The New York ABC some years ago made an international call out for an International Day of Solidarity with me – Jock Palfreeman, Antifa currently held captive by the Bulgarian state. Although I do not want people to forget that I continue to stay incarcerated for defending a Roma man being brutally beaten by 15 neo-nazis, this July 25th 2017 I request that as many people as possible can organize solidarity funds for our prisoners’ union here, the Bulgarian Prisoners’…
As soon as the temporary government was in place BSP started reclaiming the Bulgarian state bureaucracy. BSP worked through their puppet President Radev and the sewage leaked down throughout the entire state apparatus. The Minister of Justice appointed by Radev fired the Head Director – (Gergana Georgieva) of the national prison authority (ГДИН). The Minister of Justice then appointed the BSP cadre Svilen Svetanov as the Head Director and so the old team of BSP was being assembled. Soon after…
We hear it all too often “I’m innocent” or “”I didn’t do it” and it is a reoccurring theme with a group within our society here in Bulgaria. This part of our society will never admit that they are guilty or that they carry any responsibility whatsoever for their actions. This part of society is of course known as the “elite” of Bulgaria. They revolve around their own circles up the in the clouds and of course it is the…
On the 7/2/2017 new laws governing the Bulgarian penitentiary system came into force as they were published in the government state newspaper. Although there is still a lot of work to do and no one sees the reforms as a silver bullet to the problems facing the Bulgarian prison system, the reforms are still massively progressive. The Bulgarian Prisoners’ Association is proud to boast that we partook in the drafting of the legislation and the public discussion periods with Valio…
Bulgaria has the second most Police per capita in Europe and the eighth most Police in the world. A conclusion could be drawn then that Bulgaria should be the second safest country in Europe and the eighth safest in the world and if you thought this, you would of course be very wrong. Any country can have a problem with crime; there are many different explanations for its cause and solution. The fascists like the Patriot Front would have you…
Former Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov wrote in his Facebook profile, defending the reform in prisons and attacking the prosecution. This is what he wrote: “In America, ahead of one of the major presidential primaries, one of the candidates ran a TV ad telling the story of a man who killed somebody in his youth. He was sentenced to life in prison, but behind bars he found the strength to rehabilitate himself. He went to school, he helped others and was…
… although the Ministry of Justice has been congratulating itself in 2016 for having given drinking water to prisoners. Repression against activist prisoners continues and indeed against the very prisoner whose case in the European Court of Human Rights forced the Ministry of Justice to improve the conditions in the first place, in case someone has made the mistake that the Bulgarian state has given toilets and drinking water to prisoners out of the goodness of their hearts. The repression…
Released on May Day 2016 by Autonomia Promotions “Folk Off” and “Punk to the MAX” benefit compilations will raise money for the Bulgarian Prisoners Association (BPRA), a collective of current prisoners and ex-prisoners working on the field for inmate’s rights through both legal representation and legislative change. “Folk Off” Benefit Compilation [bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=3920643285 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small] “Folk Off” features 13 acoustic/folk punk artists such as Joe Yorke, Efa Supertramp, Cistem Failure, Moon Bandits, Dangle Manatee and many more, with songs about abolishing prisons,…
Since the private TV station bTV reported about people who are patroling with All-terrain vehicles through the border region of Bulgaria and calling their leader a national hero, more groups popped up in public which claim for arresting the migrants who crossed to Turkish-Bulgarian border. Although, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee called for prosecution of the case. The prime minister, Boyko Borissov, thanked in a statement these patrols: I personally talked with them [the voluntary patrols] and thank them. I send the director of the…
At the moment, there are three camps of a closed type existing in Bulgaria. The buildings, which are administered from the Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Interior (MoI), provide 1,040 places: The Detention Center in Busmantsi has 400, the Detention Center in Lyubimets (since recently) 400 and the Detention Center in Elhovo has 240 places. In these accommodation facilities unaccompanied minors are being held illegally, which was reported by the Ombudsman some days ago. A recent statement, done by the Center for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria (CLA), confirmed the report.…