Bivol

The International Press Institute (IPI) today joined five other international press freedom organizations in urging Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to ensure the physical safety of investigative journalists working in their country.

Reporters Without Borders condemns in the strongest terms the detention by Bulgarian police earlier this month of two journalists investigating allegations of fraud involving European Union funds in Romania and Bulgaria.

Some 200 people demonstrated outside the Palace of Justice in central Sofia on Monday evening against the arrests last week of Romanian and Bulgarian investigative reporters who were working on a story about the abuse of EU funds.

Bulgarian police in Pernik, a small town on the outskirts of the country's capital Sofia, on Thursday detained two investigative journalists from the independent platforms Rise Romania and Bivol Bulgaria as they researched a story on fraud involving European funds, the media outlets announced.

An international press freedom organization has sought to raise Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov's awareness of instances of harassment of journalists working with an independent investigative website.

Belgrade Mayor Sini?a Mali, secretly purchased a total of 24 apartments in the Black Sea resort of Sv Nikola in Bulgaria, results of a recent investigation show.

Instead of launching a probe into former Bulgarian minister Ivan Danov, a man suspected of abusing France's social system, magistrates in Sofia has been chasing after people inquired over the affair, France's L'Express writes [FR].

Israeli Deputy Parliament Speaker Oren Hazan has organized crime links in Bulgaria, a story published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reads.

OCCRP cites on its website an investigation by its partner Bivol (run by Atanas Chobanov, who is Bulgarian).

Bulgaria has now an opportunity to call to account those responsible for the developments at Corpbank, with "prosecutions and jail sentences where appropriate", an article on Forbes magazine's website reads.