The international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has strongly criticized the Bulgarian Supreme Court of Cassation’s final ruling against journalist Boris Mitov and the news website Mediapool, Radio Free Europe reported. The verdict, issued in July, marks the conclusion of a high-profile defamation case brought by appeals judge Svetlin Mihaylov over a series of investigative articles published in 2018.

At the time, Mitov was reporting on criminal and judicial matters for Mediapool. The case, which has drawn international scrutiny since it began, involved four articles that examined Mihaylov’s professional record and raised questions of public interest. The Supreme Court, however, overturned key findings of the Sofia Court of Appeal, which had previously sided with Mitov and Mediapool on most issues.

In its final decision, a panel of supreme judges - Bonka Decheva, Vanya Atanasova, and Atanas Kemanov - rejected the earlier assessment that Mitov’s reporting largely involved references to publicly known facts and personal analysis, not defamation. The court determined instead that the articles constituted slander and insult.

RSF, which has been monitoring the case since 2022 and previously labeled it a textbook example of “judicial harassment,” condemned the ruling as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). In a statement issued on the day of the ruling, the organization described the decision as a deliberate attempt to stifle independent journalism and punish reporting that serves the public interest.

“After nearly four years of proceedings, investigative journalist Boris Mitov is being penalized simply for doing his job,” said Pavol Szalai, RSF’s head of the EU and Balkans desk. “This ruling is a clear SLAPP case that sends a troubling message: criticizing a judge can lead to punishment.” Szalai warned that such legal outcomes risk pushing other journalists toward self-censorship, threatening core democratic freedoms.

The ruling diverges sharply from established principles in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which distinguishes between criticism and defamation and has repeatedly held that public figures must accept a higher degree of scrutiny than private citizens. The Bulgarian court, however, disregarded this standard, concluding that the articles did not merely recall existing public information about Mihaylov but instead crossed the line into slander and insult.

In a further controversial move, the Supreme Court also reversed the lower court’s rejection of Mihaylov’s claim that the media coverage had negatively affected his mental and physical health. The judges ruled that even if other publications may have contributed to the judge’s personal difficulties or strained relations with his children, the specific role of the four articles in question was enough to justify compensation.

As a result, the court ordered Mediapool and Mitov to jointly pay 20,000 leva in damages (10,000 euros), an additional 16,000 leva in accrued interest, and 7,200 leva in legal fees to Judge Mihaylov. At the same time, Mihaylov was ordered to reimburse the journalists 7,600 leva in court expenses.

Despite the financial burden, the penalty sparked a swift show of solidarity. The required funds were raised within 24 hours through a public fundraising campaign organized by the Association of European Journalists in Bulgaria (AEJ), highlighting the strong support for Mitov among the media community.

RSF also reiterated that Bulgaria’s ongoing use of SLAPP lawsuits contributes significantly to its low placement in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, where it ranks 70th out of 180 countries. The organization emphasized that legal pressure and harassment against journalists remain key obstacles to press freedom in the country.

Mitov’s only remaining legal avenue is to bring the case before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.