Sofia: Protest against the disposal of US military bases in Bulgaria

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Wednesday November 16, 2005 20:37 by Peter peter_hell2002 at yahoo dot com

On 12 November a
protest
against the US military bases, which are going to be situated near the
villages Novo Selo, Bezmer and near the Burgas' port, took place in Sofia
(Bulgaria's capitol). More than 500 people marched through the central streets
of Sofia, expressing their stand against all military bases. The protest ended
in front of the National Theater "Ivan Vazov". In the protest took part the anarcho-block of autonomous antiauthoritarian group "AnarchoResistance"
(around 60 people). Few nationalists from BNS (Bulgarian National Union) were
also there but left quickly after the demo.
On the evening of 10 November two activists were arrested and brutally beaten
by the police, while they were sticking posters for the protest near the
Synagogue.

On 12 November a
protest
against the US military bases, which are going to be situated near the
villages Novo Selo, Bezmer and near the Burgas' port, took place in Sofia
(Bulgaria's capitol). More than 500 people marched through the central streets
of Sofia, expressing their stand against all military bases. The protest ended
in front of the National Theater "Ivan Vazov". In the protest took part the anarcho-block of autonomous antiauthoritarian group "AnarchoResistance"
(around 60 people). Few nationalists from BNS (Bulgarian National Union) were
also there but left quickly after the demo.
On the evening of 10 November two activists were arrested and brutally beaten
by the police, while they were sticking posters for the protest near the
Synagogue. The cops said that Vladimir Trichkov and Stefan Andonov were sticking
the posters on the Synagogue's wall (which is a complete lie!) and they resisted
the arrest. Their presence in the area of the Synagogue was used by the police
to paste words like "anti-Semite" and "nationalist" about them (which is also a
complete lie!). From 12 November the two are on hunger strike after the refusal of
medical help and meeting with their families. They are
sued by the quick procedure. The Minister of Interior, Rumen Petkov, awarded in
the weekend the two cops, who arrested Vladimir and Stefan, for the "perfect
work" and put with that pressure on the court for convicting the two activists
"guilty".
Pictures from the protest:
1 |
2Articles about the arrest
(in bulgarian):
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5
After the protest on Saturday most of the people protested also in front of
the police station, where Vladimir and Stefan were kept for more than 5 days
without charges.
On the first court meeting on Monday around 20:00 o'clock (!) the witnesses of the defense were not
even allowed to enter the court room. On the next day Vladimir and Stefan were
out on 500 leva bail. The next court meeting is on 17 November.

On 19 December 1999 the bulgarian parliament accepted the disposal of US
military bases, despite that most of the people are against the presence of US
military forces. The US authorities even said that they aren't going to pay
anything for the use of bulgarian territory.