site.btaCouncil of Muslim Spiritual Leaders Says Some Legislative Revisions Restrict Muslim Rights

Council of Muslim Spiritual Leaders Says Some Legislative Revisions Restrict Muslim Rights

Sofia, July 28 (BTA) - The members of the Muslim Council of Spiritual Leaders expressed on Thursday their concern in relation to the bill providing for limiting and forbidding Muslim clothing, as well as in respect to the draft revisions to the Religious Denominations Act and the Criminal Code.

A large portion of the motions for change are an attempt to limit rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution and the international legal standards of human rights, the Grand Mufti Office said in a press release in the wake of a meeting of the council held on July 26.

The Muslim Council of Spiritual Leaders is one of the supreme bodies of the Muslim denomination which includes all chief muftis and chairmen of the Supreme Muslim Council. The council discussed the bills which "aim to restrict the right of religious denomination guaranteed by the Constitution and international law."

The press release notes that, in view of the new realities, certain measures should be undertaken in Bulgaria too, without ignoring or exaggerating what is happening. "For this to have an effect, however, it should be done in a balanced and expert manner, boosting the factors that could serve as a barrier before the threat to national security and radicalization, on the one hand, and restrictive measures - on the other. Conviction, and education should be at the fore, not banning or literally cutting off. Because banning and cutting do not destroy what is bad. They allow it to develop in another environment and in another manner, and that even better," the press release said.