The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) study, which exposed how covert surveillance is used to control magistrates, was honored with the Grand Prize in the NGO category at the Access to Information Programme Foundation’s ‘Golden Key’ Awards. The awards were presented on September 28 — International Right to Know Day.
‘When we published the study in February, I imagined that the Minister of Justice, the Supreme Judicial Council, or the supreme courts would say something—that someone would express outrage over hundreds of magistrates being kept in a state of dependency. That has not happened, not even to this day,’ shared Atty. Adela Kachaunova, Co-chair of BHC and author of the award-winning study, in her speech.
She emphasized that an independent judge is not a privilege, but an integral part of our right to a fair trial.
You can view all the awardees in the full recording of the ceremony on the organizer’s Facebook page.
Revisit the study and its findings here:
