The Face of the Protest
13.11.2013 § 5 Comments
This photo was taken by Facebook user Stefan Stefanov. It shows Bulgarian protester Desi Nikolova interacting with a police officer on the barricades outside what appears to be the Bulgarian National Bank building (someone please correct me on the exact location). It depicts the frustration and high tensions of the protests in Bulgaria, which have continued (mostly) peacefully for over 150 days, but the story behind it adds a few telling and heartening details. To quote Desi, the protester:
Some of the police officers were well-intentioned. The one whose shoulders I’m holding had a little blood on his nose, I think he’d scraped it somehow. I saw how he was protecting the people and trying to prevent other police officers from beating us. I began to cry and I told him to be safe. He replied “Hold on. Everything will be okay.” There were tears in his eyes…
Please share this photo by linking to its original link or through my translation here and spread the word. There are sensible police officers, many of whom are walking the fine line of maintaining peace without harming anyone, and there is no stopping human decency, civic action and the demands for change.
[…] 13.11.2013 Blazing Bulgaria […]
Its in. Tuzla, Bosnia and Hercegovina dont write untill u have ur facts straight.
Thanks for the advice. The yellow brick pavement, the fact that I’ve contacted the subject personally to get her story and the building of the Bulgarian National Bank in the background all point to this being in Sofia.
a very touching photo indeed…
This image is so incredibly moving. I’d been looking for a follow-up to it and finally found it. Thanks for sharing!