site.btaSeven Charged with Preaching Islamic State Ideology

Seven Charged with Preaching
Islamic State Ideology

Sofia, November 26 (BTA) - Six men and one woman have been
charged with preaching the anti-democratic ideology of the
Islamic State (IS), Deputy Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov
told a news conference here Wednesday. They are believed to have
operated as an organized criminal group led by Ahmed Moussa.
They are also charged with war propaganda.

The news conference was held a day after police, the State
Agency for National Security (SANS) and the prosecution
magistracy mounted an operation at the Roma neighbourhood of
Pazardjik, as well as in Plovdiv, Smolyan, Assenovgrad and
Haskovo cracking down on persons suspected of disseminating an
anti-democratic ideology and propagandizing war. 26 persons were
initially arrested.

The prosecution authorities have found that the group was
operational from June to November 2014. Its members are
identified as Angel Simov, Stefan Alexandrov, Svetoslav Manchev,
Edjan Ismail, Stefan Dimitrov and Alexandrina Angelova. All of
them are Bulgarian citizens of Roma origin. According to
investigators, their activity was aimed to disseminate
anti-democratic ideology and popularize the ideas of the Islamic
State terrorist organization.

According to the second charge, during the same period they
engaged in war propaganda, including on Internet where they
published photos, videos and collages with the logo of the
Islamic State. Among them was a world map with the logo of the
Islamic State and a caption reading: "Bulgaria will be the first
Balkan country to fly the great black flag," Sarafov explained.

Ahmed Moussa also held sermons on the Internet using the flag of
the Islamic State as a backdrop.

The investigation found that the detainees have received jihadis
transiting Bulgaria en route between Syria and Western Europe.


Some 30 witenesses were questioned during the operation.

SANS Chairman Vladimir Pisanchev commented Wednesday that this
was not an IS sleeper cell but it " could well have been one".

SANS had the detainees under surveillance for more than 18
months and decided to act at the moment they noticed activity
for recruitment of IS fighters and calls for jihad.

According to Pissanchev, such operations are not uncommon in
Europe and have been held in Austria, France, Germany and the
UK. These countries have special legislation incriminating
fighting on the side of terrorist groups and the recruitment of
volunteers. "We will have to rethink our legislation in this
area," the SANS leader said.

He denied reports about Bulgarians fighting for the Islamic
State.

He also said that no financing by the Islamic State for the
detainees in the Tuesday operation has been intercepted. The
investigators, however, found that the criminal group raised
money which went to Ahmed Moussa but it remains to be
established how he used it.

On Thursday, Parliament will held a closed-door hearing of the
SANS Chairman.

Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov said the operation had been
planned for December but was held early because of an
information leak in which a search warrant was made public.

The Prosecutor General was adamant that this is not an
investigation aimed against an ethnic or religious group and
said it does not aim to hurt the religious feelings of Bulgarian
citizens.
He said that the Tuesday operation involved over 40 prosecutors
and investigators from Plovdiv and Pazardjik, more than 70 SANS
agents and 300 police officers. Police had the task to ensure
the safety of the investigating teams and prevent possible
attempts at provoking public disorder.

Moussa was among the defendants in what the media dubbed a
"radical Islam trial", which ended in Pazardjik on March 19,
2014 after 18 months of court proceedings. In the case, 13
persons, including one woman, were charged with disseminating an
anti-democratic ideology and participating in an unregistered
branch of the Islamist organization Al-Waqf Al-Islami. The
organization was active in the southern Bulgarian regions of
Pazardjik, Blagoevgrad and Smolyan and preached the Salafi
strain of Islam, considered to be antidemocratic.

The Chief Mufti Office said Wednesday that none of the persons
detained and charged after the November 25 police operation, is
their employee. The Chief Mufti Office recalls that it has
condemned the Islamic State in a special declaration and has
called upon Bulgarian Muslims to reject appeals for jihad and
the establishment of a caliphate. The Mufti Office further urged
the law-enforcement authorities to make sure they don't
instill, while executing their duties, fear and guilt in
innocent people.

Darik Radio quoted the Mufti Office as saying that the Ebu Bekir
mosque is built on private property so the Mufti Office has no
jurisdiction on it, the Mufti office told national Darik radio.

MP Hussein Hafuzov (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) commented
for reporters Wednesday that the operation in five cities was
unfounded and he felt it was a political move made in support of
the propaganda of "a certain political formation". He expressed
fears that the operation will traumatize society as a whole and
religious Muslim circles in particular.

According to Hafuzov, Mussa and the group around him are deeply
religious, abiding by Muslim canon citizens, whose sole aim is
faith and purely religious conduct and the development of the
Muslim community in Bulgaria. The MP is not aware of any
information that this is a para-military group which calls for
and applies violence. BR/PK/LN/

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