Ivo Prokopiev, independent publisher and businessman. Photo: Wikimedia commons/Gabriel VanHelsing
Media watchdogs welcomed the acquittal in Bulgaria on Sunday of the independent publisher and businessman Ivo Prokopiev, describing the charges against him as retaliatory and as intended to stifle investigative reporting.
Prokopiev, former finance minister Simeon Dyankov and former economy minister Traycho Traykov were found innocent in a trial about an alleged fraud case dating from a decade ago.
The trial concerned the sale of shares in the country’s main electricity distribution company EVN. The prosecution claimed the sale was seriously under-priced, causing Bulgaria a loss of 20 million levs, equal to 10.225 million euros.
But public attention in the trial focused mainly on Prokopiev, co-owner of the publishing company Economedia – accused of making comments at a public event in 2010 in his capacity as a chairman of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria that allegedly influenced Dyankov’s decisions in the EVN sale.
Prokopiev described the allegations as absurd, saying he had merely clarified how the privatization could be carried out.
Economedia’s main outlets are the influential weekly newspaper Capital, which has publishing since 1993, and the website Dnevnik.bg.
“We are relieved that Bulgarian publisher Ivo Prokopiev was acquitted today,” the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said, wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
“Bulgarian authorities should immediately drop the charges against publisher Ivo Prokopiev, which are retaliatory in nature and intended to stifle critical reporting,” the Committee said earlier, on June 27.
Reporters Without Borders expressed relief at the outcome. Earlier, Christophe Deloire, its Secretary General, said: “Even though the trial is not directly related to Prokopiev’s Economedia group, the seriousness of the charges against him is above all politically motivated and clearly related to his media’s critical stance towards the government.”
Other international watchdog had also expressed concern about the trial. “Pluralism and freedom of the media must be preserved and respected”, tweeted the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, on June 26, noting that it was closely following the case.
“We urge local authorities to stop the ongoing institutional + legal harassment / intimidation of #Economedia,” tweeted the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom.
Prokopiev’s Capital newspaper, in an editorial on June 26, accused the ruling GERB party and its allies of trying to “drown out” the voices of the remaining free media in Bulgaria.
“Darkness has been creeping over Bulgaria in recent years,” it said. “The network of interests behind GERB … and the other parties in power has consumed more and more of the political system, the judiciary, the public finance sector, and EU funds, and utilizes them to control an ever larger share of business.
“The same forces have gradually yet inexorably drowned out the voices of the free media one by one. Meanwhile the pressure put on the survivors is intensifying ; when only a few remain standing, it becomes easier to see how oppressed everybody else is.”
Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev said he would not contest the verdict, but added that the war against what he called “corrupt oligarchs” would go on.
“I respect the court’s decision,” he tweeted after the verdict. “Respect to my fellow prosecutors. We’ve lost one small battle, but we’re determined to win the war against corrupt politicians and the oligarchs who made their wealth through criminality in the name of justice for the robbed Bulgarians who deserve a better life.”
Geshev became Prosecutor General in late 2019 after being the sole candidate for the position. This was initially followed by a veto by the President, and protests by citizens when he eventually assumed the post.
Hristo Ivanov, former justice minister and current leader of opposition Da, Bulgaria (Yes, Bulgaria) party, said the outcome of the trial shouldn’t make anyone too relaxed about the situation.
“The fact that such a case is possible and that similar cases might happen again means a lot,” Ivanov wrote on Facebook, referencing Geshev in particular. “We are dealing with a Prosecutor General who openly ignores the presumption of innocence and points at his political enemies with bat in his hand,” he said.
The author of this article is affiliated with outlets co-owned by Ivo Prokopiev.
"freedom" - Google News
June 29, 2020 at 05:49PM
https://ift.tt/38cio1o
Bulgarian Publisher's Acquittal Welcomed by Media Freedom Watchdogs - Balkan Insight
"freedom" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2VUAlgg
https://ift.tt/2VYSiKW
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Bulgarian Publisher's Acquittal Welcomed by Media Freedom Watchdogs - Balkan Insight"
Post a Comment