Journalists protest against bomb attack on reporter

Journalists in Bulgaria and internationally have protested against the bomb attack on the house of Bulgarian television reporter Vassili Ivanov on 6th April. The bomb blast left his house completely demolished. Ivanov was not in the house at the time, but his family was. Miraculously, none of them were killed.

Vassili Ivanov is author of several investigation stories for private Nova TV that exposed corruption and human rights abuses. He recently uncovered human rights abuse in the central Sofia prison, which resulted in massive checks on the jail system and several high-position dismissals.

The day after the explosion more than 200 journalists from the Bulgarian media staged a protest in pouring rain outside government buildings in Sofia under a banner that read "Citizens against the mafia". They expressed their solidarity with Ivanov and denounced the attack on him as an encroachment on freedom of speech.

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) later expressed its concern over the explosion. The organisation, which brings together publishers, media representatives and leading journalists from the region, issued a statement saying that the freedom to spread information is among the leading principles for a democratic society and that journalists must have the right to work without being threatened over the material they publish.They called on Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and Interior Minister Roumen Petkov to ensure safe working conditions for journalists in Bulgaria.