A protest of the "Vazrazhdane" party against the actions of the police and the government is currently taking place in front of the GERB headquarters in Sofia. The demonstration was organized after the tragic case of Yavor Georgiev - a 36-year-old man from Varna, who died after police intervention on June 7.
From the rostrum of the parliament, Kostadin Kostadinov said: "Today we are protesting once again, but something happened 2 days ago and many obituaries were written. A 23-year-old man was killed. You saw the footage. We witnessed something that is difficult to describe, fallen, on the ground, kicked, suffocated.
The leader of “Vazrazhdane” directly accused the Ministry of Interior of trying to cover up the truth and demanded the resignation of Minister Daniel Mitov, as well as the entire government: “Mitov should resign by the end of the day. We demand the resignation of the entire government.”
The protesters initially gathered in front of the GERB headquarters, and then the procession temporarily closed “Vitosha” Blvd. and headed to the bTV building. They chanted “Mafia out” and plan to submit a protest letter to the media outlet's management accusing it of systematically not covering the protests in defense of the lev and for a referendum.
The incident that caused public tension developed on the night of June 7, when Yavor Georgiev himself called 112, worried about his mother. The police officers who arrived on the scene found the man in an agitated state and called an ambulance.
According to official information from the prosecutor's office, upon the arrival of the medics, the man became aggressive, which necessitated the use of physical force and handcuffing. Yavor Georgiev later died in the psychiatric clinic, despite doctors' attempts to resuscitate him.
This morning, Minister Daniel Mitov publicly admitted that there was an excess of police powers during the arrest, and a day earlier he removed from office the director of the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Varna, Senior Commissioner Andrey Angelov.
Yesterday and the night before, hundreds of Varna residents also protested in front of the Courthouse and the Second District Administration in the city, demanding justice and transparency in the investigation.