A woman with dual US-Bulgarian citizenship was arrested and then released for protesting outside the Russian Cultural and Information Centre in Sofia, writing “murderers” in chalk on the building and burning the Russian flag.
Alexandra Mileva, also an artist, recently returned from Ukraine, where she was making a film about the Russian invasion. She was arrested in the Bulgarian capital on 29 August, according to the civilian BOEC (Fighter), which filmed Mileva’s detention.
“Alexandra was illegally abducted and held against her will simply because she openly expressed her civil position against the atrocities of the Russian occupiers and in support of Ukraine. The police must learn that this is not Moscow and that they serve the citizens and the law,” said the position of the BOEC civil association after the arrest.
Witnesses to the incident from the BOEC organisation claim that after the Russian flag was set on fire, Bulgarian policemen arrived and pushed, insulted and threatened the protester. They then handcuffed her and took her to the police station.
Polina Velcheva, Mileva’s lawyer, told Euractiv Bulgaria that the young woman was held in police custody for 24 hours. Then, the prosecutor’s office demanded that she be punished for hooliganism with 15 days’ imprisonment or a fine of between €50 and €250.
The lawyer claims that the police considered Mileva’s actions in tearing up and burning the Russian flag to be obscene. The Bulgarian Interior Ministry has not yet commented on the case, although most actions in protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are accepted in Bulgaria as the right to express a political opinion.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled several times in similar cases to protect the right to peaceful protest.
On Friday, the Sofia District Court acquitted Mileva, ruling that she was expressing her opinion and not disrespecting society.
On Saturday, BOEC and other citizens organised a “barbecue” with Russian flags in front of the Russian Cultural Centre in Sofia as a sign of solidarity with Alexandra Mileva. Several Russian flags were burned during the demonstration, but the police did not intervene.
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