Bulgaria's 'Jan Palach' Had a Mission – PM

Society | March 6, 2013, Wednesday // 17:24|  views

Bulgaria's prime minister has gone to great lengths to defend his decision to declare a day of national mourning after a young political protester, who set himself on fire, died.

The only reason why my government resigned is that we did not want to see a drop of blood. Plamen gave his own life, shed his blood. That's why we decided to declare a day of mourning," Prime Minister Boyko Borisov commented on March 6.

"This man had a mission, a cause he fought for. I listened very carefully to what his freidns said. I do not know him, but he was fighting for justice, what we all have always wanted. The power lies with the people and people have the right to be happy," Borisov added.

March 6, Wednesday, was declared a day of national mourning in Bulgaria in commemoration of the 36-year-old man.

Thousands of people gathered in the Bulgarian city of Varna to bid farewell to Plamen Goranov, the man who passed away Sunday after setting himself on fire as a sign of protest against the city's corrupt authorities.

A mass was served in the Black Sea city's Saint Petka Church. After that Goranov's remains will be transported to the capital Sofia for cremation as this has been his father's wish.

The urn will be returned to Varna by the end of the week and will be placed in the city's central cemetery, but the exact date remains unknown.

Goranov, 36, took the drastic action on February 20, amid a wave of massive protests across the country against poverty, economic stagnation and corruption.

In addition to demanding the resignation of fourth-term Varna Mayor, Kiril Yordanov, he was one of the few to explicitly blame shady TIM business group, centered in Varna, for the dire situation in the country and in the north-east in particular.

In a secret cable, leaked through Bivol and WikiLeaks TIM was called by former US Ambassador in Sofia, James Pardew "the new leader in Bulgarian organized crime," and the "most modern form of organized crime" by investigative German journalist, Jurgen Roth.

Bulgarians, especially those on social networks, have called Goranov a martyr of the protests comparing him with Czech student, Jan Palach.

Varna Mayor Kiril Yordanov resigned on Wednesday.

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Tags: Varna, TIM, Kiril Yordanov, protests, Plamen Goranov, Ivan Vazov, mourning, Plamen Goranov, protests, Boyko Borisov, poverty, stagnation, corruption, TIM, Varna, Radnevo, Veliko Tarnovo, GERB, election

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