Bulgarian Football Fans, Students Rally in Plovdiv Protest

More than 4,000 football fans and university students have gathered in the central square of second-largest Bulgarian city of Plovdiv in protest against what they see as passivness of Bulgarian authorities against crime.

Bulgaria has been gripped by week-long protests, after the September 23 murder of an ethnic Bulgarian youth by Roma in the Plovdiv village of Katunitsa.

At some locations protests have turned violent and anti-Roma racist slogans were shouted.

Sunday, Plovdiv football teams Lokomotiv and Botev have vowed to take out their fans in a peaceful and tolerant protests against crime, in a bid to clear them from accusations they stood behind violent riots in Katunitsa.

People gathered in the Plovdiv central square, who include many students in the local universities, have raised a slogan reading: “We Will Not Forget, We Will Not Forgive.”

They are pressing for a swift investigation of the Katunitsa case and a more active role of the Bulgarian state in curbing crime.

Protesters have also requested the resignation of Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev.

After standing peacefully for about an hour at the Plovdiv central square, they have walked home.

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