FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 17599/07 Kiril Kostadinov IVANOV against Bulgaria lodged on 16 March 2007

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Kiril Kostadinov Ivanov , is a Bulgarian national who was born in 1942 and lives in Blagoevgrad . He is represented before the Court by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and by Mr S. Ovcharov , a lawyer practising in Sofia .

A. The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

1. Background to the case

The background to the case has been described in detail in the Court ’ s judgments in Stankov and the United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden v. Bulgaria (nos. 29221/95 and 29225/95, ECHR 2001 ‑ IX), United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden and Ivanov v. Bulgaria (no. 44079/98, 20 October 2005), United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden – PIRIN and Others v. Bulgaria (no. 59489/00, 20 October 2005), Ivanov and Others v. Bulgaria (no. 46336/99, 24 November 2005), United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden and Others v. Bulgaria , no. 59491/00, 19 January 2006) United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden and Ivanov v. Bulgaria (no. 2) (no. 37586/04, 18 October 2011), United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden and Others v. Bulgaria (no. 2) (no. 34960/04, 18 October 2011), Singartiyski and Others v. Bulgaria (no. 48284/07, 18 October 2011), United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden – PIRIN and Others v. Bulgaria (no. 2) ( nos. 41561/07 and 20972/08 , 18 October 2011).

2. The events of September 2006

(a) The rally planned for 30 September 2006

On 15 September 2006 the applicant, acting on behalf of the “Macedonian Initiative Committee of the Macedonian National Minority” and relying on Article 11 of the Convention, notified the Mayor of Blagoevgrad that the Committee intended to stage a rally at 4 p.m. on 30 September 2006 on Macedonia Square, to commemorate the eighty ‑ second anniversary of “the day of the genocide of the Macedonians in Bulgaria – 12 September 1924”. The rally would consist of the laying of wreaths and flowers and the reading of a short address.

The same day the Mayor replied that the rally could not proceed as the municipality had planned an event on Macedonia Square for the same date – a concert marking the Day of Music. This made the holding of the rally impossible.

On 18 September 2006 the applicant sought judicial review of the Mayor ’ s decision. He argued that under the applicable international law agreements, the above ‑ mentioned Initiative Committee had the right to stage peaceful rallies and demonstrations without being registered.

In a final decision of 19 September 2006, the Blagoevgrad District Court dismissed the application. It held that it was admissible, and that the mayor ’ s decision was subject to judicial review. However, it went on to find that the application was without merit and that the mayor ’ s decision was lawful, because there was a risk that the rights and freedoms of others might be infringed. It was not appropriate to stage concomitantly the proposed rally, which was without doubt political in character, and the municipality ’ s event. Performing musical works was completely incompatible with reading political addresses. It was not right to force lovers of music to listen to political speeches and declarations, which were moreover not perceived unequivocally by the Bulgarian public, which was particularly sensitive to assertions that there existed in Bulgaria a Macedonian minority.

As a result, the Initiative Committee called off the rally. The applicant submits that he is not aware whether the municipal event really took place. He had made a request for information in that respect under the access to public information laws, but had not yet received it. However, the municipality ’ s cultural calendar for 2006 showed that the concert marking the Day of Music had been due to take place on 1 October and not 30 September 2006.

(b) The rally planned for 12 September 2006

The attempt of the United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden to organise a similar rally on 11 or 12 September 2006 was also fruitless. The Mayor of Blagoevgrad banned the rally, and a legal challenge to his decision was rejected by the Blagoevgrad District Court on 8 September 2006. Those events are described in more detail in paragraphs 58 ‑ 63 of the Court ’ s judgment in United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden and Ivanov (no. 2) (cited above ).

3. The rally planned for 12 September 2007

The events surrounding the rally planned by the United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden for 12 September 2007 – the rally ’ s ban, the ensuing judicial review proceedings, the rally ’ s unfolding and its aftermath – were described in paragraphs 90 ‑ 95 of the Court ’ s judgment in United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden and Ivanov (no. 2) (cited above ) in the following way:

“90. On 28 August 2007 Ilinden notified the Mayor of Blagoevgrad of its intention to stage a rally on Macedonia Square , in front of Gotse Delchev ’ s monument, at 4.30 p.m. on 12 September 2007. The event, which was to mark the anniversary of ‘ the genocide against the Macedonians ’ , would consist of the laying of a wreath and flowers on the monument and a short speech. It would last one hour.

91. On 29 August 2007 the Mayor replied that the notification could not be examined as Ilinden had not produced documents proving its official registration. It was thus impossible to identify the ‘ managing bodies of [the] event ’ . Moreover, the municipality had planned an event on Macedonia Square for the same date, a children ’ s holiday under the name ‘ Hello, school ’ , to mark the beginning of the school year, which made the holding of the rally impossible.

92. On 30 August 2007 Ilinden sought judicial review by the newly created Blagoevgrad Administrative Court ..., reiterating the arguments raised in its previous applications. In a decision of 30 August 2007 the Blagoevgrad Administrative Court found that under the 1990 Meetings and Marches Act, which was lex specialis in relation to the general rules of administrative procedure, the court competent to examine an application for judicial review of a Mayor ’ s decision to ban a rally was the district court. It therefore sent the file to the Blagoevgrad District Court.

93. In a final decision of 5 September 2007 the Blagoevgrad District Court dismissed the application. It held that, while the lack of registration did not amount to sufficient grounds to prohibit the rally, the fact that another event, likely to draw a number of people, many of whom were children, was due to take place on the same date in Macedonia Square was enough to justify the ban. In the court ’ s view, it was inopportune to allow two wholly different events to be staged at the same time and place.

94. According to the applicants, no school event took place at 4 p.m. on 12 September 2007 on Macedonia Square . When a number of members and supporters of Ilinden gathered in front of the American University in Blagoevgrad at about 5 p.m., they were stopped by the police and a number of them were arrested. They were taken to a police station, held for about three hours and charged with committing administrative offences for having tried to take part in a banned rally.

95. On 22 October 2007 the deputy Mayor of Blagoevgrad imposed administrative punishments (fines of 200 Bulgarian levs (102.26 euros ) each) on [Mr Yordan Kostadinov Ivanov ] and on a number of members of Ilinden for having taken part in a banned rally, in breach of a public ‑ order regulation issued by the Blagoevgrad Municipal Council. All of them sought judicial review. In a series of judgments delivered on 18 and 19 February, 11 March, and 22 and 29 May 2008 the Blagoevgrad District Court annulled the fines. In some of the judgments it found that they were invalid, as under the applicable rules the deputy Mayor had no power to impose administrative punishments. In other judgments the court found that the deputy Mayor ’ s decisions were defective because they did not specify which administrative offences had been committed. In others it held that although the Mayor ’ s ban on the rally planned for 12 September 2007 was legally binding, the actions of the members of Ilinden on that date had not amounted to the staging of a rally, as they had been too few and had not tried to wave banners and make speeches, but merely to lay flowers on Gotse Delchev ’ s monument. The court went on to say that every person, regardless of their political convictions, had the right to honour the memory of national heroes in peace.”

B. Relevant domestic law

The relevant domestic law has been set out in paragraphs 107 ‑ 12 of the Court ’ s judgment in United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden and Ivanov (no. 2) (cited above ).

COMPLAINTS

1. The applicant complains under Article 11 of the Convention of the bans of the two rallies planned for 30 September 2006 and 12 September 2007.

2. The applicant further complains under Article 14 of the Convention that the interference with his right to freedom of assembly in relation to the rallies planned for 30 September 2006 and 12 September 2007 was due to his belonging to an ethnic minority. He submitted that that interference could be regarded as amounting to direct discrimination.

3. Lastly, the applicant complains under Article 13 of the Convention that he did not have an effective remedy in respect of the alleged breaches of Articles 11 and 14. He submits that the Bulgarian courts were clearly biased against him and his ethnic group, as evident from the numerous instances in which they had turned down legal challenges in relation to rallies planned by that group.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Has there been a violation of the applicant ’ s right to freedom of peaceful assembly, enshrined in Article 11 of the Convention, in relation to the rally planned for 30 September 2006 (see United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden and Ivanov v. Bulgaria (no. 2) , no. 37586/04 , §§ 126 ‑ 37, 18 October 2011) ?

2. Has there been an interference with the applicant ’ s rights under Article 11 of the Convention in relation to the rally planned for 12 September 2007? Given that in United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden and Ivanov v. Bulgaria (no. 2) (cited above, §§ 90 ‑ 95 and 126 ‑ 37) the Court already examined the authorities ’ actions in relation to that rally and their effect on the United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden , is it still justified to examine the applicant ’ s complaint in relation to the rally (see, mutatis mutandis , Pantusheva and Others v. Bulgaria ( dec .), nos. 40047/04 et al., 5 July 2011)? If so, has there been a violation of the applicant ’ s right to freedom of peaceful assembly, enshrined in Article 11, in relation to the rally?

3 . Did the applicant suffer discrimination in the enjoyment of his right to freedom of association on the ground of his asserted ethnic consciousness, contrary to Article 14 of the Convention read in conjunction with Article 11?

4 . Did the applicant have at his disposal an effective domestic remedy in those respects, as required by Article 13 of the Convention?