Reporters Without Borders

Six months have passed since the October 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel, resulting in 1,200 deaths and hundreds of hostages. The Israeli military's response has led to a significant number of Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza and the West Bank. According to UN reports, over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured in the conflict.

"In 2022, freedom of expression in Bulgaria was subjected to new abuses in the conditions of a full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine.

In recent days, many Bulgarian journalists felt very puzzled by the new ranking of the renowned world organization, which is really the only one interested in the freedom of speech and the life of journalists in highly self-censoring, repressive societies where the big media are in the hands of a circle of businessmen directly related to certain political circles.

Hristofakis was one of four photojournalists who suffered injuries from police violence during days of protests and nationwide strikes following the train crash that killed 57 people and raised uncomfortable questions for the authorities about how they manage the country's rail system.

As Turkey heads for presidential and parliamentary elections at the weekend that are shaping up to be the strongest challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his 20 years as leader, complaints are growing about the fairness of the vote.

Slovenia has climbed four spots in the latest World Press Freedom Index to rank 50th among 180 countries. The country has thus moved up from being in a 'problematic situation' to join countries whose press media situation is judged to be 'satisfactory'.

Bulgaria has climbed 20 spots in the annual Media Freedom Index of the non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders. According to the organization, this freedom remains fragile and unstable in our country, which is "one of the poorest and most corrupt in the European Union".

Reporters Without Borders hailed the arrests of two men in connection to the 2021 murder of Greek journalist Giorgios Karaivaz with a statement released on social media on Saturday. Citing an article from Kathimerini English Edition, the international body called for the apprehension of all those involved in the case.

It's not the first time that Durigon has filed a criminal complaint against media professionals, nor is he the only member of the current government to have done so.

A woman shows her child a picture of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, Turkey, 18 January 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN