site.btaFlowers, Wreaths Laid in front of Nikola Petkov’s Monument to Observe 76th Anniversary of His Hanging by Communist Regime

Citizens and supporters of the United Agrarians Party and the Nikola Petkov Party laid flowers and wreaths on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the hanging by the communist regime of Bulgarian statesman Nikola Petkov (1893-1947) in front of his monument infront of the St. Sedmochislenitsi Church in central Sofia. They also paid tribute to Petkov with a memorial service. 

United Agrarians leader Petya Stavreva delivered a speech, in which she said that today's democratic Bulgaria bows before the work of Nikola Petkov. 

"He was an exceptional person whom the heavy, repressive apparatus of the communist regime failed to break. Nikola Petkov is a unique politician, he did not just fight for democracy, he defended it with his life," Stavreva said in her speech. 

"High morality, struggle and the ability to sacrifice oneself unconditionally for the cause one serves - this is Nikola Petkov. There aren't many such people, but they leave a deep mark and have thousands of followers," Stavreva said, adding that agrarians in Bulgaria continue to insist that September 23 be declared Nikola Petkov Day. 

Nikola Petkov's struggle to preserve parliamentary democracy was declared a counter-revolutionary activity by the communists, she recalled. In her speech, the Stavreva recalled that Nikola Petkov's staged trial began on August 5, 1947, on August 17 he was sentenced to death by hanging on charges of espionage, and on September 23, 1947 the death sentence was carried out. Stavreva also recalled what Nikola Petkov said during the trial in which he was sentenced to death in the name of the people: "No, it is not in the name of the Bulgarian people that am I sentenced to death, but by order of your masters in the Kremlin. The Bulgarian people, crushed by the bloody tyranny you call justice, will never believe your treachery," Stavreva recalled the Bulgarian statesman's response to his death sentence.