Bloggers Harassed by Police in Bulgaria
Jul 14th, 2007 by Milko Georgiev
The Freedom of Speech is something that is never granted. You must earn the right to be free.
Freedom of Speech is under threat in Bulgaria. Even if the country is a new member of the European Union, the unreformed police is still applying methods that are more adequate to the deeply repressive communist regime Bulgaria was till 1989.
A prominent Bulgarian blogger - Michel Bozgounov- has been summoned by the by the Chief Directorate “Combating Organized Crime” because he shared information on his blog over flash mob protests against a very controversial decision of the Supreme Administrative Court to revoke the status of a National Park of territories in the Strandja Mountain. This decision generated a wide wave of protests across the country over a strong suspicion that it has been influenced (read: bribed) by real estate big investments’ interests.
According to Michel, the police has ‘files’ on several other blogs and intends to summon them too.
I have sent a letter of protest to the European Commissioner of Human Rights. If you have a way to ask your Government to question the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs or directly the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria on the matter, everyone here at the Bulgarian blogsphere and Internet community will be grateful.
Here’s my letter to the EU Commissioner:
Dear Mr. Hammarberg,
I would like to inform you of my profound indignation of a fact of police harassment over free speech in Bulgaria. A member of the blog community – Michel Bozgounov (www.optimiced.com), bound up in recent protests over the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court to revoke the status of a National Park of territories in the Strandja Mountain has been summoned by the Chief Directorate “Combating Organized Crime” and then warned by a police protocol to restrain himself of publishing links or quotes of sites which contain potential law infringement over illegal public gatherings. Bozgounov has also been warned that other blogs, supporting the totally peaceful protests will be “warned or punished” for publishing information on the protests schedules and places.
The so described “illegal gatherings” were widely covered by the Bulgarian media, such as the three national TV channels (BNT, bTV and Nova TV), several newspapers and large internet coverage.
As a member of the blog and internet publishing community, I find this fact profoundly threatening the Free Speech in Bulgaria. As a young professional that has nevertheless a clear reminiscence of the Communist Era in Bulgaria, I see an awful repeating pattern in this visibly repressive behavior. I’m also deeply impressed, that blogging in Bulgaria has been somehow declared an “organized crime” and then persecuted by a Chief Directorate “Combating Organized Crime” – an organization with very doubting successes in what it is supposed to be their core activity – combating mafia and organized crime in Bulgaria.
I would like to ask you to take all necessary measures in your competence for preventing the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior Affairs and The Bulgarian Government in stepping up to this extremely dangerous path on combating free speech.
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Имах огромното удоволствие да публикувам в моя блог отправка към вашето писмо до еврокомисаря. Приемете сърдечните ми позрдави за адекватната гражданска реакция. Радвам се, че европейското мислене и поведение е присъщо на млад и висококвалифициран делови човек като вас!
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Полицията разследва блогери?…
Нима е възможно при толкова много други проблеми, при показни разстрели в центъра на столицата, откраднати милиони от управата на парното…
http://digg.com/world_news/Bloggers_Harassed_by_Police_in_Bulgaria
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Попаднах на сайте Ви с помощта на LinkedIn. Бях приятно изненадан да прочета и адекватната реакция на хора като Вас срещу събитията, които се случват в България, които следя отдалеч. Колкото и далеч от мен да се случват, успяват да ме жегнат - ще се надявам на адекватна реакция и от страна на съответните европейски комисии, защото свободата на словото е едно от нещата, които Европа има като ценности, за които бях с впечатлението че България поддържа.
Поздрави,
Емил Стоянов
Уважаеми приятели, колеги
Благодаря изключително много за поддръжката по случая с полицейския произвол в България. Единствената ми молба е - не намалявайте натиска, пишете, изисквайте информация, не давайте на ченгеджийството да се скрие пак в сянката на общественотоо безразличие и забрава. Единственият начин да предотвратим рецидив е да създадем устойчиво гражданско общество, което пита, иска обяснения и контролира този комунистически атавизъм.
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Please, could you correct everywhere in the blog post and in the letter my name?
It’s Michel Bozgounov, not Bozukov nor Bozgunov; thanks a lot!
And for all the support, too!
–Michel
Michel, really sorry for the misspelling.
Saturday was a tough day of writing and fighting and in the confusion I have really messed it up… Sorry again, my deepest apologies and accept my great respect for the courage and your position.