Bulgarian Protesters Attack Supreme Judicial Council with Small Change

Protesters have staged a rally tossing small change at the building of Bulgaria's controversial Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) as a means of exposing what is seen as rampant corruption in the Bulgarian judiciary.

"The common thing among all institutions in Bulgaria is just one – corruption. They sold the Bulgarian nation for pennies that is why we are now buying it back from them," the protesters are quoted as saying at their rally later Friday night, as cited by BGNES.

The rally consisted of about 20 activists who came together in support of Chavdar Yanev, a man who has been on a hunger strike for a week against the injustice in the Bulgarian judiciary.

Yanev has been camping in a tent before the VSS building, making it clear that he will be relentless until his grievances, which refer to a suit he undertook against Toplofikatsiya Sofia, Sofia's heating utility lasting for 12 years, are heard by the judiciary

"We've brought small change in order to buy this institution because we believe that's how much they sold the Bulgarian nation for. Their laws and decisions are against the citizens and their rights. We must now show them we're giving it back, so they can start ruling in a way that the citizens are content with," an unnamed activist explained.

The activists further posed the following question addressed to Prime Minister Boyko Borisov: "In which EU state one is unable to give up the service they are unhappy with?" explaining that this referred to the fact that 90% of the suits filed against Toplofikatsiya Sofia are won by the heating utility.

They noted that Yanev, who actually won his case against Toplofikatsiya Sofia, has scored a precedent in the Bulgarian judiciary, and is now standing up for the rights of all Bulgarian citizens.

"This man has clean intentions. What's bad is that we need to go on hunger strikes to battle for the rights that we have under the Constitution. These people [i.e. the judiciary] have become totally lost," another activist from the rally is quoted as saying.

"Those responsible are in all Bulgarian institutions. They don't protect us, they keep robbing us. They led us to a situation in which we have no money for tomorrow, no safety, no future. They stole the future of our kids. We lost 2 million people in 23 years because of those who promise us bright future once in four years," Yanev said, urging all people to rise up against the monopolies.

Yanev and his wife Latinka Georgieva managed to sentence Sofia's notorious heating utility Toplofikatsiya, which takes them 11 years, 10 months, and 5 days. In their view, their case is an all-out proof there is no equality before the law in Bulgaria.

Several days ago, during the first rally in support of Chavdar Yanev, the citizens put posters on the building of the Supreme Judicial Council in Sofia reading "Mafia", "Corruption", "Genocide", and "Closed because of Incompetence and Corruption".