Bulgaria: Recent Human Rights Issues
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Subject: Bulgaria: Recent Human Rights Issues
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Greek Helsinki Monitor <[email protected]>
Bulgaria: Recent Human Rights Issues
Reporters Sans Frontieres
International Secretary
Desk Europe, Turkey and ex-USSR
5, rue Geoffroy Marie - 75009 Paris France
Tél : (33) 1 44 83 84 84
Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51
E-mail : [email protected]
Web : www.rsf.fr
M.Petar Stoyanov
President
Sofia
Bulgaria
fax : 00 359 2767 32 26
Paris, 16 July 1998
Dear Sir,
Reporters Sans Frontieres, an independent organisation working to
defend press freedom worldwide, wishes to protest against the decision
of the Constitutional Court to maintain Articles 146, 147 and 148 of
the Bulgarain criminal code.
According to our information, on 15 July the Bulgarian Constitutional
Court ruled that the articles 146, 147, 148, punishing "libel" and
"insult" against state authority, do not contradict the Constitution
and do therefore not have to be rescinded. The decision was taken with
the majority of 11 votes against one. On 30 April, 55 members of
Parliament asked the constitutional Court to declare these articles of
the criminal code anti-constitutional.
Reporters Sans Frontières wishes to protest against this decision.
Bulgarian journalists can still be jailed for six months for "libel"
or insulting a state representative. Our organisation asks you to use
all your authority to harmonise the dispositions of the criminal code
with Bulgaria's international committment to protect press freedom.
We thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to
your reply.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Ménard,
General Secretary
-------------------------------------------------------------
HUMAN RIGHTS WITHOUT FRONTIERS
RUE DE LA PRESSE 5
B-1000 BRUSSELS
Tel/fax: 32 2 219 88 80
_____________________________________________
PRESS AND INFORMATION SERVICE
Section "Religious Intolerance and Discrimination"
July 23, 1998
____________________________________________________
BULGARIA
MORMON MISSIONARY BLAMED WITH NARCOTRAFFICKING
HRWF (23.07.98) - In one of its feature shows on December 17, 1997,
Bulgaria National Television reported, with a delay of more than eight
months, that on April 9 a Mormon missionary had been caught attempting
to smuggle drugs into Bulgaria. Two days later the story was
publicised by the national dailies 24 Chasa, Trud, Sega, and
Democrazia. They described how Mr. Derek Alred had been arrested at
Sofia Airport after customs officers found 300 capsules with a
suspicious substance in his luggage. The presence of the psychedelic
substance phenmetrasin had been established later in 47 of them. The
investigator claims that the Mormons were being used for opening a new
narcotrafficking channel. The American was released 24 hours later,
after the intervention of the American Embassy.
After carrying out its own investigation on the story, Obektiv found
that in their greater part all the allegations were false. Mr. Stephen
Tchernokolev, defence-counsel for Mr. Derek Alred told us his client
had not been detained upon arrival in Sofia on April 9 together with
four other boys and a girl, as the media reports claimed. Then customs
officers seized some of their personal belongings. Alred was arrested
after more than a month when he went to the airport to get the seized
belongings back. The 300 capsules did not actually belong to Mr.
Alred, but to the girl that arrived with the group. This was
confirmed personally by her, and by all the other Americans, whose
luggage was inspected then. Upon arrival at the airport the six
Mormons were split between two rooms. The seized belongings - books,
leaflets, badges, audio-cassettes, medicine - were collected in two
cardboard boxes, one for each of the two rooms. The receipt for the
box in one of the rooms was signed by Derek Alred, and for the other
box - by one of the boys from the group. The girl, whose capsules were
seized, was in the other room, but the customs officers placed the
capsules in the box in the room where Mr. Alred was kept.
The lawyer, Mr. Tchernokolev insists that the most important evidence
in this case is the quantity of phenmetrasin in the capsules, which
has been disregarded by the investigator in his report. The expertise
established that it was so minuscule that traces of the substance
could be detected only by highly sophisticated specialised appliances
and procedures. In such circumstances, there are no grounds for
criminal prosecution, and it invalidates the claim for an attempt to
smuggle narcotic substances.
As to the other accusation - that Mr. Derek Alred prepared or obtained
the substance phenmetrasin with the aim of selling it, or distributing
it in some other way - the investigation could not find any proof to
substantiate its claim.
All these facts were not reported by the media. The reporters have
also disregarded the fact that serious breaches of the law were
affected when Mr. Alred's belongings were seized. An interpreter was
not present at the act to tell the Americans what exactly they were
signing, as the receipts they signed were only in Bulgarian. The
protocol they signed states that the books were confiscated because
they were of religious nature, forbidden for importation to Bulgaria.
An Instruction of the Customs Head Office was quoted, which does not
actually exist.
Premature announcement by the investigator of data and circumstances
of the case before the preliminary investigation has been completed,
is a violation of the law and the rights of the defendant. The law
forbids publication of data from a preliminary investigation without
permission by the Prosecutor. In this case the investigator
arbitrarily and selectively revealed data against a person that has
not been proved to have committed a criminal act. This act by the
investigator undoubtedly reflects unfavourably on the suspect. There
is a real danger that the publication of selected data from the
preliminary investigation can influence the Prosecution in forming
its decision on the case. In this sense the fears expressed by the
investigator that external influences could bear-down on the
Prosecution shoud relate in the first place to his own statements to
the media.
In addition, the investigator's words as if casually direct the
public attention to the link between the accused and his adherence to
a particular religious denomination. This representative of the
investigation makes comments and generalizations on the Church of
Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints and on the Mormons such as
"women are second-hand with the Mormons", "one is scared by the
financial power of this church", etc. Quoted by the Trud daily on
December 12, 1997. Such allegations, and also in general the church
and religion in question, have nothing to do with the particular case.
Such an approach is contrary to an impartial and thorough
investigation as required by the law in any modern democracy,
including Bulgaria.
Source: OBEKTIV/FEBRUARY-MAY 1998
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Reporters Sans Frontières
International Secretary
Desk Europe, Turkey and ex-USSR
5, rue Geoffroy Marie - 75009 Paris France
Tél : (33) 1 44 83 84 84
Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51
E-mail : [email protected]
Web : www.rsf.fr
M.Vasil Gotzev
Ministry of Justice
Sofia
Bulgaria
fax : 00 359 2 767 3226
Paris, 30 July 1998
Dear Sir,
Reporters Sans Frontieres, an independent organisation working to
defend press freedom worldwide, wishes to protest against the
financial harassment of the regional newspaper Sedmitza in Sliven,
south-est Bulgaria.
According to our information, on 29 July the regional prosecutor Ms
Kety Bozukova blocked the bank acount of the weekly newspaper Sedmitza
and called for a fine of 1 million levas (600 dollars) after
publication of an article criticising her work.
Recently the newspaper was fined for 10 million levas for "libelling"
the vice-president of the parlementary group of the ruling party, Eva
Jetcheva.
The newspaper was also fined following a complaint from three local
businessmen calling for 35 million levas in compensation.
Reporters Sans Frontiers protests against these incidents and asks you
to use all your authority to stop the financial harassment of
Sedmitza.
We thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to
your reply.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Ménard,
General Secretary
-------------------------------------------------------------
Reporters Sans Frontières
International Secretary
Desk Europe, Turkey and ex-USSR
5, rue Geoffroy Marie - 75009 Paris France
Tél : (33) 1 44 83 84 84
Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51
E-mail : [email protected]
Web : www.rsf.fr
M.Vasil Gotzev
Ministry of Justice
Sofia
Bulgaria
fax : 00 359 2 767 3226
Paris, 31 July 1998
Dear Sir,
Reporters Sans Frontieres, an independent organisation working to
defend press freedom worldwide, wishes to protest against an assault
on journalist Kaloian Tzatchev in Dimitrovgrad, south Bulgaria.
According to our information, on 30 July, Kaloian Tzatchev, a
journalist with the newspaper Orient Express, was assaulted and
seriously beaten by unknown persons in his flat. The journalist had
written some articles revealing how local mafiosi are using special
treatment while buying vegetables from farmers. He was receiving
threats by phone after the publication of his articles. His agressors
told him that if he did not stop writing articles on this matter they
would return and cut off his fingers.
In the meantime, the car of the chief editor of the newspaper, Maria
Vassileva, was stolen.
Reporters Sans Frontieres protests against this assault. Our
organisation asks you to open an investigation into this case
immediatly and to ensure the security of journalists working for
Orient Express.
We thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to
your reply.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Ménard,
General Secretary
______________________________________
Greek Helsinki Monitor &
Minority Rights Group - Greece
P.O. Box 51393
GR-14510 Kifisia
Greece
Tel. +30-1-620.01.20
Fax +30-1-807.57.67
e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
________________________________________
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