An internal email of the Bulgarian Socialist Party containing instructions on how to discredit anti-government protesters leaked on Wednesday, stirring outrage in the country.

The email, which was leaked to the Bulgarian version of WikiLeaks, the site Balkanleaks, suggests that BSP officials should tell reporters that “hardly more than 1600 people” took part in the anti-government rally in Sofia on Tuesday.

The email further claims that the protest was organized by the center-right GERB party of former PM Boyko Borisov and corporate groups close to it.

According to the guidelines, university students “were offered BGN 700” if pictures of them covered in blood appeared in the media.

Referring to a picture showing a young male protester bleeding from a cut near his eye following clashes with police, the email tells BSP officials to claim he “probably had a screw loose.”

The instructions further suggest that “vandals” joined the protest late on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Parliament Speaker Mihail Mikov and key BSP lawmaker Rumen Gechev confirmed the authenticity of the email, with Mikov saying it was “nothing unusual.”

Mikov stated the leak was the result of a “technical error,” news website Dnevnik.bg informs.

The ongoing anti-government protests in Bulgaria were triggered by the appointment of controversial media mogul Delyan Peevski as Chair of the State Agency for National security (DANS) in June – and were fueled by a number of other controversial appointments and wider concerns about corruption.

The rallies were given a fresh boost as students staged full and partial blockades at a number of universities in October.

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