Information newsletter
Issue 6(18), June 2005

News
Selected by Diana Bancheva, AIP

Are the ISPA Projects Public?

On 6th June,the Sofia City Court considered the appeal of the non-governmental organization "For the Earth" against the refusal of the Minister of Finance to disclose information about the construction of "Liulin" highway, financed by ISPA. The environmentalists have asked for a copy of the cost-benefit analysis of the project as well as a copy of the project itself, which contains detailed description of the highway construction activities. The Ministry of Finance redirected the requestors to their Internet site, which had only general information about the project. The case was postponed for the autumn of 2005.

A Journalist Sues a Regional Governor for Information About the “Tsar’s Public Faucets”
On 20th June, the Supreme Administrative Court considered the appeal of journalist Krasimir Krumov from Monitor Daily against the refusal of the Regional Governor of the town of Shumen to give information about the implementation of the so-called demonstration projects in the region. Under the procedures stipulated by the Access to Public Information Act, the journalist demanded a list of the projects, the money requested, the executor of the project, and sub-contractors. Instead of giving the information, the Regional Governor, Ms. Nora Chalakova, assured the requester that a web site that would contain the information was being prepared. Such a web site still does not exist six months after this response. The case was postponed for the autumn of 2005.

The Court Classified a Case Against the Refusal of the National Investigation Services
The case of journalist Hristo Hristov from Dnevnik Daily against the refusal of the Director of the National Investigation Services, General Kircho Kirov, was classified. An appeal against the Investigator No.1 was submitted after his mute refusal to provide access to documents from the Archive of the First Bureau of the former State Security Services. Mr. Hristov demanded information related to the assassination of the dissident writer Georgi Markov in London 1978. At the request of Gen. Kirov, the Sofia City Court classified the file of the case several days before the court session on 21st June. The general's attorney demanded that the journalist and his lawyers should possess official permissions for access to classified information. However, lawyer Kiril Terziiski from Access to Information Programme pointed out that such a requirement was removied by amendments to the Protection of Classified Information Act and the court dismissed the attorney's demand. The next session of the court was scheduled for January 2006.

Meanwhile, the book "Kill the Tramp" by Hristo Hristov was published. To this day, no document has been declassified by the Bulgarian Investigation Services.

Information Request Reveals Malpractices
In 2003, Mr. Kiril Karaivanov demanded information about the state-owned company Briliant Ltd., located in the village of Krusheto, from the State National and Wartime Reserves Agency (SNWRA). Mr. Karaivanov suspected that activities in violation of laws brought the bankruptcy of the company. The SNWRA refused the information. The Supreme Administrative Court repealed this refusal, delivering two decisions in November 2004 and referring the file back to the Agency for reconsideration under the Access to Public Information Act. The SNWRA refused to provide information to Mr. Karaivanov again since one of the documents that was being demanded had been classified as a state secret. With the assistance of AIP, the citizen wants to obtain access to the document because of the great public interest of the disclosure of the affair. On 27th June, the Supreme Administrative Court heard the case. A decision is expected.

The Administration Gave Account on Access to Information
Twice as many decisions on access to information were delivered during the last year. This is what the statistics of the 2004 State Administration Report, adopted by the Council of Ministers at the beginning of June, say. The requests for access to information have decreased 27 percent. In its 2004 Annual report on Access to Information in Bulgaria, AIP evaluated the work of the executive authorities as insufficiently effective in providing access to information. AIP gave specific recommendations for improvement of the practices. To a certain extent, the assessments and the recommendations given by the two reports coincide.

EIB discloses information, while Minister Cerovsky does not
In the beginning of June, Access to Information Programme requested the opinion statement of the European Investment Bank regarding the concession contract on the construction of "Trakia" Highway in Bulgaria. Requests were filed to the Minister of Regional Development and State Works, and to the EIB. According to announcements in the national and foreign media, the statement is negative. The Minister of Development, however, has denied access to the papers to journalist Silviya Yotova from Novinar Daily. An appeal against the refusal has already been filed in the Supreme Administrative Court.