Sami: Why did the General Directorate for Combat against Organized Crime target Michel Bozgounov for blogging about the Strandja issue even though other Bulgarian bloggers were doing the same thing? And can you explain why this has been treated as “Organized Crime”?

Milena: This is a big mystery. So far the Bulgarian police authorities didn’t give a relevant explanation on these questions. We can only make a guess. One of the reasons might be the fact that Michel is an average citizen without any political, financial or other protection. The other might be the fact that he is a BlueLink employee - a network that gives an alternative opinion and in some cases contradicts to the governmental one (like for instance a campaigning site BeleNE against the construction of a second NPP in Bulgaria). It might be an attempt to deafen our voice. Or it might be a random selection, we don’t really know.

Sami: Does this investigation against your colleague Michel Bozgounov set a bad precedent for politicians to control what you can and cannot blog about?

Milena: It definitely does. The problem is that all these reflects on them badly. The case became really very visible in Bulgaria with its absurdness. The police absolutely has no right do tell people what they can and can not blog about. It is in violation of the Bulgarian Constitution guaranteeing freedom of expression.

Sami: What was the role of the Internet in general and the blogsphere in particular in organizing the flash-mobs and the environmental protests that some like to describe as “the largest since those against the Socialist government in 1997″?

Milena: The main tool for organizing flash-mobs was through discussion mailing lists (many of which BlueLink maintains and provides to users to communicate between each other). The organizers used these tools as a fast and direct way to reach many people at their private e-mail addresses. They also used SMS-s through the mobile operators. At most of the flash-mobs there was a ban on publicizing it until one or two hours before the events, in order to guarantee that authorities will not have enough time to prevent the events. Actually the blogsphere was mostly covering the flash-mobs after they really happened, not prior the events. There was one specially created site for publishing information about the upcoming flash-mobs (http://savestrandja.ludost.net/). The information there was usually published about 2-3 hours prior to each flash-mob.

I wouldn’t say that these environmental protests are the largest since those against the Socialist government in 1997 - it is pretty much exaggerated, since the biggest protest gathered not more then 2000 people and it was not a flash-mob, but one that was previously announced at the municipality. But this is not the most important thing. The most important is that a very little group of people managed to make such a great impact on the media, government and the whole population of Bulgaria.

Sami: Do you think that the Strandja Mountain Nature Park is now safe and that the Bulgarian internet community has achieved its goal in protecting Strandja Nature Park?

Milena: I am afraid that it is just temporarily safe. Unfortunately the Parliament took a decision in changing the law for protected areas in a way which many jurists define as judicially inconsistent and might be attacked in court. Also jurists say that other Bulgarian parks are not protected either. But this is not the main issue here. Many of the laws in Bulgaria are quite good and strong and they envisage measures for nature protection. The problem is the implementation of the laws. There comes the authorities’ corruption, there are the doors ‘gray’ business uses to avoid the law and to benefit from it unpunished.

Sami: From an environmental e-network created and run by green activists, we are witnessing, with the launch of the Freenet Campaign, how the BlueLink network is becoming involved in defending online freedom of expression. What is the reason for the switch and what are your future plans regarding this issue?

Milena: Actually it is not a switch at all. BlueLink, apart from being an environmental network, works on the field of information and communication policy since its establishment. We are a part of the international movement contributing to the WSIS process and lately to Internet Governance Forum. We even created a special portal ‘Bulgarian ICT policy monitor‘ . The issue of freedom of expression on the internet is something that we have been working on establishing it in Bulgaria since 1998. BlueLink is the Bulgarian member of the Association for Progressive Communication (apc.org) through which network we are able to connect with like minded people from all around the world.

Sami: Did the Bulgarian blogsphere and the environmental web-led movement get any support from other European communities or blogspheres? Does the dissemination of the information about the Strandzha issue via video and photo sharing sites like Youtube and Flickr helped somehow in attracting the attention of mainstream and/or citizen media outside the country?

Milena: The EU and world communities of blogsphere started to support us just after BlueLink started the FreeNet campaign. I have no info for any support before that. The dissemination of information about the Strandja and other environmental cases in Bulgaria via video and photo sharing sites helped a lot in attracting the attention of the Bulgarian mainstream media. So far we have no info on interest expressed from foreign media

The June 29, 2007 decision of the Bulgarian Administrative Court (VAS) to remove the protected status of the National Park Strandzha, has evoked a strong reaction from the Bulgarian blogsphere and also from the country’s vibrant environmental movement. The two groups have united to defend the country’s largest protected area, which is located on the South Black Sea coast, with its unique eco-systems, biodiversity, cultural and historical heritage.

The Supreme Court’s ruling stems from an appeal by the mayor of the Tsarevo municipality and the investor (Crash 2000) in the Zlatna Perla Golden Pearl holiday village, near the town of Varvara. Construction on the vacation complex was suspended because of Strandzha National Park’s status as a protected area. The court’s decision to strip Strandzha of its protected status has been perceived as an “illustration of the state’s inability to protect public interest, nature, and to enforce its own legislation under pressures of private business powers.”

The response of the Bulgarian environmental stakeholders to this threat against the natural ecosystem of Strandzha Mountain was quick and well-coordinated. Utilizing every method from blog posts to street blockades to SMS to flash mobs, the web-led movement has succeeded in stimulating significant offline activity. “All information was disseminated mainly through mailing lists, SMS-s and on-line,” said BlueLink Information Network executive director Milena Bokova, whom I spoke with about the issue. With its smart use of the Internet and new media appplications such as online petitions (more than 13.900 signatures addressed to Bulgarian Administrative Court were collected - see the petition in English), blogs, and video- and photo-sharing sites, the Bulgarian environmental movement mobilized a substantial demonstration for the protection of the Strandzha Park, and won sympathy for its case.

(Source: nabludatel.blogspot.com)

And it is largely thanks to the Bulgarian Blogsphere and to the e-movement that the attention of the national mainstream media was captured. “The dissemination of information about the Strandja and other environmental cases in Bulgaria via video and photo sharing sites helped a lot in attracting the attention of the Bulgarian mainstream media,” said Milena Bokova. (See the interview with blogger Michel Bozgounov broadcasted on the Bulgarian National TV -Youtube: part1 | part2).

As a result of the attention, Bulgarian police issued a call to bloggers, pressuring them “to stop writing about the recent wave of environmental protests that has swept across the country in the recent weeks.” One blogger summoned by the General Directorate for Combat against Organized Crime was Michel Bozgounov, BlueLink’s web designer, who reported the incident on his blog:

Last week I received summons to visit the Sofia Metropolitan Police Department and absolutely not aware what is this about […] There they asked me about my website (my blog) and about the Strandja protests. I had to write some explications and also signed a warning protocol, saying that I should not write in my blog anything that could call to disorderly conduct (like unofficial protests) and so on. I saw a line in the police documents, saying “the website www.optimiced.com must be investigated (watched constantly)”. I read on the top of the documents in front of me the name of the National Service for Combat against the Organized Crime, which indeed puzzled me. […] Also there were printed sheets of paper from another blog of a guy, who wrote as well about the Strandja case, and he is also a journalist. On the stairs one of the police officers told me “in private” that I should be more careful what I am writing about in future, because journalists have a better defense against possible prosecution and I am just an ordinary person, an independent blogger.

The Bluelink network reacted to the intimidation of Michel Bozgounov and other bloggers by launching the Freenet Campaign. “We unconditionally support the actions of each engaged citizen, who have the right to express his or her position on actions (or lack thereof) of Bulgarian institutions through writing or other communication forms; We support and will defend the unconditional right of every Bulgarian citizen to peaceful and non-violent protests and for information dissemination of such protests,” Bluelink said in a statement announcing the launch of Freenet.

The outpouring of support from the Bulgarian blogsphere for fellow blogger Michel Bozgounov was also overwhelming. A group of bloggers sent a letter of protest to the European Commissioner of Human Rights, urging him “to take all necessary measures […] for preventing the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior Affairs and The Bulgarian Government in stepping up to this extremely dangerous path on combating free speech.”

“One of the deep reasons for defending internet freedom is its increasing importance for environmentalism (given legal recognition in the Aarhus convention, which grants the public rights regarding access to information and public participation and access to justice in environmental matters),” says Dr. Dan McQuillan, the current web manager at Amnesty International, who warned against ignoring the threats posed to the Online Free Speech. McQuillan adds that “It’s very worrying that most ecampaigners are ignoring these threats to the environment that they depend on. Of course, they’re all busy doing online campaigns for the core mission of their organizations, whether it’s environmental, human rights or whatever. But key techniques like blogging, social networking and global campaigning are already being impacted by reductions in internet freedoms.”

In Part Two of this article, I speak to Milena Bokova, who talks about the intimidation against her colleague, blogger Michel Bozgounov, the threats to the freedom of online expression in her country, and the Bluelink Freenet Campaign.