Bulgaria Media Report Fresh Cases of Intimidation

Boyko Borissov, leader of Bulgaria's GERB party, speaks at a press conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, 4 October 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/VASSIL DONEV

On March 15, media reported that the journalist and publisher Ivan Atanassov had been arrested on Tuesday for 24 hours following an anonymous claim that he was in possession of ancient coins and objects of cultural and historical values, without being registered as a private collector. 

Atanasov is the publisher of the regional website sakarnews.info, focused on the south-central town of Harmanli, and is also part of the team behind the anti-corruption online platform zaistinata.com (For the Truth), which includes Dimiter Petzov, who in 2020 was arrested for possession of drugs in what he described as an act of intimidation. 

In a statement, zaistinata.com wrote that a likely factor in Atanasov's arrest were his articles critical of the work of the local administrations in Harmanli, Topolovgrad and Svilengrad - and that he was working on a story about potential voting fraud in favour of the GERB party, which has previously been associated with similar misdoings. 

"I guess I overdid it with the criticisms of GERB and the Ministry of Interior," Atanassov told Sega.bg ironically on his release on Wednesday.  

GERB, headed by three-time PM Boyko Borissov, has not responded to this version of the events.

On March 8, the insurance company Lev Ins filed a lawsuit for 1 million leva (500,000 euros) in the Sofia City Court against the respected online media outlet Mediapool.

The company felt offended by an article from journalist Tsvetelina Sokolova from September 27 that said Bulgarian drivers might lose their liability insurance in the European Green Card System when traveling...