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Assurances sought after death threat in Bulgaria


(Brussels, 8 March 2005) Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace International, and CEE Bankwatch Network have asked the Bulgarian Government to do everything possible to ensure the safety of Albena Simeonova, a Bulgarian environmental campaigner, following a death threat made against her.

Mrs Simeonova is coordinating local opposition to a proposed nuclear power plant at Belene, 15km from her home in northern Bulgaria. On 23 February, two men visited her house telling her that, if she did not stop campaigning against the new reactors and move away from the area, she would be killed. The incident has been reported to the local authorities, which continue to investigate the matter.

Friends of the Earth Europe Director, Martin Rocholl said:

"Albena Simeonova is entitled the full protection of the law; her personal safety and democratic rights must be maintain and we call on the Bulgarian authorities to ensure this happens. Those who have threatened her must be prosecuted.

"As an aspiring member state, Bulgaria must show it can uphold the EU1s basic values, including human and civil rights and the rule of law. Any citizen that engages in public debates such as Belene must not be subject to violent threats."



CONTACT: Mark Johnston + 32 2 542 6101 direct

NOTES

1. ALBENA SIMEONOVA is aged 40 and has 6-year-old son. She owns and manages Bulgaria's largest organic farm, employing 70 people. Mrs Simeonova has been a prominent activist in the country's environmental movement throughout the 1990's, and in 1996 was award the international Goldman Environmental Prize for 'outstanding' grassroots environmental activism. She was also a founding member of Ecoglasnost, which is the Friends of the Earth International affiliate in Bulgaria.

2. The BELENE nuclear plant began construction in the 1980's but was abandoned part-built in 1990 due to a lack of money and strong local opposition. In 2003, the Bulgarian Government announced that the state-sponsored project would recommence, and is presently selecting a reactor vendor through an international selection process. In July 2004, Belene was visited by the then European Commission Vice-President and Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio. Speaking on behalf of the EU, Mrs Palacio offered to support the project with a cheap 'Euratom' loan. A  substantive decision to proceed with the overall project has still to be taken.

3. Greenpeace International has launched a on-line action which enables people to send a message to the Bulgarian authorities. Link:
http://act.greenpeace.org/ams/e?a=1698&s=gen2

Friends of the Earth Europe campaigns for sustainable and fair societies and for the protection of the environment,
unites more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups
and is part of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth International.