Angry Bulgarians: Police Guard Roma Boss Like Gaddafi Henchmen

Riot police guarding public order after violence erupted in the Bulgarian village of Katunitsa overnight. Photo by Podtepeto.com

Ethnic Bulgarian residents of the Plovdiv village of Katunitsa have vowed to retaliate the violent death of a local youth, who was intentionally run over by a van driven by Roma Friday night.

Some 200 riot police have been stationed in Katunitsa, pop. 2,500, after people stormed the residence of notorious Roma clan leader Kiril Rashkov, aka Tsar Kiro, blaming him for the incident.

According to reports by Podtepeto.com, tensions between ethnic Bulgarians and Roma in the village flared Friday, after which Roma mobilized fellow men from the Plovdiv Roma neighborhood Stolipinovo, who arrived with the said van.

They ran over 19-year-old Angel Petrov, who was walking his dog, dragging the body for meters before fleeing.

People swiftly gathered in protest and vandalized property of the Rashkov family, after which riot police set in to prevent further violence.

"We want justice! We cannot stand the arbitrary actions of this clan anymore. And now police is guarding Tsar Kiro like the henchmen of Gaddafi in Libya," said one angry protester.

People in Katunitsa have commented that for years they have lived "like serfs" to Tsar Kiro, being left at the mercy of his and his family's whims.

Some have requested the evokation of the entire Rashkov family from Katunitsa so that peaceful and orderly life in the village might resume.

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