A-Infos (en) Sofia: Protest against the disposal of US military bases in Bulgaria

On 12 November a protest against the US military bases, which are
going to be situated near the villages Novo Selo, Bezmer and near the
Burgas' port, took place in Sofia (Bulgaria's capitol). More than 500
people marched through the central streets of Sofia, expressing their
stand against all military bases. The protest ended in front of the
National Theater "Ivan Vazov". In the protest took part the
anarcho-block of autonomous antiauthoritarian group
"AnarchoResistance" (around 60 people). Few nationalists from BNS
(Bulgarian National Union) were also there but left quickly after the
demo.

On the evening of 10 November two activists were arrested and
brutally beaten by the police, while they were sticking posters for the
protest near the Synagogue. The cops said that Vladimir Trichkov and
Stefan Andonov were sticking the posters on the Synagogue's wall
(which is a complete lie!) and they resisted the arrest. Their presence
in the area of the Synagogue was used by the police to paste words like
"anti-Semite" and "nationalist" about them (which is also a complete
lie!). From 12 November the two are on hunger strike after the refusal
of medical help and meeting with their families. They are sued by the
quick procedure. The Minister of Interior, Rumen Petkov, awarded in
the weekend the two cops, who arrested Vladimir and Stefan, for the
"perfect work" and put with that pressure on the court for convicting
the two activists "guilty".

links to Pictures from the protest:
http://bulgaria.indymedia.org/feature/display/5603/index.php
http://snimka.bg/album.php?album_id=11812
Articles about the arrest (in bulgarian):
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=200511161003128

After the protest on Saturday most of the people protested also in front
of the police station, where Vladimir and Stefan were kept for more
than 5 days without charges.

On the first court meeting on Monday around 20:00 o'clock (!) the
witnesses of the defense were not even allowed to enter the court
room. On the next day Vladimir and Stefan were out on 500 leva bail.
The next court meeting is on 17 November.

On 19 December 1999 the bulgarian parliament accepted the disposal
of US military bases, despite that most of the people are against the
presence of US military forces. The US authorities even said that they
aren't going to pay anything for the use of bulgarian territory.
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