SEEMO Alerts Bulgaria PM over Journalist Threatened by Galevi

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) has sent an open letter to Bulgarian PM Borisov and Interior Minister Tsvetanov over threats to a Bulgarian journalist.

SEEMO informs the Borisov government that journalist Lidia Pavlova from the Struma Daily based in the southwestern city of Blagoevgrad has been threatened by the notorious businessmen from the town of Dupnitsa, Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov, known as the Galevi Brothers.

The Galevi Brothers are under investigation for organized crime activities, and journalist Lidia Pavlova is a witness and a claimant against them. The SEEMO letter to PM Borisov signed by SEEMO Secretary-General Oliver Vujovic reads as follows:

“SEEMO, a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East and Central Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is very concerned about the safety of the Bulgarian journalist Lidia Pavlova. We would herewith like to call your attention to this case.

Lidia Pavlova, a Bulgarian journalist who currently works for the daily newspaper Struma based in the Southern town of Blagoevgrad, has been living under constant threat since she began reporting the "Galevi" case.

On 16 May 2009, just hours after initial developments in the trial against the two persons involved in the "Galevi" case at the National Investigation Service, the rear windshield of Pavlova's car was completely smashed. Upon examination, the police found a bullet inside the car.

On 1 January 2010, Pavlova's son was attacked and severely beaten by a man who entered a local establishment where the 19-year-old man was celebrating New Year's Eve with his girlfriend. Following the assault, Pavlova's son, who sustained severe injuries to the head, spent three days in the intensive care unit of the local hospital.

Finally, during the night of 22 January 2010, an unknown person cut the back tires of, and scratched, Pavlov's company car. Pavlova shared with SEEMO her conviction that this attack like many others was related only to her investigative work as a journalist.“

It further points out that as a private claimant and a witness at the same time Lidia Pavlova does not believe that anyone is willing to protect her in Bulgaria. “According to her, policemen in the city work at the same time as bodyguards for persons involved in the "Galevi" case.“

“SEEMO expresses great dismay at these direct physical attacks and at the harassment of Pavlova and her family and urges timely investigations into these matters. We would like to emphasize that physical violence and harassment against journalists are not acceptable, and send potentially dangerous signals regarding the treatment of journalists who are doing their work as investigative journalists.

We call on you to reinvigorate investigative efforts into this case, and so send a strong signal that Bulgarian authorities will not tolerate such violence against a journalist.“

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