Prosecutor’s Office requests detention of five participants in Monday protests

The Sofia District Prosecutor’s Office has submitted to the court requests for the imposition of a “detention in custody” measure for five individuals for acts of hooliganism committed on December 1 in the center of the capital, when a mass rally was held against the draft budget for 2026, the institution reported.

• Thousands go out on protest in Sofia and major cities across Bulgaria

The Prosecutor’s Office is overseeing 16 pre-trial proceedings, and 14 people have been charged with hooliganism. They threw stones, pyrotechnics, and glass bottles at police officers and Interior Ministry vehicles and overturned garbage containers.

“Before, during, and after the protest, 75 people were detained – 23 of them are known to the Interior Ministry for previous involvement in riots, and nine are minors or underage,” said Interior Minister Daniel Mitov during a hearing in the National Assembly. Ten people were given a 72-hour detention order.

According to the minister, the march following the protest was not pre-approved, and this is one of the reasons it led to acts of vandalism, despite the police seeking cooperation from the organizers of the protest.

“The main thing you lied about is that there was no information there would be a march. Information was submitted, and it was before 10:00 p.m.,” responded the leader of “We Continue the Change” Asen Vassilev, organizer of the protests. The co-chairman of “Yes, Bulgaria,” Bozhidar Bozhanov, suggested that it was in fact the law-enforcement authorities who let the provocateurs in.

Daniel Mitov denied that the Interior Ministry was behind the provocateurs and stated that he will not resign, reported BNR’s correspondent Maria Fileva.

• Bulgaria after the protests – cabinet withdraws budget, citizens demand values

Edited by Diana Tsankova
English version: R. Petkova