OSCE media freedom representative urges Bulgarian authorities to swiftly prosecute violent attacks against journalists
VIENNA, 26 September 2008 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, today asked the Bulgarian authorities to accelerate the bringing to justice of perpetrators of recent violent attacks against journalists.
"I am concerned about the latest brutal attack against investigative journalist Ognian Stefanov, and alarmed by the frequency that similar, violent acts have been carried out against journalists in Bulgaria in the last years," wrote Haraszti in a letter to Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin.
Stefanov, the editor of investigative website Frognews, remains in hospital in critical condition after four men beat him with hammers on 22 September. Frognews focuses on the activities of public officials, among them state security services. Before the attack, Stefanov had reportedly received anonymous phone calls telling him to stop writing or bear the consequences.
In April 2008, Georgi Stoev, the author of several books on organized crime in Bulgaria, was murdered, and in April 2006, there was an explosion at the apartment of well-known Nova Television investigative journalist Vasil Ivanov.
"In all three cases, the perpetrators have not been identified and brought to justice," said Haraszti. He asked the Bulgarian authorities to accelerate the investigations of the attacks, and to keep the public informed about these efforts.
"Such attacks can intimidate journalists in Bulgaria and keep them from doing their job - to inform about issues of public interest. Law enforcement should not handle attempts at violently silencing critical voices as ordinary crimes, but as acts aimed to undermine the basic democratic value of free speech," he added.