Muslim expelled from the country for "llegal religious activity"

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Subject: Muslim expelled from the country for "llegal religious activity"

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Original sender: Emil Cohen <[email protected]>

Bulgaria: Muslim expelled from the country for "llegal
religious activity"


Tolerance Foundation*
 
Press release
 
Bulgaria: Muslim expelled from the country for "illegal religious
activity"
 
Sofia, August 09, 2000
 
In the late evening of Sunday, August 06, Mr. Ahmad Musa, a Jordanian
national, head of the Bulgarian branch of the Kuwaiti Social Reform
Foundation, was expelled from the country. About 200 Muslims turned up
at Sofia airport to express their pro-test against the extradition.
Sofia Regional Mufti, Mr. Ali Hairedin, was among them.

In an official letter to Mr. Musa, dated June 06, 2000, the Minister
of the Interior Mr. Emmanuil Yordanov explained the reasons for the
extradition thus: "The competent authorities of the Ministry of the
Interior have found out that you have engaged in unregulated religious
activity thereby violating the national interests, the rights of the
religious, ethnic and minority groups, as well as the preservation of
the national spirit values and traditions." In an interview given for
the Free Europe Radio last Sunday, the chief of the Department for the
Control on the Passport Regime at the Sofia Directorate of Interior
Colonel Zahariev stated that Mr. Musa had been expelled because he has
assisted the activities of the Muslim sects in the country. He did not
present any evidence in support of these allegations.

Mr. Musa has lived in the country for 16 years. He is married to a
Bulgarian national. The family has three young children, who were born
in Bulgaria and hold Bulgarian citizenship. Clearly, the extradition
of Mr. Musa violates his right to family life, guaranteed by Article 8
of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The order for expelling Mr. Musa was issued on May 17. Ever since then
many institutions have expressed their support for Mr. Musa. Among
them were some embassies of Arabic states and in the first place the
Embassy of the State of Kuwait. On June 07, 2000, the Chief Mufti�s
Office of the Muslims in Bulgaria issued an official statement in
which they said that Mr. Musa had not conducted any religious
activity.  Moreover, they made a special videocassette about the
activities of Mr. Musa�s foun-dation, which was sent to the diplomatic
missions of the leading Western states in Bulgaria. Several days later
it became clear that the Social Reform Foundation had spent
approximately one and a half million dollars on charity in Bulgaria.
 
Again in June it became known that both the Parliament of the State of
Kuwait, and the Kuwaiti media expressed their concern about Mr. Musa�s
case.

In the case of Mr. Ahmad Musa, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry has
used Article 47 of new Law for Foreigners in Bulgaria, which provides
that extradition orders motivated by considerations of "presenting a
threat to state security" cannot be appealed before the court. It is
clear that this article presents a gross violation of Article 6 of the
European Convention on Human Rights. Mr. Musa was arrested on Friday
and expelled in the late evening of Sunday. Throughout this period, he
was not allowed to see his lawyer.

The extradition of Mr. Ahmad Musa is not an isolated case. One year
ago the same motives were used to expel Mr. Daruish Al Nashif, a
person without citizenship. Mr. Al Nashif was also Muslim and married
to a Bulgarian national. He has two small children who have Bulgarian
citizenship from birth. Last September, Mr. Al Nashif brought a
lawsuit against Bulgaria before the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg. On December 16, 1999, the Court declared his application
admissible.

On January 08, 2000 six Muslim clerics were expelled from the country.
The official reason for this action was that they had preached without
a special permission by the Religious Affairs Directorate. But
according to the acting Denominations Act, they do not need a special
permission in order to preach in Bulgaria.

The above cases raise concern because the Bulgarian authorities
continue to use 'unregulated religious activity' as an excuse for
repressions against citizens. As a rule the authorities do not say
what they have in mind under the expression 'unregulated religious
activity'.

August 08, 2000 witnessed a new development. In a radio interview,
General Atanas Atanassov, Director of the National Security Service
(former State Security), surprisingly stated that Mr. Musa had been
expelled in connection with the preparation of terrorist acts by
Islamic fundamentalists. General Atanassov did not present any
evidence in support of his statements. According to him, Mr. Musa had
organised meetings and conferences, which were a cover for his real
activities � the propaganda of fundamentalist Islamic ideas and the
preparation of young people for terrorist acts. General Atanassov
again did not supply any evidences in support of his allegations.

As it was said above, in an official statement the Chief Mufti's
stated that Mr. Musa had not carried out any religious activities.
Moreover, in late afternoon of Wednesday the Chief Mufti Mustafa Alish
Hadja made a statement in that he wanted General Atanassov to present
to the public evidences for him allegations against Mr. Musa.

It is believed that the real reason for the expelling of Mr. Musa is
the desire of the Bulgarian authorities to keep the control over the
financial resources of the Muslim religion in Bulgaria. According to
Mr. Musa, the foundation had supported the activities of the Chief
Mufti's Office. Thus, the Chief Mufti's Office could obtain some
financial independence from the state. Many believe that the state
considers the control over the money of the Muslim religion as
extremely important. On the other hand, experts have revealed that
there are two wings within the Muslim clergy in the country. One of
them is lead by the former Chief Mufti, Mr. Nedim Gendjev, who is
believed by many to have been a collaborator of the former Communist
State Security. Now Mr. Gendjev and his supporters accuse Mr. Musa and
the Chief Mufti's Office of collaborating with Islamic
fundamentalists. Moreover, for many human rights activists it is not
difficult to see that in this case the state openly supports one of
the wings in the Islamic movement in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, in this
case, like many others, the price of this state support is the broken
family life of Mr. Musa, his wife and their young children.

Tolerance Foundation and Bulgarian Helsinki Committee has given and
will continue to give all possible support to Mr. Musa and his family.
In the coming days, Mr. Musa will submit an application before the
European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
 
On behalf of Tolerance Foundation:
 
Emil Cohen, Prezident
 

*TOLERANCE FOUNDATION is human rights group, monitoring the freedom of
conscience and the religious freedom practices in Bulgaria, providing
legal assistance to victims of discrimination based on religion, as
well as propagating the idea for tolerance towards religious and other
convictions.
 
The group was founded in 1994. President of the Tolerance Foundation
is Mr. Emil Cohen.
 
Address: 1000 Sofia, 163A "Rakovsky" St., 
phone/fax: (+359 2) 981 23 57;
Phone: (+359 2) 988 31 36
E-mail: [email protected]
 
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