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© Julia Lazarova
“Freedom of expression has not been violated in Bulgaria. The sense of inviolability among journalists has been violated. There are a large number of journalists and a large number of organizations defending journalists who think that somehow journalists should be untouchables “.
This is what the president of the Council of Electronic Media (CEM) Betina Joteva said to Channel 3 today. Her comment was in response to a question about what she thought of the European Commission’s first annual report on the rule of law. She says there is no transparency in media ownership. Local authorities use government advertising to control small newspapers and television. Pressure on independent and investigative media comes from threats, harassment trials, and political and administrative pressure.
According to Joteva, nowhere in the text has he seen an accusation that the word is missing in Bulgaria. The president of the CEM clarified once again that he does not accept the 111th position of the country in the world in this indicator. “I do not accept this place until they tell me how this place was calculated,” Joteva said.
Regarding the feeling of untouchability of journalists, he said that journalists should work calmly, not be attacked and hampered. “But they cannot be untouchable by law, there is no way. This is the rule of law. And the fact that someone has terminated the contract, or someone has changed their portfolio, or does not work in this medium, are relations with the employer , not with the rule of law, “Joteva added.
He did not give any examples, but later told Dnevnik that he was referring to private media workers. Betina Joteva added that no one should live with the idea that if there is a show, they will retire on it. “Its owners have the right to eliminate this program,” she explained.
Joteva described herself as a veteran protester in 2013, but called the current protests “anarchy and a disgusting kind of democracy.”
