Bulgaria
Bulgaria regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Bulgaria implemented ODIHR's Training Against Hate Crime for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme from 2012 until 2017. Bulgaria also took part in ODIHR's project on "Building a Comprehensive Criminal Justice Response to Hate Crime", helping to develop a joint training programme for police and prosecutors that was piloted in the country. Bulgaria has also made efforts to improve hate crime identification, recording and data collection systems through ODIHR's Information Against Hate Crimes Toolkit (INFAHCT) programme. ODIHR completed a review of Bulgaria's hate crime legislation in 2018.
OFFICIAL DATA REPORTED BY STATES
Year | Hate crimes recorded by police | Prosecuted | Sentenced |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
2021 | 18 | 384 | 303 |
2020 | 727 | 353 | 289 |
2019 | 22 | 432 | 155 |
2018 | 46 | 6 | 158 |
2017 | 22 | 9 | 9 |
2016 | 28 | 299 | 71 |
2015 | 704 | 752 | 135 |
2014 | 617 | 750 | 117 |
2013 | 651 | 300 | 239 |
2012 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
2011 | 29 | 41 | 10 |
2010 | 20 | 34 | 4 |
2009 | 20 | 22 | 9 |
About 2016 Data
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The numbers recorded by the police refer to cases registered under substantive offence and specific penalty enhancement provisions in the Bulgarian Criminal Code. The statistic provided by the Office of the Prosecutor indicates the number of pre-trial proceedings brought to court under provisions, some of which fall outside the OSCE's definition of hate crime. The sentencing figure refers to cases registered by the Supreme Judicial Council in which the decisions have been issued in 2016. All official numbers include hate crime committed out of “hooligan motives,” which may fall outside of the OSCE's definition.
Hate crime recorded by police
KEY OBSERVATION
ODIHR observes that the law enforcement agencies of Bulgaria have not recorded the bias motivations of hate crimes.
INCIDENTS REPORTED BY CIVIL SOCIETY
Anti-Muslim hate crime
Date | Type of incident | Source | Description |
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2016-06 | Attacks against property | Office of Grand Mufti in Bulgaria
SETA
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2016-12 | Attacks against property | Office of Grand Mufti in Bulgaria
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2016-08 | Attacks against property | Office of Grand Mufti in Bulgaria
SETA
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2016-11 | Attacks against property | Office of Grand Mufti in Bulgaria
SETA
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2016-11 | Attacks against property | Office of Grand Mufti in Bulgaria
SETA
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2016-10 | Attacks against property | Office of Grand Mufti in Bulgaria
SETA
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2016-09 | Attacks against property | Office of Grand Mufti in Bulgaria
SETA
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Anti-Christian hate crime
Date | Type of incident | Source | Description |
---|---|---|---|
2016-07 | Violent attacks against people | Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
Jehovah's Witnesses
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INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
Racist and xenophobic hate crime
In its "Concluding observations on the combined twentieth to twenty-second periodic reports of Bulgaria," the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recommended the appointment of specialized hate crime prosecutors.