Access to personal record of a deceased dissident
Todor Yanakiev v. Director of the "Prison Governance" Department of the Ministry of JusticeCourt case ¹ 3167/2003 of the Sofia City Court (SCC), Administrative panel ²²²-J
In the beginning of 2002 the journalist Todor Yanakiev requested from the Director of the Prison Governance Department of the Ministry of Justice (PGDMJ) to access the personal prison record of the deceased dissident Ilia Minev. The journalist wished to examine the records in order to publish a monograph of Ilia Minev. Access was granted and the requestor had the opportunity to examine several times the file of the dissident.
In 2003 Todor Yanakiev requested to receive copies of the records of the two personal files, but it turned out that this was impossible, because the initial request for access had been lost by the PGDMJ. The journalist had to file another request, which was turned down with a decision ¹ 4400 from 17.06.2003 of the Director of PGDMJ.
This letter of the Director was awarded as the "Most absurd and
funny decision to withhold access to information under APIA" on the
International Right to Know Day Ceremony on September 28 2003, held in
Sofia. The refusal was not grounded by any law provisions, but it indicated
that the Director was reluctant to disclose information, which could harm
the interests of a third party.
The lawyers of AIP prepared an appeal against the Director of the PGDMJ
to the Sofia City Court. The court hearing was on Nov. 11, 2003 and a
decision is expected.
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English Version • Last Update: 22.03.2004 • © 1999 Copyright by Interia & AIP