2 Bulgarians Found Guilty of Forgery, Cleared of Terrorism Charges in Prague

A court in the Czech Republic has declared a group of foreign nationals, including two Bulgarians, guilty of document fraud.

The Prague-based court, however, dismissed the charge that the group of seven had assisted Islamist organization Jamaat Shariat in a terror attack.

The sentences of 3-5 years of imprisonment have not yet taken effect.

The trial is the first one in the Czech Republic in which the police use provisions of the law on fight against terrorism.

Three of the defendants appealed immediately, while the other four and the prosecuting authority may do this at a later stage.

The court declared some of the defendants guilty of criminal conspiracy, while others were convicted of participating in an organized crime ring operating on the territory of several countries.

According to the indictment, the crime group consists of four citizens of Dagestan, two Bulgarians, and one Moldovan.

The men produced and distributed forged documents for citizens of Dagestan in the period 2008 – 2010.

They stayed in Germany and were connected with terrorists, according to the prosecuting authority.

Four of the seven people in the crime group were aware that the documents were used by terrorists.

Some of the defendants pleaded guilty to forgery but the group rejected accusations of supporting terrorists.

The Prague-based court sentenced two of the defendants to five years of imprisonment, three will spend four years in jail, and two will serve 3-year terms, while one was banned from entering the Czech Republic for a period of ten years.