Plamen Goranov

[1][10][11] (in conflict with self-immolations article here) According to the official report by the prosecution,[12] on the morning of 20 February 2013, Goranov arrived in front of the Varna municipal building a little before 7:30 carrying a backpack, a poster, and two bottles of gasoline.

Goranov became known as the Bulgarian Jan Palach,[14] a Czech student who set himself on fire in 1969 after the Soviets crushed the Prague Spring and whose memory became a catalyst for overthrow of the communist regime.

"[17] An article in the Guardian noted, "Goranov's sacrifice may not resonate in the west (sic) as loudly as Jan Palach's did during the Prague spring 40-odd years earlier, but to Bulgarians it is just as cathartic.

[21] Despite limited police efforts to prevent it, a pile of rocks covered with flowers and topped by the Bulgarian flag was erected on the square in front of Varna city hall to mark the spot where Goranov set himself on fire.

[22] This was possibly a tribute to Goranov's passion for climbing but is more generally regarded as an allusion to famous Bulgarian poet Ivan Vazov's poem "Gramada".

[23] According to a report in The New York Times, Goranov's death has become for Bulgarians a symbol of despair that things will never change, but it also marks a loss of fear among the populace to take on mafia group TIM, described in a 2005 leaked U.S. Embassy cable as "the up-and-coming star of Bulgarian organized crime" fingered for involvement in various illicit activities including "extortion and racketeering, intimidation, prostitution, gambling, narcotics trafficking and car theft.

"[25] In 2012 Goranov scaled three 35-foot-tall female statues on the monument of Soviet-Bulgarian friendship overlooking Varna and placed colored hoods over their heads in solidarity with jailed members of Russian punk protest band Pussy Riot.