What happened in Libya is just an ordinary crime, neither the first nor the last of its kind, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Elena Poptodorova said, commenting the incident with the Bulgarians in a village near the Libyan capital Tripoli, who were detained on charges of illegal production of alcohol.

The decision of the Libyan Prosecutor’s Office concerning the Bulgarians will be known on January 10.

What we want to know in particular is whether and when they will be released, Poptodorova said. The Bulgarians are now in the Judeyda prison.

In case court proceedins are initiated the Bulgarians can be sentenced to five years of imprisonment under the Libyan legislation. The Bulgarian Embassy has sent a letter to the Libyan authorities asking for the arrested Bulgarians to be released.

According to Elena Poptodorova the initial response is encouraging. She predicted the Bulgarians’ release could be a matter of days. Thousands of Bulgarians have been arrested abroad last year because of offences of local laws.

Three Bulgarians were detained in a village near Libya's capital Tripoli on January 8 for illegal production of alcohol, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry announced. After being interrogated, one of the Bulgarians was released. Two of the Bulgarians are still arrested though. According to an official statement of the Foreign Ministry, released the same day, this incident will not influence the trial against the Bulgarian medics, imprisoned in Libya on charges of infecting Libyan children with HIV.

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