A recent incident involving the aggression towards a journalist during a municipal council session in municipality of Venets (Венец), Shumen (Шумен) province, Bulgaria, has raised concerns about press freedom and the safety of journalists in Bulgaria. On 31 July 2024 Diana Zhelyazkova (Диана Желязкова), a reporter for the media outlet “For the Truth,” (За истината – zaistinata.com), also connected to the newsportal radian.bg (owner company АГЕНЦИЯ МАДАРА ЕООД, owner Дияна Димитрова Желязкова), who also reports for Bulgarian section of Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL – Радио Свободна Европа/Радио Свобода – www.svobodnaevropa.bg – https://www.svobodnaevropa.bg/a/33044882.html), was subjected to threats and insults by a security guard while covering a local municipal council session.
The aggression appeared to be directly linked to Zhelyazkova’s work, suggesting an attempt to allegedly intimidate and silence her critical reporting.
At the start of the municipal council session, Zhelyazkova was initially denied entry into the meeting hall by the security guard. Despite the fact that current Bulgarian legislation ensures that municipal council sessions are open to journalists and citizens, security guard refused to allow her access. It was only after receiving permission from the one of the mayors who were present, that Zhelyazkova was allowed to attend the session.
During the session, Zhelyazkova was allegedly confronted by one other mayor for moving around the hall to take photographs.
After the session concluded, the security guard confronted Zhelyazkova again, this time with aggressive shouts and insults directly related to her reporting. He reportedly criticized her focus on the municipality of Venets in her articles.
What makes the situation even more alarming is the lack of intervention from the other municipal officials present. According to Zhelyazkova, the scene played out in front of numerous local officials who did not step in to stop the aggression, despite the risk that the verbal assault could escalate into physical violence. It was only the intervention of a municipal employee, who stepped in to protect Zhelyazkova, that prevented the situation from turning violent.
Following the incident, Zhelyazkova promptly reported the event to the authorities by contacting the police and provided a statement to police officers from the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior in Shumen, Bulgaria.
This incident highlights the ongoing challenges faced by journalists in Bulgaria, particularly those covering sensitive or critical topics on local level, and underscores the importance of protecting press freedom and ensuring accountability at all levels of authorities.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the unacceptable aggression against journalist Diana Zhelyazkova by a security guard in Venets. This blatant attempt to intimidate and silence a critical voice is a serious violation of press freedom and the rights of journalists to carry out their duties without fear of violence or harassment. SEEMO call on the local authorities and law enforcement to conduct a thorough and independent investigation and to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of journalists and the protection of their rights.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) supports also the Association of European Journalists-Bulgaria (Асоциация на европейските журналисти – България – AEJ / AEЖ) and Union of Bulgarian Journalists (Съюзът на българските журналисти – СБЖ), that reported about this case. Here is the link to an AEJ report : https://aej-bulgaria.org/agresia_journalist/ and to the Union of Bulgarian Journalists report: https://sbj-bg.eu/article/details/58405
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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