In a short documentary, participants in the events in Crystal Garden of October 26, 1989, remember the days around this key date that can be defined as the beginning of democratic civic initiatives in communist Bulgaria. The documentary is produced by the newly formed Bulgarian Community of Liberal Democracy (BOLD) to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the communist regime in the country.

The short film shows authentic photos and presents memories of several of the direct participants – members of the former “Ecoglasnost”. Among them are Deyan Kyuranov, Krassimir Kanev, Alexander Karakachanov, Dimitrina Petrova.

These and other veterans will gather this Saturday October 26th in the Crystal Garden in central Sofia to mark the 30th anniversary of their civic action, which precipitated democratic change in Bulgaria.

BOLD invites other participants in the events of 1989, as well as citizens who share democratic values, to join the civic initiative on October 26, 2019, from 12:00 to 14:00 under the slogan “Let’s be proud of the tradition of democratic civic participation in Bulgaria!”

Civic movements and non-governmental organizations supporting human rights and fundamental freedoms will also join us with their messages highlighting current civic causes.

The events of October 26, 1989

October 26, 1989, saw the culmination of the first open civic action against the communist government. Every day during the three weeks leading up to this date, members of the environmental group Ecoglasnost gathered in the city garden in front of the former Crystal cafe in Sofia to collect signatures under a citizens’ petition to the National Assembly to stop the construction of two hydro projects. Following escalating confrontation with the communist authorities who never before had to deal with open street action organized by informal dissident groups, on the morning of October 26, about 20 members of Ecoglasnost were brutally beaten and arrested. But these repressions led to increasingly bold support for the cause of human rights, including environmental rights, and to growing civil resistance to the communist regime that had systematically suppressed them.

Today, 30 years after these events, Bulgaria has no less need for civic energy to continue to oppose policies that violate human rights and to further strengthen the democratic processes in the country.

What is BOLD?

BOLD is a value community that seeks to improve cooperation between professional human rights defenders and other supporters of democracy in Bulgaria, to develop new strategies for communicating liberal values, and to strengthen the resistance of civil society against anti-democratic campaigns.

BOLD was initiated by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee.

Why was BOLD created?

Historically, the Helsinki Committees throughout Europe have functioned as small professional groups dealing with the protection of human rights in the context of the international human rights movement and relying on international, regional and national legal frameworks in this field. Nowadays, when anti-liberal populist waves flood the political scene, these committees, like most other human rights organizations, are increasingly recognizing the need to broaden the range of their supporters. At the same time, they recognize their responsibility to advance a broader agenda of liberal democratic values ​​in their countries.

With this initiative, human rights defenders seek to restore the diminished support for their values, working from the outset in alliance with supporters of other liberal-democratic causes with different orientations – including environmental organizations and movements.

For inquiries from the media:

Dimitrina Petrova,

Chairman of the BOLD Initiative Committee

e-mail: Dimitrina.petrova@bghelsinki.org

Tel: 0895 421044