Three people, including two policemen, were injured during the Great People’s Uprising in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia on Wednesday morning, when demonstrators egged the police, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reports.
It is noted that the protests have been held on the first day of the new political season, since the beginning of the People’s Assembly (parliament) of the republic. Clashes began at around 8.00, protesters began throwing eggs and fake 500 euro banknotes at the police.
A police cordon girded the entrance to the new parliament building (former headquarters of the Bulgarian Communist Party). Law enforcers used shields to try to protect themselves against flying objects, including bottles.
Three people, including two policemen, were injured and provided with the necessary assistance. A young man was also wounded when a bottle thrown at the police fell. An ambulance took him away with a bloody face.
According to the latest police reports, the radio reports that the protesters used pepper gas. Several journalists and police officers – “dozens of people” – were exposed to pepper gas. In total, according to Sofia police, more than 20 policemen were injured by the use of pepper gas. The radio notes that the Moscow Directorate of Internal Affairs (DIA) threatened to use physical force and batons if there is further escalation. More gendarmerie forces were sent to the square because of the increasing fighting.
At the same time, dozens of protesters were detained and taken to the station. The Interior Ministry urged people to protest peacefully and not to follow provocateurs’ calls. Police and gendarmes blocked the approaches to the parliament building to secure the way for deputies to work.
Protests in Bulgaria have continued since July 9. They began in Sofia with a rally of many thousands in support of President Rumen Radev, who in February announced that the government had lost its trust. Protesters demanded the government’s resignation, but Prime Minister Boyko Borisov had previously only agreed to the dismissal of individual ministers.