issued by the Registrar of the Court

ECHR 061 (2025)

04.03.2025

Judgments of 4 March 2025

The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing 12 judgments¹:

three Chamber judgments are summarised below;

nine Committee judgments, concerning issues which have already been examined by the Court, can

be consulted on Hudoc and do not appear in this press release.

The judgments summarised below are available only in English.

Girginova v. Bulgaria (application no. 4326/18)

The applicant, Galina Mariova Girginova, is a Bulgarian national who was born in 1986 and lives in

Sofia. She is one of the journalists at Sadebni Reportazhi, an online media organisation covering the

judiciary (https://judicialreports.bg/).

The case concerns the refusal to give her access to the reasons given for the acquittal of a former

Minister of Internal Affairs, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, whose criminal case for allegedly allowing unlawful

secret surveillance by some of his staff had been classified and heard in private. The reasons for the

acquittal had not been published online, as normally required under Bulgarian law. The Sofia City

Court refused her request on the basis that they contained technical details about the use of covert

surveillance equipment, which was classified information. Her claim for judicial review of that refusal

was dismissed.

The applicant complains that the refusal breached Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the

European Convention on Human Rights, and that she did not have an effective remedy in that

respect, as required by Article 13.

Violation of Article 10

Violation of Article 13

Just satisfaction: The applicant did not claim any sum in respect of pecuniary or non-pecuniary

damage. The Court awarded her 2,750 euros (EUR) in respect of cost and expenses.

K.M. v. North Macedonia (no. 59144/16)

The applicant, K.M., is a Macedonian/citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia who was born in

1999.

The case concerns the alleged failure of the State to protect K.M., a 14-year-old girl at the time, from

sexual abuse. She alleged that an employee of a telecommunications company, who had come to

her family home to restore their internet connection, had caressed her leg, touched one of her

breasts, massaged her shoulders and told her that men loved her because she had big breasts. He

Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, Chamber judgments are not final. During the three-month period following a Chamber

judgment’s delivery, any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court. If such a request is made, a

panel of five judges considers whether the case deserves further examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and

deliver a final judgment. If the referral request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day. Under Article 28 of the

Convention, judgments delivered by a Committee are final.

Once a judgment becomes final, it is transmitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for supervision of its execution.

Further information about the execution process can be found here: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution

had not threatened her, nor had he used any force. A criminal complaint brought by the applicant

was rejected. A subsequent civil complaint and claim for compensation under the Insults and

Defamation Act ended with the court concluding that there were no grounds for compensation. The

appellate court dismissed the applicant’s appeal, endorsing the lower court’s findings and

concluding that there was no statutory provision concerning civil liability which would cover the

applicant’s claim.

Relying on Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 (general prohibition of discrimination) to the European

Convention, K.M. complains that her right to protection from sexual assault had not been secured

and that, as a result, she had been left without any legal protection.

Violation of Article 8

Just satisfaction:

non-pecuniary damage: EUR 4,500

Milashina and Others v. Russia (no. 75000/17)

The applicant company was an editorial and publishing house registered in Moscow since 1998,

which edited and published the national newspaper Novaya Gazeta. The applicant, Yelena

Valeryevna Milashina, who was born in 1977, had been a staff journalist since 1997 and was the

editor in the newspaper’s special projects department. The applicant, Dmitriy Andreyevich Muratov,

who was born in 1961, was the chair of Novaya Gazeta’s editorial council (and its former

editor-in-chief) and also a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner (jointly with a Filipino journalist Maria

Ressa). The applicant, Sergey Nikolayevich Kozheurov, who was born in 1955, was one of the

founders of Novaya Gazeta and its editor-in-chief.

The case concerns verbal threats received by the applicants after they published articles revealing a

large-scale violent campaign that was reportedly run by the Chechen authorities against people

perceived to be homosexual.

Relying on Articles 10 (freedom of expression), 2 (right to life), and 8 (right to respect for private and

family life) of the Convention, the applicants complain that the authorities failed to take measures to

protect them even though they were independent journalists reporting on and exposing human

rights violations. They also allege that they were discriminated against in breach of Article 14

(prohibition of discrimination) because they were writing about the abduction and killing of people

perceived to be homosexual by the Chechen authorities.

Violation of Article 10 in respect of the applicant company and the individual applicants

Violation of Article 8 in respect of the individual applicants

Just satisfaction:

non-pecuniary damage: EUR 7,500 to the applicant company and EUR 9,800 to each of the individual

applicants

costs and expenses: EUR 5,585

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