When 36-year-old Bulgarian Plamen Goranov set himself on fire amid massive protests against the rampant corruption and desperate poverty in the country last month, local authorities employed a familiar PR tactic.

The Varna District Prosecutor's office announced that he was registered for drug possession...back in 2001.

When another man set himself on fire two days earlier in the city of Veliko Tarnovo, the Interior Ministry was quick to inform that he was mentally ill.

Similar black PR tactics have been employed against murder victims: in 2012, a young woman who was discovered dead in downtown Sofia was falsely labeled as a "hobo" by mainstream media.

However, Goranov, whom his friends describe as an talented, sincere and politically active young man, became a symbol of the three-week wave of protests – and authorities can no longer dismiss him as "lowlife."

The GERB government has instead resorted to declaring a national day of mourning in his honor, with PM Boyko Borisov praising him for "having a cause."

Goranov protested against Varna Mayor Kiril Yordanov – who was supported by GERB prior to his self-immolation – and the murky group that controls the city.

Such an unbelievable hypocrisy on behalf of the government...

• 1