Angered Protesters Gather in Bulgarian Capital Again

Politics » DOMESTIC | October 2, 2011, Sunday // 13:19

Hundreds of Bulgarians have gathered in front of the Ministry of Interior in downtown Sofia Sunday, calling for a resignation of Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov over the wave of ethnic unrest that grappled the country in the past week.

People are shouting "Resign!" and "Tsetso out!" in what appears to be a spontaneous gathering. Another rally is planned in Sofia later Sunday afternoon.

Tensions deteriorating into violence and racist slogans erupted last Saturday after an ethnic Bulgarian youth in the village of Katunitsa was killed by a van driven by Roma.

However, the case is more complicated, the Roma involved reportedly being dependent on controversial Roma clan leader Kiril Rashkov, aka Tsar Kiro.

Rashkov has been long suspected in a range of illegal activities such as bootleging, human trafficking, extortion and vote-buying, but only now authorities have attempted to unveil his doings.

As part of their slogans, protesters have been speaking out against what they see as systematic protection of major organized crime leaders on the part of authorities.

Some of the protests over the week have turned violent, with people beaten and property destroyed.

Bulgaria's Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov has been on an official leave since the start last Friday of the campaign for presidential and municipal elections October 23, as the campaign chief of staff of ruling GERB party.

The start of the election campaign nevertheless regrettably coincided with the tragic incident in Katunitsa.

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Tags: sofia, Roma, Katunitsa, elections, campaign, GERB, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, violence

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