Prepared by: Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL)
On 9 October, Bulgaria’s Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs approved on first reading, without public consultation, amendments to the Criminal Code that risk severely restricting freedom of expression, media freedom, and the work of journalists and CSOs. The proposal, introduced just two days earlier by MPs from the smallest ruling coalition party, There Is Such People, would create a new crime of unauthorised dissemination of information about someone’s private life through the media or online, punishable by one to six years in prison and a fine of up to €4,000, with the possibility of surveillance of suspects. Civil society warns that the vaguely defined offence could be used to silence investigative journalism, critical civil society, and public interest reporting in particular on corruption, marking a major setback for free speech protections, which had recently improved in the country to align with European standards. It will open the door for SLAPPs abusing the criminal justice system at a time when the independence of the prosecution is in crisis.
