Thousands visit Bulgaria parliament to mark protest anniversary

Over 12,000 people visited the Bulgarian parliament on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the 10th January protests in 1997 which led to the eventual resignation of the socialist government, BTA news agency reported.

The United Democratic Forces government "marked the anniversary by letting ordinary people into the Parliament building and holding a prayer service," the agency said.

On the night of January 10 last year, angry protesters were involved in violent clashes with police outside Parliament and some broke into the building.

The authorities have announced an investigation into who was responsible for the violence, in which protesters were beaten by police.

"10th January should never be repeated," President Peter Stoyanov was quoted as saying.

He said the date marked "clearly when people lose patience and go into the streets.

Everybody involved in governing this country should keep an eye on this".

Stoyanov spoke to members of the public who visited parliament, BTA said.

Prime Minister Ivan Kostov was also there.

"The doors of the Parliament Chairman's office were wide open for everybody willing to meet him and the Prime Minister." The Socialist party organized a rally ending with a march to parliament, and a cordon of police kept marchers from clashing with government supporters.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.