Web site editor beaten with hammers in Sofia
New York, September 23, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Monday’s brutal attack on Ognian Stefanov, editor of the investigative news Web site Frognews, in Bulgaria. The editor and his family had recently received anonymous phone calls warning Stefanov to stop his journalism or face consequences, Stefanov’s deputy, Aleksandar Ivanov, told CPJ. The site publishes…
Beyond the Bulgarian umbrella
“The current situation has made it necessary for the First Main Directorate (PGU) of [Russia’s] KGB to give the First Main Directorate of [Bulgaria’s] Ministry of Internal Affairs the following special means: devices for silent, mechanical ejection of special needles, containing swift poisons. …” The above is an excerpt from Addendum 13 of the “Perspective…
Crime writer shot and killed in Sofia
New York, April 8, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns yesterday’s murder of popular writer Georgi Stoev, author of a series of books on the origins and rise of Bulgaria’s criminal underworld since the fall of communism in 1989. Stoev, 35, was on a busy street when two unidentified men stopped him near the Pliska…
CPJ urges Rice to seek probe in Turkmen journalist’s death
Dear Secretary Rice: In advance of your meeting in New York with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov during the 62nd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Committee to Protect Journalists draws your attention to the unexplained death of an independent journalist in Turkmenistan.
Attacks on the Press 2006: Europe and Central Asia Snapshots
Armenia Germany/Poland Poland Bosnia Italy Portugal Bulgaria Lithuania Romania Croatia Macedonia Serbia Cyprus Moldova Switzerland Denmark Netherlands ARMENIA • On May 25, authorities denied independent television station A1+ a broadcasting license for the 12th time. According to press reports, the National Commission on Television and Radio justified the rejection by saying that competitors submitted stronger…
In Bulgaria, bomb explodes at home of investigative journalist
New York, April 6, 2006—An early morning explosion today rocked the Sofia apartment of Vasil Ivanov, a Nova Television investigative reporter who recently uncovered abuse of inmates in Sofia Central Prison, local and international press reports said. No injuries were reported, but the bomb caused extensive damage.
Could face three years in prison for espionage
New York, November 18, 2004—George Buhnici, a reporter for the Romanian private television station Pro-TV, was detained yesterday by Bulgarian border police in the northern Bulgarian city of Ruse while he was trying to return to Romania, according to The Associated Press. The Bulgarian information agency Focus reported that he was arrested for using a…
Attacks on the Press 2002: Bulgaria
During 2002, Bulgaria was invited to join NATO in 2004, but the European Union (EU) postponed Bulgaria’s admission until 2007 at the earliest. The EU’s decision reflected concern about the country’s economic underdevelopment, rampant corruption, weak judiciary, and politicized Prosecutor General’s Office. Bulgarian journalists, meanwhile, spent much of 2002 covering local drug gangs and police…