site.btaProsecution Service: Bulgarian National Radio Broke Obligation for 24/7 Broadcasts

Sofia, September 17 (BTA) - The Sofia Regional Prosecution Office will look into a possible official misconduct as Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) stopped broadcasting its Horizont Programme on the morning of September 13.

The reason given by BNR at the time was scheduled technical maintenance works. A day earlier, Sylvia Velikova, a long-time host of Horizont's morning show and a prominent justice reporter, was taken off air by Director General Svetoslav Kostov, allegedly for her critical attitude to the prosecution service and the only candidate for prosecutor general, Deputy Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev. Velikova was to host Horizont's morning show on Friday. Her suspension caused a general outcry and she was restored to her job.

A check by the prosecution service found that during maintenance works, BNR programmes are broadcast from another studio or regular programming is replaced with music or other content.

National Unit Radio and TV Systems (NURTS) Bulgaria, which transmits BNR programmes, does maintenance works at least twice a year according to a schedule agreed in the previous year.

On September 11, Technical Equipment Director Plamen Kostov notified BNR director general of "a major technical problem" involving optical cables between BNR and transmitter stations, which required maintenance at the studios of the Horizont Programme between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. two days later. The memo did not mention that broadcasts would have to be suspended. The director general endorsed the document and NURTS was informed that broadcasts of the Horizont Programme would have to stop on September 13.

However, the State Agency for National Security found that no maintenance took place at Horizont's studios and there were no technical problems whatsoever. Meanwhile, the Horizont Programme was available live on BNR's website.

Also, NURTS Bulgaria suspended the operation of just three BNR transmitters in various parts of the country, which were due for scheduled maintenance on that day.

The Communications Regulation Commission stated that maintenance of the studio complex does not form grounds for BNR to suspend broadcasts by the transmitter stations because the studios are not part of the electronic communications network. Consequently, the regulator informed the prosecution service that administrative penal proceedings would be instituted under the Electronic Communications Act. IG/DD

/СН/