Court Fines Ex Bulgarian President for Slapping Reporter

Former Bulgarian President, Petar Stoyanov, has been sentenced for losing his temper and slapping a journalist. Photo by BGNES

The Sofia City Court had declared former Bulgarian President, Petar Stoyanov, guilty for slapping a journalist and sentenced him to a BGN 500 fine.

The magistrates said they have issued a light sentence over Stoyanov's clean record.

The claim was failed by the journalist from the nationalist SKAT TV, Petar Zhekov, who tried the former President for slapping him on September 9, 2009, while he was filming a report about the ceremony commemorating the victims of Communism.

SKAT TV say this is an emblematic and unprecedented case in which a Bulgarian Head of State has been issued, for the very first time, a guilty verdict, adding the decision is important for all journalists since it provides additional protection for them.

On September 9, 2009, Zhekov approached Stoyanov during the ceremony and asked him where he felt more comfortable – among the victims of Communism or in Communist residencies eating and drinking at the tables of the killers of Bulgaria people.

Stoyanov did not answer the question and kept walking. The journalist then asked him if he would "free" the ceremony from his presence, triggering the former President anger and the slap.

SKAT immediately sued Stoyanov.

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