Bulgarian police removed the camps set up by protesters in three key areas in the capital Sofia in the early hours of September 3, after the biggest rally by anti-government protesters so far turned violent with numerous clashes, and dozens wounded and arrested.

According to the protests’ organisers, dubbed the “Poisonous Trio”, the protests turned violent after the police failed to stop people suspected of being paid provocateurs who joined the peaceful protesters. They suggested that the provocations were intended to give the authorities an excuse to use excessive force and subsequently to destroy the camps set as part of the two-month-long mass protests demanding the resignations of the government of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and of chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev.

According to the police, 126 people were arrested in the previous day. Live streams showed how suspected provocateurs were throwing gas bombs and fireworks, bottles of water and other items towards the police. The protesters have attempted to show them to the police or isolate them but without success.

After waiting for an hour or more, the police started again using pepper spray and tear gas against protesters and pushing them away, arresting or beating some of them. Protesters claim the arrests were random and many of those detained had not provoked the police.

Protesters also accused the police of provoking the tensions as the number of police officers was unusually high and they were using pepper spray and tear gas against protesters during the day without need, raising tensions further.

On the other hand, the authorities claim the protesters were well organised and paid violent criminals.

The Poisonous Trio called on people to gather again in the evening of September 3 to show they are not afraid, calling once again on everyone not to show aggression.

Journalists attacked 

Three journalists were among those sprayed with pepper spray by police officers and two of them were taken to hospital. In the night of September 2, the police arrested a third journalist, Dimiter Kenarov, even though he has a valid press card. His mother reported his arrest on Facebook. In the morning of September 3, Kenarov was released and wrote he was kicked in the head by at least two policemen while being confined and on the ground without resisting in any way.

The Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria issued a statement saying that the arrest of Kenarov was illegal and urged the authorities to investigate the case.

A Danish reporter also released a video showing how the police intimidated him and attempted to hide alleged unnecessary violence during arrests from his camera. He also claimed policemen attacked him, hitting his phone to scare him off. The video shows policemen running towards him then apparently hitting his phone to prevent him from filming.

“They are threatening me, guys,” the journalist says.

MEP Katarina Barley who is deputy European Parliament speaker, accused the authorities in Sofia of telling lies regarding a meeting between the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and top politicians from Bulgaria.

LIBE has summoned Borissov and Geshev, along with NGO representatives and an independent investigative journalist to discuss the "alarming situation" in the country and reports of widespread corruption protected at the highest level.

LIBE usually debates the most sensitive topics in the EU member states, among them the murder of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and the murder of the Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak, in closed-door sessions.

According to Barley, the government and the prosecution published “lies” following the meeting, claiming it was initiated by them over the “violent” protesters.