To

Mr. Rumen RAdev

President

of the Republic of BUlgaria

To

Mrs. tsveta karayancheva

president

of the national assembly

of the republic of bulgaria

to

mr. boyko borisov

prime minister

of the republic of bulgaria

to

mrs. tsetska tsacheva

minister of justice

of the republic of bulgaria

to

mr. sotir tsatsarov

prosecutor general

of the republic of bulgaria

to

heads

of the diplomatic missions

in the republic of bulgaria

to

mr. antonio tajani

president of the european parliament

To

Mr. Donald tusk

president

of the European council

to

Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker

president

of the european commission

to

mr. Angelino Alfano

chairperson

of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

to

mr. Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen

chairperson

of the organization of islamic cooperation

open letter

of the supreme muslim council

with regard to the islamopobic and anti-muslim statement of prosecutor nedyalka popova

 adopetd with Decision 844 on April 3, 2018

The Supreme Muslim Council of the Muslim Denomination in the Republic of Bulgaria strongly condemns the statement of Prosecutor Nedyalka Popova, supervising prosecutor of the case for professing antidemocratic ideology, or theso called case against the 13 imams. We consider this statement of Prosecutor Popova as a hatred crime against all Muslims in the Republic of Bulgaria and our Muslims compatriots, living abroad. This statement categorically is not fitting conduct for a prosecutor of a democratic state, which nowadays chairs the Council of the European Union.

Moreover, we would like to recall, that during the beginning of the process against the imams we declared clear and forceful support to the defendant imams, recognizing that in one European country a prosecuting of its citizens for religious beliefs and practices is inadmissible, and in the Republic of Bulgaria the right of faith in all of its components is Constitutionally regulated. The statement of the guardian of the statehood shows that our declarations in defense of the defendantsat the beginning of the legal proceedings have been adequate, timely, appropriate, and even necessary.

The statement of Prosecutor Popova does not need interpretation – her obvious understanding, that any Muslim, who wants to live and to have children and grandchildren in Bulgaria, will contribute to the increase of the percentage of the Bulgarian citizens of a Muslim origin, due to which every new-born child of a Muslim is a threat for the national security.

In this speech can be seen many crimes under the Criminal Code and the Law on Protection Against Discrimination such as professing and incitement to hatred against Muslims and Turks, religious and ethnic discrimination, xenophobia, Islamophobia, hatred speech, etc. This even is an incitement to actions towards the limitation of the number of the Muslim population.

This statement of Prosecutor Popova is a suggestion of a non-existent threat – that the Muslim community in Bulgaria is a threat to the national security of the country; as well as that its representatives must not occupy senior administrative and political positions, that the Bulgarian citizens professing Islam, living outside Bulgaria, are not welcome in their homeland.

In this case we, as an institution representing the Muslim community in Bulgaria, would like to ask the administration of the National Assembly, the President, the Council of Ministers, judiciary and the prosecutor’s office:

Is the statement of Prosecutor Nedyalka Popova in accordance with the state’s policy towards the Muslims in Bulgaria, i.e. is this a state’s policy, or it is a personal opinion of the prosecutor?

The Muslim community remembers the deprival of fundamental human rights and these statements of a senior official and a defender of the law make us with a great concern to ask the question whether those times are not coming back again?!

We, as Muslims, will never reconcile these Islamophobic and anti-Muslim statements. We will use all democratic legal means to defend human rights, and we also will approach to the competent European institutions and organizations. We will not let to blame us for being Muslims. We, the Muslims in Bulgaria, have always been and will be loyal citizens of our homeland and we have the full Constitutional right to occupy any positions, if we have the relevant qualities, education and expertise.

We call upon and insist the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria and the responsible institutions to take up the case and to begin an investigation for a hatred crime against the Muslims according to the relevant articles of the Criminal Code.