“Media freedom and freedom of association further deteriorated as authorities targeted journalists and critics and cracked down on anti-government protests,” Amnesty International writes in the Bulgaria profile of its 2020/21 report on the state of the world's human rights.
“Media freedom continued to deteriorate, with journalists investigating organized crime and corruption facing intense political and prosecutorial pressure in the form of threats and intimidation,” Amnesty International writes and goes on: “Investigative reporter Nikolay Staykov was questioned by the Prosecutor’s Office and threatened with prosecution after he released a documentary which implicated the Prosecutor’s Office in a financial crime. Several journalists covering the antigovernment protests in the capital, Sofia, in September were physically assaulted by police; one was detained for hours. The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights called the actions “unacceptable” and urged the authorities to investigate the attacks.
In its Rule of Law Report in September, the European Commission expressed serious concerns about the lack of transparency of media ownership and noted that media remained subject to systematic political control. Ranking 111th out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, Bulgaria remained the EU member state with the lowest standard of media freedom,” Amnesty International writes in its report on the state of human rights in 2020/2021.
Three days of protests demanding better working conditions are to begin today in psychiatric hospitals and wards across the country. According to Dr Tsveteslava Galabova, head of the St Ivan Rilski State Psychiatric Hospital, psychiatric care is on..
A total of 59 people lost their lives and 155 were injured in a fire that flared up during a concert by the popular band DNK in North Macedonia last night. The fire erupted at the Pulse club in the town of Koçani, 65 km from the Bulgarian border. Some of..
Overnight, clouds over the north and east will bring brief showers. There will be light to moderate westerly winds which will increase in strength on Monday, veering north-west and bringing in cold air. Showers will be widespread, especially in the..
A protest is taking place in Sofia to demand maximum sentences for a man and a woman who killed animals in a particularly cruel way. So far, nearly..
Bulgarian citizens and road hauliers should avoid traveling to Serbia on March 15 and 16 except in cases of extreme necessity , until the protest actions..
In response to the tragedy in North Macedonia, where more than 50 people lost their lives in a fire at a nightclub in the town of Kočani, Foreign..
+359 2 9336 661