site.btaOSCE: Large Fines Imposed on Media Outlets in Bulgaria May Lead to Censorship in Reporting on Issues of Public Interest

104 - POLITICS - OSCE - BULGARIA - NEWS MEDIA - FINES - STATEMENT

OSCE: Large Fines Imposed on Media Outlets
in Bulgaria May Lead to Censorship in
Reporting on Issues of Public Interest


Vienna, February 5 (BTA) - The Representative on Freedom of the
Media of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, Dunja Mijatovic, raised concern over large fines
imposed on newspapers in Bulgaria for publishing news stories on
companies' financial activities and the banking sector.

In the statement made public by OSCE on February 4, Mijatovic
recalls that in mid-January, the Bulgarian Financial Supervision
Commission (FSC) imposed a fine of approximately 80,000 euro on
the Economedia group for stories last summer in its
publications Capital and Dnevnik. Additional fines of 5,000 euro
were imposed on the newspapers for refusing to disclose their
sources for the stories.

"Large fines imposed on media outlets may lead to censorship in
reporting on issues of public interest," Mijatovic said. "My
Office has been calling for laws protecting media from
displaying their sources as a means to guarantee the public's
access to information."

Earlier in January, the FSC also fined Alpico Publishing and its
online newspaper zovnews.com 50,000 euro for reporting on the
banking sector, the statement says.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media
developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. She provides
early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media
freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom
commitments.

/СН/