Assen Yordanov | Bivol (Balkanleaks) CMPF Summer School 2013 for Journalists and Media Practitioners http://cmpf.eui.eu/training/summer-school-2013.aspx

1. Assen Yordanov 15/05/2013
“Freedom and Pluralism of Traditional and New Media” Florence, 13-17
May 2013
Investigations, leaks,
censorship,
corruption, mafia and
government

2. About Bivol
•Assen Yordanov & Atanas Tchobanov:
started Bivol.bg - investigative
journalism web site in 2010;
•Frontal of Balkanleaks – journalists
consortium modeled after the
Wikileaks example;
•Wikileaks partner in Bulgaria since
March 2011;
•Bivol.bg is funded only by donations by
the readers.

3. The Context: We
work in a Mafia
State in EU!

4. European Union
11th CVM Report on Bulgaria
July 2012
•The reform process has not built the
momentum needed to become an accepted part
of Bulgaria's development.
•The fact that external pressure is still
necessary raises questions about the
sustainability and irreversibility of change.

5. The Bulgarian Exception:
Organized Crime feeds corruption in
Bulgaria. The country was ruled and
is ruled now by true criminals;
This is possible because
of the Western Realpolitik: Political
«Doublethink» and «Our-Son-of-a-
Bitch» doctrine.

6. The Context: Since Bulgaria
is an EU member media
freedom worsened!

7. Bulgaria even has collapsed 7 ranks down,
evidenced by the yesterday’s report of RSF
Political instability puts journalists in the eye of the storm
Political instability often has a divisive effect on the media and makes it very difficult
to produce independently-reported news and information. In such situations, threats
and physical attacks on journalists and staff purges are common.

8. (Auto) Censorship
Example

9. «A former Head of the CIA, confirmed for Taz that SIMO and the CIA are the
same thing. "SIMO is an administrative term for the CIA, actually used only for
internal purposes, and as such, it should not have been used in the cables.»
«Would Borisov have remained in office if the American secret service CIA had
declared itself a key witness in the allegations against the Prime Minister?»
Prime Minister Borisov
Exposed...
The Document:
06SOFIA647 on
Wikileaks.org
The Comment:
Tageszeitung
ALDE Hearing on "Media Freedom in Bulgaria" 06 June 2012 Assen Yordanov www.bivol.bg contact@bivol.bg

10. Tageszeitung
• On 30/05/2012 the German newspaper Tageszeitung reported a story based
on US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks. The story revealed a
codename for the CIA, found in many top secret cables - SIMO.

11. The Document:
06SOFIA647
Information
from SIMO?
Tageszeitung
revealed
SIMO=CIA
PM Borisov - major drug
trafficker, CIA says

12. Deutsche Welle 31/05/2012
• The article was translated and published in Bulgarian on
Deutsche Welle4с web site, then published by the BGNES news
agency and by Novinite news agency in English.

13. One week later...
• One of the most popular and commented stories on the Bulgarian
internet
• More than 3000 Google references
VESTI.BG
06/06/2012
Most Commented

14. International coverage

15. In the classic media
• No such story on TV;
• No such story by any other
news agency: BTA, Focus;
• No such story on Radio;
• No such story in
newspapers (3 exceptions);
• Try a search: симо цру
борисов site:bnt.bg They are the 99%
The silent ones...
ALDE Hearing on "Media Freedom in Bulgaria" 06 June 2012 Assen Yordanov www.bivol.bg contact@bivol.bg

16. But why?
Tell it publicly and you loose your job?

17. How we work?
• Classic investigations – public registries,
meeting sources, hidden camera…;
• New technologies – Wikileaks like
submission via TOR (Balkanleaks);
• Anonymous submission is essential for
whistleblowers in the Bulgarian context.

18. The “Buddha Files”
Confirming Borissov
criminal background

19. The “Buddha Files”
In 1997 The Antimafia Squad opens the
Case of Operative Surveillance
« Buddha » to investigate the
« priority criminal orientation » of Boyko
Borissov

20. Balkanleaks platform
All documents from the file have leaked
anonymously through Bivol's platform
Balkanleaks, which is modeled after
the famous WikiLeaks, and have been
revealed for the very first time.

21. International Coverage

22. Buddha is confirming
previous Bulgarian Police
records
In 1995
Borisov owned
a factory for
contraband
cigarettes

23. Current Bulgarian PM Borisov’s
criminal past is exposed by
multiple sources and witnesses.
European and world leaders were
warned!

24. International Media Warnings:
In 2007 an article in «Congressional
Quarterly» quotes an FBI officer
saying about Borisov:
“...the U.S. government made a terrible choice
in who to go to bed with in Bulgaria.
“What the hell — we seem to take help from
anyone, however dirty, in the ‘war on terror.’ ”

25. The CQ article
Written by prominent journalist Jeff
Stein the article quotes a 200-page
confidential report prepared for a
Swiss bank. The core pages of this
report were first and only published
by Bivol.bg

26. We submitted all the
evidence about Borisov
to the Bulgarian
Prosecutor’s Office but
they refused to open an
investigation.

27. We submitted all the
evidence to the CRIM
Committee and they
refused a hearing. We
believe this was a
politically biased
decision.

28. A violent smear campaign was
launched against Bivol.bg
after we published the Buddha
Files.

29. US Ambassador in Sofia John
Beyrle wrote on Bulgarian PM
Boyko Borisov in 2006:
«We should continue
to push him in the
right direction, but
never forget who
we’re dealing with».
The Document:
06SOFIA647

32. The Document:
08SOFIA631
OLAF:
«If Bulgaria brings
down Bozhkov,
that would be
progress»
Leaks revealed also European
money abuse!

33. In 2007 the ALDE group
organized an exhibition of
Bozhkov’s art collection in
the European Parliament

34. 2012 - «Bulgaria’s most
infamous gangster Vasil
Bozhkov, aka «The Skull» is
still constructing the
«Trakia» highway with
European money.
That’s progress, indeed...
The Document:
09SOFIA508

35. So, the State Department knew, EU
and OLAF knew, the CIA knew, BND
knew, MI6 knew...
(KGB knew it before them)

36. Because of the “leaks” and
journalistic investigations
the citizens
know more about
the entrails of corruption and
the state-mafia nexus...
And they also know that their
governments knew.

37. References
• Transparency International, «Corruption Perceptions Index» 2007-2011,
http://www.transparency.org
• Reporters Without Borders, «Media Freedom Ranking» 2005-2011,
http://www.rsf.org
• World Justice Project, «Rule of Law Index» 2012
http://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index-data
• Moses Naim, «Mafia States», Foreign Affairs, April 2012
http://www.moisesnaim.com/writings/mafia-states
• European Commission, «On Progress in Bulgaria under the Cooperation and
Verification Mechanism» (11th CVM Report )

38. Thank you!
contact@bivol.bg