Federal Supreme Court, but voting was suspended. BULGARIA Republic of Bulgaria Independent journalists and media faced intense pressure and harassment, including by public officials. Parliament adopted measures to strengthen protection of victims of domestic violence. The definition of hate crimes was expanded to include sexual orientation. Discrimination against minorities remained widespread. Refugees and migrants faced violent pushbacks. Conditions in psychiatric care and social care institutions were concerning. BACKGROUND In April, the fifth consecutive general election in less than two years failed to produce a clear majority, leaving the country in a protracted political crisis. In July, Bulgaria experienced a prolonged heatwave, with temperatures reaching 40oC. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Independent journalists and media outlets reporting on organized crime and corruption continued to face threats, harassment and smear campaigns. Public officials and businesses filed numerous strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) against journalists and reporters. In March, an insurance company filed a defamation lawsuit against independent news website Mediapool claiming a record BGN 1 million (EUR 500,000) in damages, putting the website at risk of bankruptcy. In April, the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office published screenshots of a journalist’s private communication with a source. The Media Freedom Rapid Response project called this an “alarming violation of source confidentiality”. In the same month, journalists Dimitar Stoyanov, Atanas Tchobanov and Nikolay Marchenko were targeted by six defamation lawsuits over their The State of the World’s Human Rights reporting on links between a suspected drug lord and Bulgarian police officials. Media associations publicly condemned “retaliatory and vexatious legal actions” against journalists. In July, parliament adopted changes to the Criminal Code that provided greater, albeit insufficient, protection for journalists against SLAPPs, including a significant reduction in fines for defamation against public officials. The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom identified Bulgaria as a “high risk” country in terms of media freedom and pluralism. GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE In June, a man from Stara Zagora was arrested after a knife attack on his 18-yearold ex-girlfriend, who sustained injuries requiring more than 400 stitches. A local court’s description of the wounds as “minor bodily harm” and its decision to initially release the assailant on 5 July prompted countrywide protests and demands to end impunity for domestic violence. Amid public pressure, the authorities re-arrested the man on 30 July and pressed fresh charges against him in November. In August, parliament adopted amendments to the Criminal Code and the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence to expand the right to protection for people who experienced violence in an extramarital “intimate relationship”. Civil society groups criticized the legal definition requiring an intimate relationship to have lasted at least 60 days to be subject to the law, while conservative groups objected to the amendments, saying that they promoted “gender ideology”. Also in August, the government announced it was developing further measures to address the “hidden epidemic” of domestic violence. LGBTI PEOPLE’S RIGHTS In February, the Supreme Court of Cassation ended the possibility of legal gender recognition for transgender people. In July, parliament amended the Criminal Code to include attacks against people due to 109