DECLARATIOIN

adopted by the Supreme Muslim Council

at its meeting held on May 7, 2019 in Sofia

The Supreme Muslim Council, which is he central collective managing body of the Muslim Denomination, against the background of the positive efforts on behalf of the Bulgarian state with regard to the support of the activities of the institution which unites the entire Muslim community in our country, at its recent meeting discussed one disturbing for the Muslim community issue. Namely, that during the recent months, deliberate actions of the investigative authorities can be seen in connection with summoningof muftis, imams and heads of Muslim boards of trustees as witnesses in cases under investigation. Without denying the fact that the investigative and judicial authorities must perform properly their assigned tasks, and stating that all structures of the Muslim Denomination have always been supporting the observation of the law and the transparency in its activities, we express our concern about the practice of the investigating authorities to summon as witnesses a wide range of subsidiary interested officials of the Muslim Denomination based on accusatory complaints and signals similar to those that have been repeatedly submitted and as a result of the investigating actions remained unsuccessful.

The problem is not in summoning itself, but in the way of summoning and the entire approach for summoning, which awakens trauma form the past, as well as discredits to certain extent the summoned and generates distrust to the structures of the Muslim Denomination, which the summoned represent.

That is why the Supreme Muslim Council expresses its concern about its representatives in the regions and the settlements and disagrees with the approach of the investigating authorities who are obliged to inspire trust rather than fear in the society. In this regard we call upon the relevant institutions for more sensible, wiser and well-intended actions, in accordance with the sensitivity of the topic.