Protest in Plovdiv in Support of Detained Varna Mayor, Blagomir Kotsev

Plovdiv residents gathered this evening at “Unification” Square to protest against political repression and to express support for the detained mayor of Varna, Blagomir Kotsev.

Many of the demonstrators carried placards reading “You Will Not Scare Us” and “We Want a Future for Our Children Without Mafia and Fear”. The protesters chanted that they demand justice, not batons, voicing concerns that the recent events in Varna signal that democracy is under threat.

Aleksandar Mihaylov:
“I am here to support the initiative in defence of the Varna mayor, but also because I hope that one day things in Bulgaria will start happening in a truly democratic way, rather than selectively, so that we and our children can have some kind of future in this country.”

Zdravko Minchev:
“We are categorically against the unlawful detention of people against whom there are neither charges nor concrete evidence – fabricated cases that no Bulgarian law, article or paragraph would justify as grounds for detention.”

Nedyalka Gemezhdzhiyka:
“For me, dictatorship in Bulgaria is already a fact, and we are witnessing absolute arbitrariness within the judicial system.”

Appellate Court Decision to Keep Varna Mayor in Custody Sparks Political Reactions