Bulgarian journalists beaten, threatened on election day
New York, November 4, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Bulgarian authorities to swiftly investigate and prosecute those who attacked or threatened at least four journalists while they were reporting on Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
“Harassment and threats against journalists covering Bulgaria’s elections are deeply concerning,” said Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative. “Bulgarian authorities must send a clear message that violence against and intimidation of the press will not be tolerated, especially during elections when the public’s access to information is paramount.”
Two men repeatedly hit Petar Kartulev, a camera operator for the private station bTV, while he was documenting voting in the southern city of Haskovo, causing minor injuries. Police detained two suspects at the scene.
A local official threatened journalist Diyana Zhelyazkova of the online outlets Za istinata (For the Truth) and Radian.bg as she was investigating allegations that the official was violating election law by preventing secret voting in the northern village of Vulnari. The official twice warned her to “be very careful,” the outlets reported, adding that Zhelyazkova filed a complaint to the police.
Three men prevented reporter Damiana Veleva of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from entering a polling station or taking photos in the southern village of Dolno Osenovo. One official told her that he did not want her “writing nonsense” and another man threatened to take her phone, which she was using to make an audio recording.
A man insulted and threatened reporter Zdravka Maslyankova of the public broadcaster Bulgarian National Radio as she was investigating alleged vote-buying at a polling station in the central city of Veliko Tarnovo. Police asked the man to leave the area.
Bulgaria’s seventh parliamentary election in four years was won by the center-right GERB party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, which will now seek to form a coalition government.
CPJ’s emails requesting comment from the Ministry of Interior, which oversees the police, did not receive any reply.