Bulgarian police clears tent blockades of protesters

After serious clashes between demonstrators and police, security forces cleared unauthorized blockades at major intersections in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. The tents of demonstrators who have been demanding the resignation of the government in Sofia for almost two months were removed during the night of Thursday. According to official sources, there were no new clashes. No protesters from the camps were arrested.

The police action came after riots in a protest against the government in Sofia late Wednesday evening. The tent camps, which were declared a “zone of freedom”, proved to be hiding places for homemade firecrackers and hard objects thrown at the police officers deployed to protect the parliament, said Sofia’s police chief Georgi Hadjiev on Thursday. 126 people were arrested after the riots. 60 of them were said to have a criminal background.

Some of the protesters threw homemade explosives, bottles, stones, chairs, benches, bicycles, scooters, traffic signs and other objects at the police officers, Interior Minister Hristo Tersiyski explained in parliament. 80 police officers were injured.