site.btaParents, Relatives of Victims of Road Accidents Protest in Sofia

Parents and relatives of people killed in road accidents gathered at a protest in Sofia on Monday. It took place at the intersection where two young residents, Annie and Yavor, were ran over by a car on May 8, 2023. The initiators of the protest were the Annie and Yavor: Love is the Key Foundation and the Together Against Madness on the Road Initiative Committee.

"Remember that our children are not statistics," said Annie's mother, Desislava Malcheva. "We are here today not only because of Annie and Yavor, not only because of the sentence he [the driver] received, which for us is extremely insufficient and arrogant. We are here because of all the other children who died and [whose killers] received not even as 'big' of a sentence," she added. 

On July 4, the Sofia City Court (SCC) sentenced Adrian Antonov, accused of the crash that killed Annie and Yavor, to nine years in prison. After the defendant made a confession at the sentencing hearing on June 19, Antonov's sentence will be reduced by one third. Thus, he will serve six years in prison. Annie and Yavor's parents told the media that they disagree with the court's decision and will appeal to the Appellate Court. 

"The real culprit for this war on the roads is the State. In the face of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, the municipalities as owners of infrastructure", said Julieta Mihaylova from the Initiative Committee Together Against Madness on the Road Initiative Committee. 

"Let's not forget the State Agency for Road Safety and last, but first in importance, the legislative body - the Bulgarian Parliament, which apparently works only under pressure. That is why there are citizens like us, why there are civic initiatives, associations, foundations. Some of them are made up of parents of dead children, which is shocking," she said. 

The protest was attended by representatives of the Angels on the Road Association, Stefan Stefanov Foundation, relatives and friends of people who died in road accidents, sympathetic citizens. 

"Today we unite with the Annie and Yavor: Love is the Key Foundation and with others who support us. The sentence of the person responsible for my son Stefan's death was four years and eight months, but it was reduced to two years and eight months after the person who caused the crash pleaded guilty and said he was sorry," said Stefan Stefanov's mother Krasimira Manolova. Stefan, a 17-year-old boy, died after a road accident in July, 2023. 

The protesters marched with posters that read "Speed, alcohol, drugs = Roadkill! Life imprisonment!", "Bulgaria has no children to kill!", "For road homicide - life imprisonment!".