Terrorism Trial against 3 Syrians Caught in Bulgaria Postponed

Crime | August 2, 2016, Tuesday // 13:23
Bulgaria: Terrorism Trial against 3 Syrians Caught in Bulgaria Postponed File photo, BGNES

The Specialized Criminal Court of Bulgaria has failed to launch a trial against three Syrian nationals charged with an attempt to cross the border illegally and intention to join a terrorist organization in their homeland.

The three men, who had been granted refugee status in Germany, allegedly wanted to join the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria at the time they were detained while trying to cross into Turkey from Bulgaria.

The court was to sit on the charges on Tuesday.

However, the defendants claimed the indictment had not been handed to them until Monday. Under the law, a seven-day period is required between the moment a defendant receives the indictment and is brought before court.

Another reason to postpone the trial was that neither the entire evidence material nor the whole indictment were translated into Arabic as of August 02 and this prevented the defendants from making themselves familiar with them, Darik Radio quotes magistrates as saying.

The new date is September 19. In the event of another postponement, October 18 was pointed as an alternative date.

Much of the evidence is based on images and text found on the mobile phones of the Syrians allegedly showing their affiliation to IS.

However, the defense maintains the photos are of parents and relatives the three men have in Syria, where it is "normal" for some people to be wearing "rebel clothes" where a war is being fought.

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Tags: Specialized Criminal Court, Syrians, terrorism, charges, Islamic state, IS

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