GERB were startled and withdrew the amendment in the NC on political censorship –

/View.info/ Consider this proposal technically withdrawn in this version. The discussion on it continues with the working group, we will look for an option for a more precise one. This is what the Minister of Justice, Hristo Ivanov, said about the amendment, which also includes political affiliation in the text of the NC.

The media wrote that the second GERB government will also try to limit critical publications against politicians and parties. The Ministry of Justice proposes to make it a crime in the Penal Code (PC) to preach or incite through the media discrimination, violence or hatred based on political affiliation. The prescribed punishment is imprisonment for up to four years and a fine of 5 to 10 thousand. BGN The project has been uploaded for public discussion on the ministry’s website. Now the existing art. 162 para. 1 states: “Whoever, through speech, print or other means of mass information, through electronic information systems or in any other way, preaches or incites discrimination, violence or hatred based on race, nationality or ethnicity, shall be punished by imprisonment of one to four years and with a fine of five thousand to ten thousand BGN, as well as with public reprimand”. The ministry wants to add “or political affiliation”. This will allow the prosecutor’s office to investigate anyone who criticizes political subjects, as well as the media in which this happens.

The purpose of the working group in drafting this text was absolutely different from the pursuit of political speech in a normal, democratic debate, said Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov today. The purpose of this proposal was to criminalize precisely the propaganda and glorification of terrorist acts. But since there is such a serious reaction to this wording, I have a meeting with the working group today and we will look for a more precise wording that really leaves no doubt that it can be interpreted in another way, Ivanov explained.

After the meeting of the Council of Ministers, Hristo Ivanov asked to share the good news that funding was approved for the start of the reconstruction of the called NDK. The Ministry of Finance has allocated nearly 11 mln. BGN that are requested and this reconstruction will begin as quickly as possible.