site.btaWould-Be Mosque Arsonist Gets One Year in Prison

NW 13:49:32 27-04-2015
SN1349NW.116
116 JUSTICE - MOSQUE - ATTEMPTED ARSON - SENTENCE

Would-Be Mosque Arsonist
Gets One Year
in Prison


Plovdiv, Southern Bulgaria, April 27 (BTA) - A man who attempted
to set fire to Djoumaya Mosque in Plovdiv on January 5 was
sentenced on Monday to one year's imprisonment, with an initial
period to be served under maximum security conditions. The
defendant, Viktor Alexandrov, pleaded guilty before the Plovdiv
District Court and the judges gave him a sentence which is
lighter than the minimum prescribed by the law.

On the day of the offence Alexandrov was drinking liquor in a
public garden next to the mosque. As he watched the mosque, he
decided that he should torch it because he felt that this kind
of building does not belong in the centre of Plovdiv, prosecutor
Albena Georgieva said during the court hearing.

The man had two previous sentences, one for hooliganism and the
other for bodily harm. Now, he was found guilty of attempting to
set fire to Djoumaya Mosque, which is owned by the Plovdiv
Muslim Board, but the act was found to have remained incomplete
for reasons beyond his control.

Alexandrov's lawyer claimed that his client was not really aware
of what he was doing. "I am glad I failed to set the mosque
ablaze, I do not remember much of what happened," Alexandrov
told the court.

The sentence is appealable before the Plovdiv Appellate Court
within 15 days. PK/VE


/СН/