Finding overriding public interest in the disclosure of information on the meetings between the ministers of interior and Delyan Peevski (media mogul, MP, his appointment in June as head of the counterintelligence and major crime-fighting agency – DANS – sparked the ongoing wave of protests in Bulgaria), the Administrative Court – Sofia City repealed a refusal under the APIA. The request was filed with the Ministry of Interior (MoI) by Rossen Bossev a journalist from “Capital” newspaper. He wanted to know when the MP has visited the ministry, who did he visit, what was the type of the visit (according to the register at the entrance of the building). The MoI refused to provide the information relying on the lack of consent of the third party – Delyan Peevski.
By decision no. 7522 of 2 December 2013 on administrative case 9332/2013 (in Bulgarian), the Administrative Court – Sofia City repealed the refusal. The court found overriding public interest in the disclosure of the information sought since “it is related to a public figure – member of parliament, information is sought on his visits to the MoI… Consequently, the information sought has been created by the authority (MoI - an obliged subject under the APIA). It does not concern personal data of the MP, since disclosure of the number and goal of his visits in the MoI would not lead to disclosure of personal information.”