Flash mob in support of Rila at the Vasil Levski Monument

Up until 20:00 people were constantly crossing the pedestrian alleys. The cops again used their tactics from Ruski Monument of temporarily blocking people from crossing. Nevertheless, traffic was impeded and a traffic jam formed. Police was a little bit panicked and we could hear they didn’t have a clear idea how to let protesters cross so that no cars end up being “trapped”. They were definitely unsuccessful in their efforts. Some protesters gave flowers to the vehicles caught in the jam.

Around 20:00, protesters regrouped in front of the Technical University building where the first minor clashes occurred. Angry words were exchanged and the cops were definitely behaving impertinently and didn’t follow their own orders, refused to show their identification documents, arrogantly addressed people with the informal “ti” instead of “You”, and other similar old socialist habits. Their “hammer and sickle” belts speak for themselves – nothing old has been forgotten, nothing new has been learned, and why they’re carrying such an accessory to their uniform remains a mystery to me. From then on, the police decided to keep people on the sidewalk and were very rude in stopping everybody who wanted to cross the street. On the other side, at Serdika another group of blocked activists formed. This contributed to heating up the atmosphere.

Around 20:15, people spontaneously entered the boundaries of the road and blocked traffic, determined to remain on the road. That’s when the first serious clash occurred – Nevena Gyurova was thrown down to the ground and dragged along the asphalt, the reason for which didn’t become clear to me. The policemen forced her to remain on the ground by trampling on her with their feet. She definitely suffered a slight injury because of the cops’ rude manners who didn’t care that she’s not a young person. Around 20:20, during the same clash, Tsveta Hristova was arrested after trying to resist being shouldered out of the roadway. She was literally dragged and thrown into the nearby SUV. That caused a furious wave of clashes, a lot of people faced off with the police, there was cursing, exchange of light blows in the rough-and-tumble, questions “who are they serving – the people or the mafia?”

After that, the police managed to split the protesters into two groups which remained on the small island between the two roadways and on the side of Serdika cinema. The people were barely held off, shouting and chanting didn’t cease, and there were isolated disputes with the cops. Traffic was restored.

Around 21:15, the groups spontaneously “migrated” to the Technical University building. At that point, the police attempted to detain another young man but his friend pushed the cops who were already holding the guy aside and literally carried him through the crowd and saved him from being arrested. This truly brave act took the cops by surprise and they couldn’t react.

Around 21:30, after a tarambuki party and lots of high spirits, people started to thin out. The police cordon in front of the Technical University still blocked the crossing of the street. A group of protesters headed off to 5th police precinct on Marin Drinov St. where the detained were held. The first rumors at that point of time talked about 4 arrested.

About 30 people gathered in front of the precinct. A policeman tried to scare people away saying that this protest was illegal and didn’t comply with the Meetings and Assemblies Law. He even threatened a person taking photos to confiscate his camera.

The arrested people’s attorney clarified the latest reliable information. Tsveta Hristova and Krasimir Grozdanov were arrested for “refusal to obey a policeman’s order”, statements will be drawn up. The lawyer asked the people to go home, and the remaining people to keep quiet. And that was supposed to be a “plea”?! by the police. A few minutes earlier some people headed off to BTV to take part in a “live discussion studio” on the protests.

Up until 22:00, the detained hadn’t been released, and there were still about 20 friends of theirs and protesters in front of 5th precinct.

If anyone has more info on what happened later, please share.

Two videoclips:

Clip 1

Clip 2