Defamation. Defense in a private criminal case

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The crime of “defamation” is one of the most common offenses, and in today’s world it is often committed in the electronic environment by sending a text message on social media personally to the defamed person or by making public statements that constitute defamation.

What is “defamation“?

This crime will be present, when someone discloses a disgraceful circumstance about another person or a11> him attributes a crime.
IMPORTANT! The attribution of a crime in the context of defamation must be distinguished from filing a false report with the police or the prosecutor’s office against someone with the allegation that they have committed a crime. In the latter case, there will be no defamation, but rather false accusation, which is a crime of a general nature and is prosecuted by the prosecutor’s office.
The term “disgraceful circumstance” is extremely broadly defined. This circumstance finds its practical and legal logic in the fact that the Penal Code cannot exhaustively list all specific scenarios in which the crime of “defamation” would be present. Therefore, the meaning of this concept is derived from its general meaning, which refers to all circumstances that are considered shameful according to generally accepted morals.
For example, defamation will be present when one person calls another a “drug addict,” “prostitute,” “beggar,” etc.
The crime is of a private nature and as such is prosecuted upon complaint by the victim directly to the relevant local court. The deadline for filing a complaint is six months from the date of the crime.

Penalties and protection

Penalties for defamation, although not involving imprisonment, are relatively severe. In a typical case of this crime, the penalty is a fine of between three thousand and seven thousand leva and public censure.

Important! The punishment “public reprimand” usually takes the form of reading out the sentence at the place of work, and if the convicted person does not work, the sentence shall be read out or disseminated within the framework of the community in which the convicted person resides.

The penalties are significantly more severe when the defamation is disseminated publicly, through print media or by other means (e.g., in an electronic environment through a message on a social network or by posting on a social network wall), as well as when it has serious consequences (e.g., the defamed person has taken their own life). The punishment is more severe when a public official or representative of the public is slandered in the course of or in connection with the performance of their duties or functions, or when such a person is the perpetrator of the slander.

In this case, the punishment is a fine of five thousand to fifteen thousand leva and public censure.

IMPORTANT! There are two main defenses against a charge of spreading defamatory information constituting slander:
1. proof by the defendant that the defamatory information spread is true;
2. justifying the fact that, even if a defamatory circumstance that is not true has indeed been deliberately disseminated, the crime has not caused any harmful consequences or, if it has, they are insignificant.

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You can find more interesting topics related to the rights and obligations of defendants and victims of crimes in the section “Criminal Law“.

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