The pro-reform government of Prime Minister Ivan Kostov and his United
Democratic Forces (UDF) coalition, elected in 1997 in the wake of nationwide
political and economic upheaval, brought a degree of stability and recovery
to the country after a year of crisis. The improved conditions have benefited
the independent press, especially the national independent
dailies Trud and 24 Chasa, and the weeklies
Kapital and 168 Chasa. In some small towns, however,
local authorities and prosecutors used their virtually unrestricted political
power to intimidate the few critical voices of the independent press.
Widespread corruption and the influence of organized crime still plague the
country. And for reporters who dig into these issues, Bulgaria is a dangerous
place. Threats and violent attacks on news outlets, journalists, and their
families occur with alarming frequency and virtual impunity.
In May, Anna Zarkova, a crime reporter and chief editor of the crime section
of Trud, suffered severe burns and the loss of sight in her left
eye when acid was thrown in her face in retaliation for her reporting, which
has covered such explosive topics as corrupt prosecutors and government
officials, police violence, and arms smuggling. Although her assailant has
confessed, police have not identified those behind the attack. Zarkova met
with CPJ staff, board, and supporters in New York City during her October
visit to the United States to receive two international journalism awards
and to seek medical assistance.
In another alarming trend, criminal libel prosecutions against independent
journalists increased significantly. In May, CPJ joined local press freedom
groups in petitioning the government to remove Articles 146, 147, and 148
of the penal code, which criminalize libel and defamation and carry prison
sentences of up to three years for journalists convicted of violating these
provisions. On July 17, the Constitutional Court ruled that the articles
did not violate the constitution. Although authorities in September told
a delegation from the International Press Institute that they planned to
reassess the penal code in the near future, they continued to use the statutes
to prosecute journalists throughout the year.
The results of this prosecutorial zeal are manifest in the plight of Yovka
Atanassova, owner and editor of the independent daily Starozagorsky
Novini. This year, appeals courts upheld two suspended criminal libel
sentences she had received after being convicted of libeling local prosecutors
and businessmen. (In 1997, Atanassova lost appeals of three other suspended
sentences.) When the fifth five-month criminal libel sentence was upheld
on appeal in December, the court ordered her to serve 16 months in prison.
At press time, she remained free pending official notice of the start of
her sentence.
In July, the parliament passed a draft law on radio and television. The draft
legislation was intended to regulate the transition of state-run Bulgarsko
Natsionalno Radio (Bulgarian National Radio, or BNR) and Bulgarska Natsionalna
Televizia (Bulgarian National Television, or BNT) to public media. It stipulated
that news and public affairs programs should be the exclusive province of
BNT and BNR, while privately run stations should focus on music and entertainment
programming. Journalists and press freedom advocates criticized the draft
law for attempting to dictate the content of broadcast media. Because of
these problems with the legislation, and its failure to guarantee the political
independence of the members of the National Council on Radio and Television,
which has the power to ban programs and suspend broadcasting licenses, President
Petar Stoyanov vetoed the draft bill in September. Parliament is likely to
revise it in 1999.
Also in July, parliament passed a telecommunications law, which established
financially and bureaucratically burdensome procedures for granting frequency
licenses to independent broadcasters and created a telecommunications commission,
tightly controlled by the cabinet, to oversee frequency distribution.
Most Bulgarians rely on state-run national television for their news. The
government has delayed the promised privatization of the second national
state-run television channel, Efir 2. The sole alternative station, Nova
Televizia, is available only in the largest cities. Of the approximately
100 private radio stations, most operate without the required licenses and
could be shut down at any time. For this reason and the weakness of their
signals, they cannot compete with state-run radio's news coverage |
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