The protests we sparked when a family member of Roma leader Kiril Rashkov intentionally ran over a nineteen year old boy, Angel Petrov, over the weekend, according to the Sofia News Agency.
Rashkov, 69, was arrested after being examined in the hospital, and the police have pledged to investigate him. The crime boss, who is known as “Tsar Kiro” was convicted several times of illegal gold transactions and foreign currency exchanges during the communist era. In 1988, he founded a Roma political party.
On Tuesday, 600 people in nine cities gathered to protest the government, who they said had not held Rashkov to the same tax standards as other Bulgarians, and complaining about organized crime and corruption. Police arrested nearly 300 rioters all over the country. Many protesters shouted anti-Roma epithets and those near Rashkov’s hometown of Katunitsa burned some of his properties.
Prosecutors say Rashkov’s illegal alcohol production businesses and tax evasion to the tune of 6 million Bulgarian Leva ($4.2 million) garnered him a spot as one of the wealthiest men in Bulgaria.
The protests are being characterized by foreign and local press as anti-Roma) but Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said the issue was about organized crime, not ethnicity, and vowed to address the problems in the criminal system.
Bulgaria has struggled to meet its European Union obligations to prosecute and convict organized crime figures, but has fallen short of its goals.
Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev said his office is probing not only Rashkov but 20 “such individuals,” telling journalists on Thursday that in every Bulgarian town, there are local bosses with high standards of living and unpaid taxes.
Rashkov’s assets have been frozen while prosecutors investigate him for tax evasion. He was also summoned Wednesday by prosecutors to investigate allegations that he made death threats to two people, including the woman whom he lives with, Ivanka Petrova.
