Ivan Petleshkov formally exercised his right of reply after his name was mentioned in media coverage of businessman Iliyan Filipov’s murder. In a letter to NOVA and the programme “Hello, Bulgaria,” he said that for two consecutive days he had been indirectly linked to the crime through false claims and insinuations that, in his view, had no place in professional journalism.
Petleshkov said that the initial presentation of the case focused attention on an old post by the late Filipov concerning him. The post had been published more than a year earlier. Petleshkov maintained that his name had been placed in the context of the attack without any factual connection to the act that was committed.
He added that an ensuing television discussion with journalists Dimitar Stoyanov and Stanislav Kronev had presented circumstances that were plainly untrue. Petleshkov explained that he and Stoyanov were involved in legal disputes, and that the journalist had publicly acknowledged his personal attitude toward him on social media.
In his statement, Petleshkov also highlighted what he said was a key fact omitted by the media: the Plovdiv District Court had already found Iliyan Filipov guilty of defamation in a case brought over the post in question.
He also recalled parliamentary oversight on October 1, 2026. At that hearing, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev confirmed that Filipov had filed no reports or complaints against Petleshkov with either the Interior Ministry or the prosecution service.
Petleshkov insisted that the only court decision concerning the disputes between him and the murdered businessman had been in his favour.
Source: fakti.bg
|
3847 | 2 Oct. 2026 | 09:04
Mobile verison
RSS
