BITTER words, and the possibility of court action, have followed the decision by the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) to cancel the court registration of Union Television, which produces and broadcasts the Den TV national cable programme.
The CEM shut down Den alleging that one of its evening shows promoted "national, political, ethnic, religious and racial intolerance".
The unprecedented measure was taken by a vote of six out of nine. Three CEM members, Georgi Lozanov, Stefan Dimitrov and Yuliana Toncheva, abstained from voting.
In addition to shutting down the station, CEM imposed on Den TV the maximum fine, 15 000 leva.
In a statement, CEM said that one of the main roles of the media was to promote the public interest and to maintain ethnic tolerance and peace.
The decision was prompted by the allegations that the evening talk show, consisting mainly of phone calls from viewers, Ot Telefon do Mikrofon (From Telephone to Microphone) hosted by German national Nick Stein, promoted ethnic intolerance.
Allegedly Stein made statements and comments against the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), the party of the ethnic Turks in Bulgaria, which bussed thousands of emigrants from Bulgaria who still hold Bulgarian citizenship to vote in the municipal elections. This helped the party win the mayoral seat in one of the regional centres, Kurdjali.
Allegedly Stein made a series of comments against the ethnic Turks in Bulgaria.
According to other reports, however, the suggestions and the comments were made mainly by the viewers themselves.
The complaint with the CEM against the show was filed by the regional organisation of the MRF in Turgovishte.
MRF deputy leader Emel Etem said the party filed the complaint because the talk show violated the constitution.
But media reports said the decision was politically motivated.
Media reports said that the head of CEM and the most avid supporter of the extreme measures against Den TV, Raicho Raikov, was the spokesperson of the caretaker government of Lyuben Be-rov, which was formed with the participation of the MRF in 1993. According to the media, Raikov was elected as a member of CEM because of lobbying by the MRF.
Lozanov said that in his opinion the decision against Den TV was political, and for this reason he did not vote.
He said there might have been certain violations but the penalty was too harsh.
"If the talk show was critical of something, it was of the MRF," Lozanov said. "But political criticism is not only not forbidden, but a main part of the rights and commitments of journalism."
Pesheva, one of the members of CEM who supported the decision, said that it was very important to be cautious in a country like Bulgaria.
"In a Balkan country like Bulgaria, one should be very careful when Bulgarian citizens are instigated against other ethnicities," Pesheva said.
She said the penalty was not such a big deal anyway because the producer of Den TV, Union Television might change its name, get another court registration and start broadcasting again. The more important thing, according to Pesheva, was that this case would teach the other media a good lesson.
"I am not at all surprised that CEM came up with such a severe decision so fast," the programme director of Den TV, Boiko Stankushev, said. "Everybody knows that this was a political decision."
According to Stankushev the ratio between the number of votes and abstentions showed the ratio between fear and conscience.
Stanksushev also said that the station would not stop broadcasting and would appeal in the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) against the CEM decision.
He said that the matter might go as far as the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
CEM, however, said cable TV providers would be severely punished if they kept on carrying the signal of Den TV.
At the beginning of this week, only Evrocom and Evrotur SAT TV were still broadcasting the signal of Den TV.
The station showed a message saying "After 14 years of democracy, a TV channel was stopped by a decision of the CEM. Long live democracy!" The audio played The Beatles' Let It Be, which earlier in Bulgarian history became a pro-democracy anthem.
From Tuesday, however, the channel had been reduced to a blank, silent screen.
According to Stankushev, all 86 employees of the television went on paid leave for an indefinite period.
Meanwhile the talk show Ot Telefon do Mirkofon moved to another cable TV, SKAT.
The controversy over the closure of Den TV went as far as Parliament.
The opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the United Democratic Forces (UtDF) issued declarations condemning the CEM's actions.
The National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), and their coalition partners from the MRF, however, remained silent and said that the matter was not within the competence of Parliament.
MRF MP Kemal Eyup, a member of Parliament's media committee, said Den TV was shut down to keep the ethnic peace, not to please someone.
"We cannot allow the violators of law to hide behind the freedom of speech and to destroy the ethnic peace," Eyup said.
Meanwhile at a discussion organised by the Bulgarian Media Coalition, Raikov said that CEM would not reconsider its decision unless ordered to do so by the court.
At the discussion, however, jurists from the programme Access to Information said that the decision of CEM was unconstitutional.
According to Alexander Hashumov, a lawyer from the programme, a decision to close a television station can be taken only by a court.
According to the lawyer for the Union of Bulgarian Journalists (UBJ), Eva Kyoseva, in order to take such harsh measures there have to be persistent violations of the Radio and Television Act and CEM could not establish such violations.
* Full statements, comment - see page 12.
The CEM shut down Den alleging that one of its evening shows promoted "national, political, ethnic, religious and racial intolerance".
The unprecedented measure was taken by a vote of six out of nine. Three CEM members, Georgi Lozanov, Stefan Dimitrov and Yuliana Toncheva, abstained from voting.
In addition to shutting down the station, CEM imposed on Den TV the maximum fine, 15 000 leva.
In a statement, CEM said that one of the main roles of the media was to promote the public interest and to maintain ethnic tolerance and peace.
The decision was prompted by the allegations that the evening talk show, consisting mainly of phone calls from viewers, Ot Telefon do Mikrofon (From Telephone to Microphone) hosted by German national Nick Stein, promoted ethnic intolerance.
Allegedly Stein made statements and comments against the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), the party of the ethnic Turks in Bulgaria, which bussed thousands of emigrants from Bulgaria who still hold Bulgarian citizenship to vote in the municipal elections. This helped the party win the mayoral seat in one of the regional centres, Kurdjali.
Allegedly Stein made a series of comments against the ethnic Turks in Bulgaria.
According to other reports, however, the suggestions and the comments were made mainly by the viewers themselves.
The complaint with the CEM against the show was filed by the regional organisation of the MRF in Turgovishte.
MRF deputy leader Emel Etem said the party filed the complaint because the talk show violated the constitution.
But media reports said the decision was politically motivated.
Media reports said that the head of CEM and the most avid supporter of the extreme measures against Den TV, Raicho Raikov, was the spokesperson of the caretaker government of Lyuben Be-rov, which was formed with the participation of the MRF in 1993. According to the media, Raikov was elected as a member of CEM because of lobbying by the MRF.
Lozanov said that in his opinion the decision against Den TV was political, and for this reason he did not vote.
He said there might have been certain violations but the penalty was too harsh.
"If the talk show was critical of something, it was of the MRF," Lozanov said. "But political criticism is not only not forbidden, but a main part of the rights and commitments of journalism."
Pesheva, one of the members of CEM who supported the decision, said that it was very important to be cautious in a country like Bulgaria.
"In a Balkan country like Bulgaria, one should be very careful when Bulgarian citizens are instigated against other ethnicities," Pesheva said.
She said the penalty was not such a big deal anyway because the producer of Den TV, Union Television might change its name, get another court registration and start broadcasting again. The more important thing, according to Pesheva, was that this case would teach the other media a good lesson.
"I am not at all surprised that CEM came up with such a severe decision so fast," the programme director of Den TV, Boiko Stankushev, said. "Everybody knows that this was a political decision."
According to Stankushev the ratio between the number of votes and abstentions showed the ratio between fear and conscience.
Stanksushev also said that the station would not stop broadcasting and would appeal in the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) against the CEM decision.
He said that the matter might go as far as the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
CEM, however, said cable TV providers would be severely punished if they kept on carrying the signal of Den TV.
At the beginning of this week, only Evrocom and Evrotur SAT TV were still broadcasting the signal of Den TV.
The station showed a message saying "After 14 years of democracy, a TV channel was stopped by a decision of the CEM. Long live democracy!" The audio played The Beatles' Let It Be, which earlier in Bulgarian history became a pro-democracy anthem.
From Tuesday, however, the channel had been reduced to a blank, silent screen.
According to Stankushev, all 86 employees of the television went on paid leave for an indefinite period.
Meanwhile the talk show Ot Telefon do Mirkofon moved to another cable TV, SKAT.
The controversy over the closure of Den TV went as far as Parliament.
The opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the United Democratic Forces (UtDF) issued declarations condemning the CEM's actions.
The National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), and their coalition partners from the MRF, however, remained silent and said that the matter was not within the competence of Parliament.
MRF MP Kemal Eyup, a member of Parliament's media committee, said Den TV was shut down to keep the ethnic peace, not to please someone.
"We cannot allow the violators of law to hide behind the freedom of speech and to destroy the ethnic peace," Eyup said.
Meanwhile at a discussion organised by the Bulgarian Media Coalition, Raikov said that CEM would not reconsider its decision unless ordered to do so by the court.
At the discussion, however, jurists from the programme Access to Information said that the decision of CEM was unconstitutional.
According to Alexander Hashumov, a lawyer from the programme, a decision to close a television station can be taken only by a court.
According to the lawyer for the Union of Bulgarian Journalists (UBJ), Eva Kyoseva, in order to take such harsh measures there have to be persistent violations of the Radio and Television Act and CEM could not establish such violations.
* Full statements, comment - see page 12.
