Four of the five Kosovo men detained in Bulgaria last week and suspected of having links to radical Islamist groups have been issued suspended sentences for illegally crossing the border from Macedonia and were barred from entering Bulgaria, BNR radio broadcaster reported on Thursday.

The Regional Court in Kyustendil, in southwestern Bulgaria, issued suspended sentences of one-year imprisonment for each of the four young men who were detained at Gyueshevo checkpoint at the border with Macedonia last week because they carried no valid documents.

They were charged with attempting to illegally cross Bulgaria’s border after the police investigation found no evidence of suspected links of the four to jihadist or radical Islamist groups, according to BNR

The four men will be sent back to Kosovo later on Thursday.

A fifth man from Kosovo, who tried to bribe Bulgarian border police to let the four young men in, remains in police custody. He faces up to five years imprisonment if convicted on charges of offering a bribe to a police officer.

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