Bulgarian 'Migrant Hunter' Held After Anti-Roma Rally

Thousands of Bulgarians from different parts of the country, including rockers and football hooligans, joined a mass anti-Roma rally in Asenovgrad on Sunday evening.

The rally followed a group fight last Monday between locals of Roma origin and teenagers from the local canoe kayak team. Nine Roma suspected of attacking the sports team are behind bars awaiting trial.

Sunday's protest, the fifth in a row, escalated after hard-line protesters tried to break through the police blockade guarding the Roma neighbourhood from the angry crowd.

The hundreds of policemen guarding the rally, however, prevented serious clashes.

Three people have since been arrested and charged with hooliganism, Plovdiv region police official Atanas Ilkov said on Monday.

One is Petar Nizamov "Perata", whose video of  a "citizen's arrest" of three Afghan  migrants caused an international outcry last April.

Nizamov was arrested on Monday in his hometown of Burgas after he attacked a cameraman from the national private broadcaster, BTV, during clashes with the police at one of the streets leading to Asenovgdrad's Roma district.

The journalist, Petar Dzhanavarov, was allegedly hit, spat on and threatened by Nizamov.

Nizamov has had three court sentences already, none of which led to his imprisonment, however.

Following the illegal "citizen's arrest" of the three Afghans in 2016 he faced up to six years in prison for illegally depriving the trio of their liberty.

However, a Burgas court cleared him of all charges in 2017 due to lack of evidence that he had committed the crime.

Among the main demands of the protesters in Asenovgrad are an increase in the police presence to guarantee public order in the town, better integration of the...