site.btaUPDATED Sofia Police and Prosecutors Probe Illegal Filming in Gynaecology Clinics

The Sofia Regional Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation following media reports about videos filmed in a gynaecology exam room in the capital Sofia and distributed on adult websites, the prosecution said on Thursday.

A pre-trial investigation has been opened into the dissemination of pornographic material via information or communication technologies on an unspecified date between January 1 and February 4, 2026, in Sofia.

The investigation has been assigned to the Sofia Directorate of the Interior. So far, inspections and searches have been carried out at eight addresses in the capital, including private gynaecology practices and offices in healthcare facilities. Evidence has been seized and added to the case file.

In a separate announcement, the Sofia Directorate of Interior Affairs, said that at one of the addresses, a video camera was found in a position and room corresponding to the video content distributed on two pornographic websites.

The investigation established that video files of medical procedures filmed in doctors' offices during obstetric and gynaecological examinations were being distributed on the Internet via a website, the Sofia Directorate said. The joint operation was carried out by officers from the Economic Police and Investigation Departments of the Sofia Directorate of the Interior, and officers from the Cybercrime Directorate of the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime. The investigation continues under the supervision of the Sofia Regional Prosecutor's Office, the announcement further said.

On Wednesday, outgoing Health Minister Silvi Kirilov ordered the Sofia Regional Health Inspectorate to conduct an immediate inspection following leaked footage from the gynaecology exam room in Sofia, the Health Ministry said. The inspection confirmed the presence of a camera in the room. An official report has been drawn up, and the collected evidence have been submitted to the competent authorities.

On Monday, the Burgas Regional Prosecutor's Office said that an investigation had begun into the production of pornographic materials, after a client of a cosmetic studio for laser procedures in the seaside city discovered she had been filmed by a camera while undressed for treatment.

Writing on Facebook on Thursday, Slavi Trifonov, leader of the There Is Such a People (TISP) party, described the filming of gynaecology and cosmetic procedures and the dissemination of such footage via pornographic websites as "terrible, disgusting, dreadful and sickening." Trifonov argued that if relevant amendments to the Penal Code proposed by his party were adopted, the people responsible for these acts would be sent to jail.

TISP's proposal for Penal Code changes envisaged criminalization of the distribution of storage mediums carrying information about a person's private life without that person's consent. In October 2025, the National Assembly Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs approved the proposal at first reading, but later, TISP withdrew it. The withdrawal came after other parties and media outlets commented that the bill violates freedom of speech.