Arsonist Strikes Bulgarian Danube City of Silistra

One of the dozens of cars that have been torched in Sofia over the past three weeks. Photo by BGNES

Cars were once again set on fire in Bulgaria overnight, but this time the incidents occurred in the northeastern Danube city of Silistra.

The news was reported Monday morning by the TV channel bTV, saying one more location had been added to the arson map of Bulgaria. Silistra residents have called the TV to report the fires and sent pictures.

Two cars were set on fire around 1:30 am Monday – one has burned out completely, the other – partially.

Since end of November, mysterious perpetrators have set on fire 51 vehicles, in different neighborhoods of the capital Sofia, in some cases right next to police offices. There were similar incidents reported from around the country.

Wednesday the Sofia police arrested more than 60 people in connection with the arsons, but no clear links have been established for the majority of cases.

Suspect Yuliyan Kovachki, 29, was arrested Friday – it was revealed that he knew the majority of his victims and committed the arsons over anger from being unemployed in the last two years. He admitted to 12 arson cases, but had been indicted for 5 over lack of evidence. In Court, however, he claimed innocence. In addition to being unemployed it was reported that he was an orphan and often abused alcohol.

Kovachki told the magistrates that the cars were bursting in flames when he was passing near them.

The authorities did not establish a link between Kovachki and Vladislav Nikolov AKA "Kukata" (The Hook), 33, who was detained Tuesday, again as a suspect in the arsons. Nikolov, who also has a long rap sheet, was left Friday by the Sofia District Court under permanent detention.

The last suspect was arrested overnight Saturday in Sofia. Tests showed he had been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the arrest. The magistrates also ruled for him to be kept in custody.

The police say that the arsons were committed by several groups with different motives and some have been Kovachki's copycats.

Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov has suggested that the arsons have spread in part because of publicity they received in the Bulgarian media.

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