site.btaJudge Tsarigradska Named Person of the Year by Bulgarian Helsinki Committee

Judge Vladislava Tsarigradska is the winner of the Person of the Year 2024 Award of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC), the organization said. The awards were presented at the 17th edition of the BHC Person of the Year ceremony held December 9 on the eve of the International Day of Human Rights.

A total of eleven individuals and organizations were honoured with awards.

The announcement of the big winner was met with standing ovation by the guests.

Tsarigradska became a household name after exposing trade in influence and pressure of magistrates in the judiciary. 

Adela Kachaunova, BHC co-leader and chair of the Person of the Year competition, said that Judge Tsarigradska "was extremely important so that we all can still have hope that there is a room for rule of law in Bulgaria".

The Judge said she accepts the award on behalf of all judges "who did not allow breaking the backbone of Bulgarian justice". "Many Bulgarian judges are willing to bear and do bear the responsibility of the judiciary to be guarantors of justice and rights, including for the most vulnerable. I deal with the mafia and the chief prosecutors by necessity; my professional calling and passion is the protection of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups," she said.

Among the winners were also:

• The teachers and researchers who signed off against changes in the Pre-school and School Education Act restricting LGBTQ education in school;
• Wings Mission Foundation investigating cases of forcible push-off of protection seekers;
•  The Anti-Corruption Fund, for exposing the actions and inactions of the prosecution service in a high-profile trade-in-influence investigation, for their years-long work for shedding light on large-scale corruption practices and for advocating rule of law;
• Toma Belev, long-serving Green Movement member and leader, for investigating failures in the management of water resources in Bulgaria and for collecting data on the rationing of drinking water in Bulgaria;
•  Maya Doneva, for her Be Disappointing campaign where she exposes cases of gender pay gap and encourages women to fight for their right to equal pay;
• Venelina Popova, a journalist, for her investigations of election irregularities involving the mayor of Galabovo and for her systematic journalistic work for standing up for human rights and the rule of law;
• Dimitar Ploshtakov, a lawyer, for collecting data proving that the official information on ambient air quality does not reflect the real situation;
• Kalin Angelov, a lawyer, for his combat for the right of his clients to have access to marijuana for medicinal purposes;
• Mimi Shishkova, for raising awareness of democratic values and the rule of law;
• and Dimitrinka Georgieva, for her efforts towards desegregation of schools in Varna and access to quality education for Roma children.

The honourees were selected among 120 nominations.