Criminal offence
Hate speech is a criminal offence which can be lawfully prevented or punished by the state. The Bulgarian Criminal Code allows for the sanctioning of hate speech through fines, public rebuke or the deprivation of liberty.
For a crime to be considered hate speech, it must fit the description of hate speech outlined in Article 162 or Article 164 of the Bulgarian Criminal Code.
It is not just the authors who can be found guilty in criminal cases involving hate speech. You may also be found liable for the mere dissemination of hate speech if you endorse the message. For example, when offering a platform by publishing or broadcasting the message.
Read more about the right to a fair trial in criminal proceedings.
Elements of hate speech in hate crimes
Elements of hate speech may sometimes be noticed before, during or after the commitment of a hate crime, and the State has an obligation to include such elements in its investigation.
In Bulgaria, the 2011 supplements to Articles 116 (murder) and 131 (bodily injuries) of the Criminal Code oblige the investigation bodies and the courts to investigate and to take into consideration at the trial phase the racist and xenophobic motives of the perpetrators of crimes in certain cases, the latter are limited only to murder and causing bodily injury. In the case of other crimes, perpetrated with racist and xenophobic motives, no such obligation exists. So the Criminal Code establishes that some crimes committed with a biased motive towards an individual or a group due to the victim’s race, nationality, ethnicity or religion may be considered to have aggravating circumstances. During the trial, the court can take the aggravating circumstances into account, namely, the bias motive, when adopting its decision. In general, aggravating circumstances can be applied to all crimes established by the Criminal Code. This means that, in some cases, hate speech can help establish that a crime should be considered to be a hate crime or that aggravating circumstances existed.
example If witnesses say that they heard the perpetrator shouting homophobic slurs before attacking a gay couple, this should be considered during the investigation and further action.
Read more about hate crimes and the differences between hate crimes and hate speech.