Mihail, mort parce qu'on l'a cru gay...

Une action qui nous vient de Bulgarie. Le texte est (hélas) en Anglais, en tout cas pour le moment.

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In the early evening of 30 September 2008, Mihail Stoyanov, a 25-year-old medical student, left his home, telling his mother, Hristina, that he would be back shortly. Unfortunately, he never came home.

Hristina went out of town the following day; only discovering that Mihail had disappeared upon her return, five days later. After contacting Mihail’s friends and looking for him in hospitals, Hristina and her other son went to the police to report Mihail’s disappearance.

The police searched their home for drugs. They were then told that Mihail had been killed a week before in Borisova Garden, the largest park in Sofia.  

He was about to get his degree in medicine and was working as a part-time pharmacy assistant. Mihail was brutally killed; he was beaten until his windpipe was broken and he died of suffocation. His body was found covered from head to toe in bruises.

Mihail was attacked and died because his killers thought he was gay. Almost four years later, those responsible for Mihail’s murder have yet to be brought to justice.

In 2010 two suspects were arrested. They were initially held in custody and later under house arrest until April 2012 when they were both released on bail. One suspect pleaded guilty during the investigation. Three witnesses acknowledged they were in Borisova Garden that night and that they watched the two suspects killing Mihail. They were all part of a group who claimed to be cleansing the park of gays and who attacked other men only because of their (perceived) sexual orientation.

Amnesty International and The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee are concerned regarding the delays in the investigation into this case. In general, Bulgaria systematically fails to adequately investigate and prosecute homophobic and transphobic hate crimes.  Gaps in anti-hate crime legislation, lack of guidance for the police on how to tackle these crimes and a deficiency of any support mechanism, means victims are reluctant to report these forms of crimes.

Please send an appeal to Prosecutor Dragomir Yanchev.