site.bta64th Day of Anti-government Protests in Sofia, Six Arrested

Sofia, September 10 (BTA) - On the 64th day of protests against
corruption, the government and the prosecutor general in
Bulgaria, people started gathering in the morning for what was
planned as a larger-than-usual rally in central Sofia. Police
presence was heavy around the Parliament, government and
President headquarters and checkpoints were set up where all
suspicious people and larger baggage pieces were checked by
police. 

The Thursday rally was announced as a follow-up of a "Grand
National Uprising" held on September 2 when tends of thousands
marched in the streets to demand the resignation of the
government of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Prosecutor
General Ivan Geshev.

The more recognizable among the protestors were representatives
of the Vazrazhdane party, the BOEC civil movement, the Socialist
 party and the Democratic Bulgaria coalition. 

Around noon on Thursday, police said that it had arrested six
people, three of them for carrying prohibited items. During a
search in the area of the protest rally in central Sofia on
Thursday morning, they found metal pipes, bags full of stones
and glass bottles, wooden shafts, two knives, a battle slingshot
 and a 5-liter container full of unidentified pungent liquid.

In a Facebook post, President Rumen Radev says the protest
belongs to all citizens and that the people in the street are
not smugglers or mobsters: they are the constitutional sovereign
 who are determined to regain control over their State.

His remark about the "smugglers and mobsters" referenced a
statement by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on Wednesday when he
said that "the mafia is trying to oust the government" and that
"[the owners of] gambling businesses and contraband trade
[rings], everybody, is in the street [protesting] against us". 

In his Facebook post, Radev said that the stubbornness of the
incumbents only worsens the crisis and reiterated his call to
the protesters to not give in to provocations.

Also on Thursday, representatives of BOEC rallied outside the
European Commission representation in Sofia "to make sure they
are heard by Brussels". They called for suspending EU funding to
 Bulgaria "because pouring resources in an unreformed country
extends the agony and is hypocritical because it strengthens the
 backstage players". RY/MT