4.  The applicant was born in 1950 and lives in Sofia. He is a journalist and a writer.
5.  K.T., a popular figure of Bulgarian politics, has for many years been the leader of a trade union. He has in addition been a member of the managing bodies of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the European Trade Union Confederation. According to information submitted by the Government, the trade union formerly headed by K.T. is the second largest in Bulgaria, with a membership of about 150,000.
6.  In 2003 the applicant published a book called “the Shadow of Zion”, dealing with Judaism, Zionism, Freemasonry and their impact on world history.
7.  On pp. 69-70 the book contained a paragraph comparing communists and Nazis to Freemasons, stating that, in a Freemason manner, the Nazis had “dreamt to perfect the man”, and also that communists had been “doing that in practice”, including in Bulgaria. The text then continued:
“And after the ‘democratic changes’ who became a Freemason? All were communists and people connected with their gloomy secret services.”
The names of a number of persons were listed after that, including the “pseudo trade unionist” K.T. The list ended with a reference to a footnote which quoted a 2002 article by another author published in a news magazine.
8.  On 28 September 2005 K.T. brought a tort action against the applicant, stating that the allegations contained in the book, namely that he was a Freemason, a communist connected with the former secret services and a “pseudo trade unionist”, were untrue and defamatory. He stated that he was a fervent Christian, which meant that he could not be a Freemason, as the Church had condemned Freemasonry, that he had never been a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party or the youth communist organisation, and that he had not been connected with the communist secret services, but had, on the contrary, all his life fought for human rights and democracy. K.T. argued that the applicant’s allegations had humiliated and defamed him, presenting him as an immoral and unscrupulous person, and that they sought to lower his prestige at the national level and internationally.
9.  The applicant objected to the action. He stated that when calling K.T. a Freemason he had relied on earlier publications by other authors, one of which was expressly cited in a footnote to the disputed paragraph. Moreover, K.T. had himself stated in a newspaper interview that he was a member of the Maltese Order. As to the allegation that K.T. had been connected with the communist secret services, the applicant intended to prove this through witness testimony. He pointed out in addition that K.T. had himself bragged about being related to leading figures of the communist regime. The applicant argued that in any event the expressions complained of had not been offensive or defamatory, and that K.T. had not shown that he had indeed suffered non-pecuniary damage as a result.
10.  The applicant was legally represented throughout the proceedings that ensued.
11.  In a judgment of 10 July 2008 the Sofia City Court (hereinafter “the City Court”) allowed the action and ordered the applicant to pay K.T. 15,000 Bulgarian levs (BGN, the equivalent of 7,670 euros – EUR) in moral damage, plus default interest as of 28 September 2005.
12.  The City Court referred to the applicant’s right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Convention, but considered that in the case he had overstepped the limits of acceptable criticism. It analysed the allegations made by him and concluded that they had been untrue. As to the applicant describing K.T. as a Freemason, this had been refuted by the fact that K.T. was a fervent Orthodox Christian, whereas the Church was known to reject Freemasonry. As to K.T.’s affiliation with the communist secret services, this allegation had been disproved by the official attestations of the specialised body dealing with those services’ archives, and the witnesses brought by the applicant to prove this point had been unconvincing. Lastly, the expression “pseudo trade unionist” amounted to a gratuitous offence, aimed solely at discrediting K.T.
13.  The City Court pointed out further that an insult was a “subjective notion”, which meant that if K.T. felt offended by the applicant’s allegations, that sufficed. In particular, being an Orthodox Christian, it was “logical” for him to feel offended by the Freemasonry allegations.
14.  Lastly, justifying the amount of damage to be awarded, the City Court noted that the applicant’s publication had “seriously impinged” upon K.T.’s honour and dignity and had defamed him, both “within the whole trade union community in Bulgaria” and internationally. The distress suffered by K.T. had in addition aggravated his health problems, leading to his hospitalisation.
15.  Upon appeal by the applicant, on 23 October 2009, the City Court’s judgment was upheld by the Sofia Court of Appeal. It endorsed the lower court’s reasoning, adding the following: even if K.T. had said that he was a member of the Maltese Order, the applicant had not shown that this was equivalent to Freemasonry; it was irrelevant that the allegations made by the applicant had already been made in earlier publications, as this did not make them “less defamatory or truer”; the fact that K.T. was a public figure justified a higher award of damages such as the one made by the City Court.
16.  The applicant lodged an appeal on points of law. In a final decision of 17 August 2010 the Supreme Court of Cassation refused to accept the appeal for examination. In particular, it confirmed that whether or not an allegation was to be considered offensive depended on the manner in which it was perceived by the addressee and his social circle, even if this did not conform “to the common understanding of the facts”.
17.  K.T. instituted subsequently enforcement proceedings. In October 2011 a bailiff calculated the total amount due by the applicant, including the principal award of BGN 15,000 (see paragraph 11 above), the default interest accrued by that time and the costs and expenses, at BGN 31,549 (EUR 16,100). The enforcement proceedings were discontinued in 2016 after K.T. abandoned his attempts to obtain payment, with the sum seized from the applicant amounting to merely BGN 4.55 (EUR 2.32).
18.  After the communication of the present application, on 23 May 2018 the Government submitted their observations, which were forwarded to the applicant.
19.  On 30 June 2018 the applicant published a comment on these observations on his personal blog. As to the Government and the position defended by them, he wrote in particular the following paragraphs:
“To be able to understand human rights, including freedom and in particular freedom of expression but also of education, every person has to study, to gather knowledge. Stigmatizing, pointing an accusing finger, uttering insults and putting labels are completely different things. These primitive tricks are far from any erudition, which would have made the respective person think, check, and then judge. Alas, the observations prepared by the governmental Agent ... cannot convince the erudite reader that this has been the case.”
“Instead of [commenting on the case], the Governmental Agent discusses many other things. Often she utters lies and employs defamatory and offensive language.”
“It is a pity and I have lost much of my time having to deal with so many and such rough and rude lies and perversions. What is sadder is that they come from the Government of a country which is a member of the European Union.  Let the shame be for their bosses in Brussels.”
20.  The applicant also commented on the Court, calling the former Bulgarian Judge S. Botoucharova “communist” and “Muscovite”, the next Judge Z. Kalaydjieva an agent of the former security services, and the current Bulgarian Judge – a “communist infant”. He also wrote:
“You will ask me why I have addressed this court of yours. To walk this road to the end and to drain the bitter cup. And to show convincingly one more time that the world is communist. I do not suppose even for a moment that those bolshevized mass idiots with their washed brains in which they still hear the unfired volleys of the Aurora cruiser, and their imbecile heirs, can ever understand this.”