Wednesday's protest rally in downtown Sofia was a civic initiative, which served no one's political interests, and that is why it scared the government.

This is said in a statement to the Bulgarian media distributed by the Association for Development and Civic Control, which organized the joint protests of college students, environmentalists, and farmers.

About 10 000 people who demanded the immediate resignation of the government and the adjourning of the Parliament took part in the protest, according to its organizers. There were people in the rally, however, who started to provoke violence and clashes with the police.

"When we all knelt down in silence to honor the memory of the 20-year-old student Stoyan Baltov (who was killed in Sofia on December 5 in an unprovoked street attack), the provocateurs remained standing. This showed their motivation to instigate violence", the statement of the civic organizations reads.

"We, the organizers, succeeded in managing the protest but the police did not. We are not going to succumb to these provocations, and we will continue to fight by peaceful means for Bulgaria's future, and Bulgaria's children", the organizers declared.

They pointed out that one of the organizers, Miroslav Dzhokanov, had been detained by the police, and asked for his immediate release.

The organizers' statement concludes by declaring that the citizens of Bulgaria had gathered before the Parliament on Wednesday to show that they were against the mafia, and to call for the resignation of the corrupt officials.

They invited all Bulgarian citizens to take part in the follow-up protest at 11 am on Thursday before the Parliamentary building.

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