die there, in the close company of his fellow scum of the earth.

It’s not enough.

His victim’s torment will never end.

She walked into the courtroom, petite and blonde, and spoke in a small voice. But her message rang out into the cheap seats, loud and clear.

She said, heartbreakingly, that the abuse she suffered at the hands of the ghoulish Weberman, 54, which began at age 12, was worse than cold-blooded murder.

For murder victims, the torment, mercifully, ends.

“Personally, I feel that the outcome of abuse is, in a way, far worse than murder,’’ she said, dissolving into tears.

“With murder, the person is dead and it is final. By abuse, the victim experiences death over and over. Again and again.’’

He stared at the table, at his hands, straight ahead. He wouldn’t look at her.

This young lady survived her near-destruction. “I would cover up the burn marks inflicted on my body he used to serve his sadistic pleasures,’’ she recounted.

In fact, she thrived — getting married and attending college classes, her husband said after court.

She had to make it. If only to make sure that this never happens again to another child.

As she spoke, the painfully young woman sounded wiser than her years, as she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. She pressed on.

She pointed an accusing finger at her own Satmar community, whose leaders she told me last month resembled the “Jewish Taliban.’’

Her neighbors betrayed her, shunned her, threatened her. And now that she has left a home she loved, the harassment persists.

In a way, the abuse of strangers was even more brutal than that inflicted by the sick and twisted Weberman.

Because the Satmars knew she was a victim of torture by Weberman, who was sent to counsel the girl by her school after she questioned her religion.

And her people — my people — didn’t care about her.

To some in the Satmar realm, keeping Weberman happy, burying his dirty laundry, maiming a child, was easier than finding justice.

This young lady never set out to be a hero. Only to survive. But now, she has to keep going to help other abused children stand up to reprehensible perverts like Weberman.

“I really hope (and pray) that this case sets a precedent and will tell other victims: You have a voice, even if you think no one will believe you and even when you’re scared of being chased and crushed by your community.’’

To the very end, Weberman was defiant.

He declined to speak in his own defense. He didn’t apologize. He refused to as much as glance at his accuser. And his lawyer, George Farkas, continued spinning the fiction that Weberman was the victim of a made-up story.

As Weberman was taken away in handcuffs, one thing became clear. He won’t be out there, getting his hands on young ladies.

For that, we have to thank one young victim who dared cry out in pain.

Victim of Weberman's impact Statement: He Burned My Body"

The statement read by the sexual abuse victim in the Nechemya Weberman case:

Thank you Honorable Justice Ingram for your role during this trial (and beyond). A very special thank you to Assistant DA Kevin O’Donnell and the staff at the DA’s office for your endless hard work and sleepless nights through the trial in order to see justice served.

Standing here, I think back to those years throughout my ordeal where I suffered great psychological damage and fell into severe depression. I clearly remember how I would look in the mirror and see a person I didn’t recognize. I saw a girl who didn’t want to live in her own skin. A girl whose innocence was shattered at the age of 12. A girl who couldn’t look at her own reflection without feeling repulsed knowing what abuse that tortured person was continuously experiencing. A girl who couldn’t sleep at night because the horrifying images of the recent gruesome invasions which had been done to her body kept replaying in her head. A girl who numbed her feelings and froze her emotions every minute of every day in order to stay sane. A girl who was forced to lose any respect for herself. A girl who lost the right to say NO, to an abuser who used and abused her repeatedly for years that seemed like forever and ever. A sad girl who so badly wished she could have lived a normal young teenage life but instead was stuck being victimized by a 50-year-old man who forced her to experience and perform sickening acts for his sick sense of pleasure again and again. I saw a girl who didn’t have a reason to live.

I would cover up the burn marks inflicted on the body he used to serve his sadistic pleasures. Every time I would look at it, I would get flashbacks and feel my body burning all over again. I would cry until my tears ran dry.

But now, with the help and support of sooooo many officials, family members, friends, supporters and of my dear husband, I finally stood up and spoke out. I gathered all my inner strength and courage to go through this battle. A battle of justice, to right in some small way the terrible wrong, to prevent further evil, to protect the innocent, and most of all, to heal. It continues to be a rough battle that brought me, my parents and my family great humiliation and intimidation, aggravation and rejection, strain and loss of business too great to describe. However, this same battle was one of righteousness. A battle that was the voice of other silent victims coming forward to bring this perpetrator to justice. Unfortunately, the others could not or would not publicly testify. Many were too scared to face the opposition and repercussions from the community while others had already passed the statute of limitations. But we were all one voice as they were with me in spirit. These others have identified themselves, sharing their painful story amidst a flow of familiar tears, while privately cheering me on for what they themselves were unable to follow through with.

I really hope (and pray) that this case sets a precedent and will tell other victims, “You have a voice even if you think no one will believe you and even when you’re so scared of being chased and crushed by your community.” Just know that you DO have supporters who will stand by you and ultimately truth will prevail and justice will be served. For religious Jews it is important to note that according to the leading authorities of Torah Law, bringing sexual predators to justice not only does not violate any law including the law of Messirah but is a great and proper thing to do.

Now when I look in the mirror and see my reflection, when I look at my body and see the burns, I can finally look and see past the pain. I can look and see some justice. I can see the other young girls who are now saved from going to and suffering from this monster. This trial prevented them from experiencing the horror I went through. I can finally look at my reflection and be happy that G-d gave me the strength to hold out and stand up for what is right. I can proudly say that even though I have suffered so much as a young girl but I somehow came out as a strong woman.

As for my abuser, how were you able to stand here and deny the torture of all these years? All the abuse and pain you inflicted? You played around with and destroyed lives as if they were your toys! As if they were yours to claim! This kind of physical, sexual and emotional abuse doesn’t just disappear in a vacuum. It takes years and years to heal, possibly to never fully recover. Personally, I feel that the outcome of abuse is in a way far worse than murder. With murder, the person is dead and it is final. By abuse, the victim experiences death over and over, again and again. The abused is never completely dead but instead keeps dying day in and day out with no end to the repeated dying.

Honorable Justice I would like to ask that when you proceed with the sentencing for the crimes committed by my abuser, that even though he will never have a sentence equivalent to the suffering he inflicted, without the slightest bit of mercy or regret, upon innocent, helpless and defenseless souls, that you have in mind to protect and have mercy on his many victims and to protect his potential victims from ever having the opportunity to hurt them. Thank you.

Weberman gets 103 Years, Video

 With her voice quivering and her slender body shaking, an Orthodox Jewish teen repeatedly violated and sexually tormented by her community counselor in Williamsburg, starting when she was just 12, bravely asked a judge  to bring this “monstrous perpetrator” to justice.

Judge John Ingram did not fail her, sentencing 54 year old Nechemya Weberman–a father of 10– to 103 years in state prison, noting of the beautiful, blonde victim “Her youth was taken away from her.”

The victim, now 18, stood just six feet from her convicted molester, as she emotionally recounted three years of being forced to perform sexually deviant acts in the counselor’s home office, which had 3 locks on the door. The girl was ordered into therapy in 6th grade, when she dared to question the strict dress code of the Satmar Hasidic community in Williamsburg.

Her parents paid Weberman $150 a session, and the girl testified instead of counseling her, he forced her to perform oral sex the first time she sought treatment.

The molestation escalated to include Weberman’s attempts at intercourse, the girl had testified.  She often attended counseling three days a week.

In a packed courtroom, the teen emotionally told the judge about the toll the abuse took on her:

“I think back to the years of my ordeal,” she said. “I saw a girl who didn’t want to live in her own skin, a girl who couldn’t sleep at night….when images of the gruesome invasion of her body kept playing in her head….performing sickening acts for his sick sense of pleasure.”

The girl had testified that Weberman had forced her to watch porn in his office and then copy what she’d seen on screen during their sessions.

The victim was not permitted to testify about one, specific form of sexual torture she attributed to Weberman and his porn fetish: his use of a lighter to drip burning fluid on her stomach, which left her with scars.  But she referenced that activity on Tuesday during sentencing.

The teen said “I feel the outcome of abuse is far worse than murder,” shortly after she had cried, as she demanded to know why Weberman won’t admit his crimes.

“How were you able to deny the abuse all these years?” the teen asked.  The girl noted other abused teens were afraid to come forward, adding “You treated us like toys that were yours to abuse.”

“Unfortunately, the others would not come forward,” she said. “But we were all one voice and they were with me in spirit.”

Assistant District Attorney, Kevin O’Donnell, pointed out to the court the severe repercussions suffered by the girl’s family, when they went to police instead of rabbinical authorities:  “She was treated like a piece of dirt, while the defendant was treated like a god.”

Weberman received dozens of letters of support from his family and community members hoping the judge would be lenient. But the prosecutor observed, “Doing good deeds and being a child molester are not mutually exclusive.”

Weberman’s defense attorney, George Farkas–who plans to appeal the conviction–told the court: “Nechemya Weberman is innocent of the crimes charged.”

When Weberman,  who unsuccessfully took the stand in his own defense, was given a chance to address the judge, he said just three words: “No, thank you.”

Judge Ingram noted how witnesses had been intimidated in this case and said, “This cannot be tolerated in a free society.”  He urged victims of abuse to report the crimes “to stop the sex predators.”

When Ingram sentenced Weberman to 103 years in prison–out of a possible 117 years he faced–the teen girl wept from a front row seat in the courtroom, her new husband by her side. The teen married several months before the trial began.

Her husband, Boorey D — who once owned a cafe in Williamsburg — told PIX11 News he was put out of business by Weberman’s Orthodox supporters, who took away his Kosher certification.

When PIX 11 asked Boorey how nervous his young wife was, before making her victim impact statement, he said: “Trust me, we didn’t sleep nights for this statement!  She’s brave. I respect her for everything she’s done.”

Nechemya Weberman was taken away in handcuffs, back to his prison cell.

The teen girl who faced him down in court will be resuming college classes–and working hard to put the ordeal behind her.

The girl’s family, meantime, has fled their home in Williamsburg, fearing community retaliation — because of the lengthy sentence Weberman received.

Satmar publishes kids comic book showing Israelis sending Orthodox Jews to Auschwitz death camp

Satmar gone crazy and evil! What is ironic ... is that his uncle, the first Satmar Rabbi was saved by the Zionists from the Nazis!

Israelis laughing as Jews are being shoved into cattle cars by the Nazis

Satmar, which is a fierce anti Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish organization, published a children’s comic book, which was distributed for free showing Israelis laughing while sending orthodox Jews to Auschwitz death camps, according to photos published on the internet.

The group published the book as their leader, Grand Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, is currently in Israel, teaching the public about the evils of Zionism.

Israel is holding national elections this week, which the Satmars view the participation in the elections as worse than rape and murder.

The

comic book shows Israelis beating Orthodox Jews, cutting off their side locks, ripping their tzitzit, taking away their skullcup and plotting their murders.

It paints Israeli doctors as kidnappers and killers of Orthodox Jewish children. One picture shows Israelis laughing while a ship with hundreds of orthodox Jews is sinking in the sea.

Ordinary Israelis were outraged after seeing this comic book. “This book is even worse than what the Nazis published,” one man told news reporters.

Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the first Satmar Rebbe was saved from the Holocaust by a Zionist, Rudolph Kasztner, who Oskar Schindler of Schindler’s List fame called the bravest man he ever knew. Kasztner saved more Jews from the Holocaust than any other Jew was able to do.

Satmar has spent the past 68 years smearing Kasztner.

Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum – whose anti-Zionist theology and behind-the-scenes attempts to scuttle Zionist outreach in Satmar and surrounding areas eventually cost hundreds of Jews their lives – refused to thank Kasztner for rescuing him or even acknowledge that he had been rescued by Kasztner.

Rabbi Teitelbaum went to his grave 35 years after being rescued without ever saying anything positive about Kasztner, Zionists or the State of Israel.

Israelis cutting off the side locks of an Orthodox Jewish boy

Satmar Rebbe says voting in Israeli elections forbidden according to Torah but taking your brother to gentile court is ok!

The Torah explicitly prohibits a Jew to take another Jew to a gentile court in Parshas Mishpatim; no where in the Torah says that it is prohibited to vote in the Israeli elections, yet here we have a leader of thousands of Jews mis-leading his naive flock.. The Rebbe have been in the gentile courts for years fighting about millions of dollars of valuable real estate...

Weberman slept and abused married women .. Daily News investigation

The unlicensed Hasidic counselor slated to be sentenced Tuesday for sexually abusing a Brooklyn girl, violated at least 10 others — including teens and married women he counseled, a Daily News investigation revealed.

She wasn't the only one.

Nechemya Weberman, the unlicensed Hasidic counselor slated to be sentenced Tuesday for sexually abusing a Brooklyn girl, violated at least 10 others — including teens and married women he counseled, a Daily News investigation revealed.

The self-proclaimed religious adviser even invoked Kabbalah — a form of Jewish mysticism — to convince his victims that having sex with him was kosher.

“He’s a monster,” said a man whose daughter was repeatedly brutalized by Weberman a couple of years before the victim at trial came forward.

The beautiful, 18-year-old Brooklyn woman testified how Weberman, 54, touched her private parts, forced her to perform oral sex and ordered her to reenact porn during a three-year period that started when she was only 12. The disgraced Satmar counselor was convicted of all 59 counts against him last month.

Other women who were sexually abused by Weberman refused to speak publicly for fear of retribution. But those close to them described a pattern of nurturing and grooming where he would shower outcast teens with attention, take them on road trips — and even buy them lingerie.

He told one young victim, “That ‘I learned Kabbalah and we were a couple in another incarnation,’ ” said a friend of the woman.

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, who runs a Jewish youth program, said he was told by victims Weberman used the Kabbalah line on them too.

“The intimate acts he was performing were intended as a form of repentance for sins committed in their previous lifetimes,” said Horowitz.

He would tell teens who had been deemed troublemakers for being immodest, “No one will ever believe messed-up kids like them,” said Horowitz.

“A master manipulator,” said Rhonnie Jaus, chief of the sex crimes division at the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.

Weberman used women’s lowly standing in the ultra-Orthodox community to prey on the vulnerable, sources said.

“He is probably the only male who has ever given them the time of day and listened to them,” said a law enforcement source. “He had a huge amount of psychological hold over them.”

The father who spoke to The News about his daughter’s ordeal refused to give details about what was done to her, but other sources said her experience was similar to the sick deviations described by the victim at trial.

“Not only the sexual abuse,” the father said, “but the psychological abuse. . . . Why?”

He said his strong religious beliefs kept him from reporting Weberman when he heard of the attacks.

The father was assured that Weberman would stop counseling girls — and was shocked when charges were lodged against the counselor in February 2011.

The News found five additional people who said they were aware of Weberman’s misconduct years before he was arrested.

The criminal case finally came about, sources said, after the victim was told by friends that her adviser “was a known pervert.”

“It’s a common occurrence in cases we deal with,” said Kevin O’Donnell, the lead prosecutor in the case. “Kids can compartmentalize, justify, somehow live with their own abuse and most of them think it’s happening to them only and nobody else.”

He added that hearing of other victims “frequently prompts someone to come forward.”

No other alleged victim has been willing to press charges against Weberman — out of fear of being ostracized or because the statute of limitation had expired.

“It’s very difficult to go with only one victim. We always want to have more than one victim,” Jaus said. “And when you know there are more out there, it is hard, very hard . . . but you do the best you can.”

Prosecutors have stated in court they are aware of four married women and two underaged girls who were bedded by Weberman. The News has since found four more.

The prosecution attempted at trial to have the jury hear from other Weberman victims — including a woman who had sexual relations with him while he was her marriage counselor. She refused to speak with The News.

Weberman, who is facing 117 years in prison, declined to meet a reporter at the Manhattan lockup where he’s being held.

His defense team — which vowed to appeal — also complained about being precluded from presenting certain evidence.

“I don’t think they have other victims,” defense lawyer Michael Farkas said of prosecutors after the trial ended.

“A lot of people were willing to give them information and I am very suspicious [of that information].”

The list of victims identified by prosecutors and found by The News includes at least four married women now ranging in age from their 20s to their 40s — three of whom he counseled. The other lived in his building.

The other six victims are not married, but all of them went to him initially for counseling.

One of the witnesses the defense called to the stand was a runaway who ended up living in Weberman’s office for three years. She denied any inappropriate behavior on his part, even when grilled by prosecutors about getting caught in a compromising position with him.

“He still has her in his grip,” said a friend of hers.

Would-be assassin aims gun at Bulgarian opposition leader's head and pulls the trigger, Video

A Bulgarian politician today survived an extraordinary assassination attempt when a man stormed the stage and held a gun to his head as he was giving a speech. Fortunately for Ahmed Dogan, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, the weapon misfired giving him time to react and hit the would-be assassin's hand out of the way. Before he could attempt a second shot the unidentified suspect was tackled to the ground by security guards and delegates attending the conference in Sofia. Television footage showed the man jumping out of the audience and interrupting a speech by 58-year-old Dogan, who has led the party for almost a quarter of a century. In a split second, he raises the gun to Mr Dogan's head but it appeared to misfire. The politician then knocked the gun away and fell to the floor as he attempted to flee. Security guards and delegates rushed onto the stage where they wrestled the attacker to the ground. A separate group surrounded a shocked Mr Dogan in a protective shield. Politicians then appeared from the audience and begin rained blows on the suspect as he was pinned to the ground. He was later pictured being taken away by police bloodied and bruised. 'Ahmed Dogan is in good health. Everything is under control,' Movement for Rights and Freedoms official Ceyhan Ibryamov told journalists. Police said they arrested a 25-year-old man from the Black Sea town of Burgas who was also carrying two knives. The liberal MRF party represents ethnic Turks and other Muslims who make up about 12 per cent of Bulgaria's 7.3 million-strong population. Dogan is seen as one of Balkan country's most influential political figures. Two years ago he was acquitted after a high-profile corruption trial into payments he received as a consultant for a hydro power project. The MRF was a junior partner in the previous Socialist-led cabinet before switching to the opposition following the 2009 elections. In 1996, former Prime Minister Andrei Lukanov was found shot dead near his home in Sofia, though attacks on politicians are rare.