site.btaEuropean Court Condemns Bulgaria for Failure to Investigate Online Hate Speech Against Human Rights Defenders

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled against Bulgaria in a landmark case concerning the state’s failure to adequately investigate death threats and online hate speech targeting human rights activists advocating for refugees and migrants, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee said in a press release Tuesday. In the case Ilareva and Others v. Bulgaria, the Court found that Bulgarian prosecutors failed to conduct an effective investigation into a wave of Facebook posts in 2015 inciting violence and making graphic threats against three activists: lawyer Valeria Ilareva, Lydia Staykova, and Krassimir Kanev, then-chair of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee.

The hate campaign was triggered after Staykova was nominated for a human rights award. The threats included explicit calls for murder, torture, and assault, with users even requesting the activists' addresses. Despite the serious nature of the posts - some shared over 120 times - the authorities did not pursue meaningful investigative actions or identify the perpetrators.

The Court found violations of Article 8 (right to private life) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights, highlighting the Bulgarian authorities’ failure to consider the discriminatory motive behind the attacks.

The ruling criticizes the prosecutors for treating the threats as mere expressions of personal opinion and for delaying or omitting key investigative steps such as tracing user data, seeking international legal assistance, or examining the broader context of anti-migrant sentiment.

"This is a major victory for the human rights community in Bulgaria," said Adela Kachaunova, the lawyer representing the applicants. "The Bulgarian authorities routinely turn a blind eye to threats against civil society, and the prosecution makes no serious effort to identify perpetrators of hate speech. This is part of institutionalized discrimination."