Disgusted by corruption in his provincial hometown, a 36-year-old Bulgarian quietly doused himself in gasoline and set himself ablaze. This week, another man — the fourth in less than a month — carried out the same act of desperation in front of the presidential headquarters in the capital.

The dramatic self-immolations, three of which were fatal, bear a striking resemblance to events half a century ago in Eastern Europe when mostly young intellectuals rebelled against Soviet communist rule by setting themselves on fire, demanding freedom and democracy.

A quarter century after the fall of communism in Bulgaria, dreams of prosperity have turned sour in the Balkan country, which is the poorest in the European Union. One in five Bulgarians lives below the poverty line, unemployment is at record levels, incomes are half the European average and bribe-taking, sleaze and a woefully inadequate justice system are part of daily life.

Plamen Goranov, the 36-year-old man protesting against graft in his hometown of Varna, died after pouring gasoline and setting himself on fire in front of a public building on Feb. 20. The harrowing act was captured by security cameras while he stood alone. He became known as the “Bulgarian Jan Palach,” after the Czech student who set himself ablaze in 1969 to protest the Soviet occupation of then Czechoslovakia.

Despite appeals by Bulgaria‘s influential Orthodox Church against such desperate actions, two other Bulgarian protesters, one of them a father of five children, followed Goranov’s steps, publicly set themselves on fire.

On Wednesday, another man, Dimitar Dimitrov, did the same in front of the presidency in the capital, Sofia. Relatives of the 51-year-old blacksmith, who was in critical condition, said that he had been left without an income after losing his job two years ago.

Security guards at the entrance of the building said they saw him sitting for some time next to a nearby fountain when he suddenly pulled a bottle with gasoline, dousing it over his head and striking a match. They rushed to save him by extinguishing the fire, but he sustained burns over 25 percent of his body and respiratory problems from poisonous gases.

“When you are unable to control the simplest things in your life, like buying food for the family or paying utility bills while the monopolies demand more and more, it is only normal to feel betrayed, left behind helplessly,” columnist Mila Avramova wrote in the Trud newspaper. “Then you see …read more
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