abuse – The Bulgarian Prisoners' Association

State chaos! Torture in Pleven Prison!

22.10.2021

The eyes of the Bulgarian Prisoners’ Association turn to Pleven Prison. The BPA has received horrifying information from Pleven Prison; it has become apparent that there is daily and systematic torture of prisoners. Crimes committed by not only the guards but also the medical staff who have participated in the crimes by covering them up. We have detailed reports of times, places and names of the victims and the criminals. The most common place of torture is of course where…

You stand up for your rights, but all you get is more repressions

05.07.2019

News

The attacks against members and supporters of the only organised union of prisoners in Bulgaria – the Bulgarian Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Association (BPRA) – are not something new to us. They have been common since the very foundation of this organisation. Today, on the 6th years of BPRA’s existence, the repressions are intensifying.

When injustice Becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty

07.05.2019

In media

Jock Palfreeman’s hunger strike Kalin Angelov for Terminal 3 The author of this article has been a professional lawyer with a practice in Sofia since 2003. In 2013 he started working for the Bulgarian Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Association. He considers Jock Palfreeman a friend. Having read the materials on Palfreeman’s trial for the murder of student Andrey Monov, he is convinced that the 20-year prison sentence is unjust. Mr Angelov’s account is presented objectively and impartially. If anyone of the persons…

The BPRA position on the escapes

11.04.2018

News

The idea of discipline is a facade in front of the absolute chaos of human rights violations, abuse of power and embezzlement. The escapes from Sofia Prison have hit the media and society like a storm and the only version of events to flood the media is the censored version given by the Ministry of Justice. The Bulgarian Prisoners’ Association (BPRA) will attempt to break the walls of disinformation that the Ministry of Justice is trying to sell you. Firstly,…

The truth about prison guards in Bulgaria

02.01.2018

News

For some time now the Bulgarian prison guards have been grumbling about their wages. Of course like everyone they claim that they are underpaid and overworked. Mostly they base this claim on the lie that their job is somehow worse or more dangerous than any other job. However if you looked at the facts it is clear that guards not only shouldn’t have a pay rise, but that actually they are being paid too much at the expense of the…

In the run up to July 25th

21.06.2017

News

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’…

BSP and the mining of the Republic – The bloodless coup

21.05.2017

News

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…

The New Bulgarian Penitentiary System Law

14.03.2017

News

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…

Police are the organized crime

30.01.2017

News

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…

Repressions continue

16.05.2016

News

… 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…