European Court Condemns Bulgaria For Breaching Freedom Of Expression

Faizan Hashmi Published November 30, 2021 | 08:25 PM

The European Court of Human Rights Tuesday found Bulgaria guilty of breaching the freedom of expression of two protesters convicted of "hooliganism" for spray-painting a communist monument

Sofia, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Nov, 2021 ) :The European Court of Human Rights Tuesday found Bulgaria guilty of breaching the freedom of expression of two protesters convicted of "hooliganism" for spray-painting a communist monument.

Asen Genov and Tsvetelina Sarbinska lodged a complaint at the Strasbourg-based court in 2015 after a Bulgarian court found them guilty of "hooliganism" and sentenced them to each pay a fine equivalent to 767 Euros ($872).

The sentence was based on circumstantial evidence that they participated in spray painting a monument outside the headquarters of the Bulgarian Socialist party in the capital Sofia in 2013 during anti-government protests.

The ECHR ruled the conviction was "unjustified".

"The context clearly suggested that the intention behind the act had been to express disapproval toward the recent parliamentary record of the political party," the ECHR ruling said.

There was also no evidence of irreversible harm to the monument, it added.

The judges in Strasbourg awarded 998 euros ($1,135 Dollars) to the first applicant in respect of pecuniary damage and 4,000 euros ($4,547) each for non-pecuniary damage.

Communist-era monuments have been a constant bone of contention between Russophiles and anti-communists in Bulgaria, who want them demolished.

Several have been defaced.

In one instance in 2011, the soldiers in a Soviet army sculpture in downtown Sofia were replaced by Superman, Santa Claus, Ronald McDonald and other pop culture heroes.

They were then also painted pink two years later, on the anniversary of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia to wipe out a pro-democracy movement.

The Russian embassy has repeatedly condemned these acts, which are always relatively short-lived as the monuments are swiftly cleaned by the authorities.