site.btaInterior Minister Buchvarova Confirms Arrest of French Citizen for Contacts with Jihadists

Interior Minister Buchvarova Confirms Arrest of French Citizen for Contacts with Jihadists

Sofia, September 29 (BTA) - Interior Minister Roumyana Buchvarova Thursday confirmed reports that a French citizen has been arrested on suspicions of contacts with jihadists. She said the arrest was "an act of most professional work and cooperation with the French colleagues" and specified that he was arrested at Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint on the Bulgarian-Turkish border.

The news media reported Wednesday that a young Frenchman, placed under judicial control for supposed contacts with jihadists, was arrested in Bulgaria on his way to Turkey.

The 20-year-old man, who converted to Islam and became radicalized, was the reason for the closure of the law faculty in the northern French city of Ruen, around which he was seen with suspicious frequency, the French "Le Figaro" reported. He visited jihadist sites and was placed under judicial control.

The young man had to report at the local police prescient every day, but the previous night had fled from France with his personal car.

After he is returned to France, the prosecution will demand that he remains in arrest.

Roumyana Arnaoudova, a spokesperson for the Prosecutor General, said that the Frenchman crossed into Bulgaria in the early hours of September 28 via Kalotina (Bulgarian-Serbian border). The Bulgarian authorities warned their French counterparts about his entry as France had him on an observation list. Several hours later France requested his arrest and he was held at Kapitan Andreevo on the Bulgarian-Turkish border.

The Bulgarian prosecution authorities are waiting for France to send a Bulgarian version of the European Arrest Warrant and then the court will request his permanent custody.

The man has not given any statements and has been provided with a defence lawyer and a translator, added Arnaoudova.