The former Bulgarian Chief Mufti Nedim Gendzhev and a group of imams cursed Stefan Grozdev, one of the two candidates for the position of head of the Sofia Appellate Court, reports the bTV national channel.

At a ceremony, held in the street in front of the Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) in Sofia, the imams read a special prayer cursing Grozdev and dooming him and his offspring to ill fate.

Gendzhev told the media that as a judge Grozdev registered Mustafa Alish Hadzhi as Bulgaria's Chief Mufti three years ago, thus injuring the Muslim Faith in Bulgaria.

“We protest the eventual election of Stefan Grozdev for head of the Sofia Appellate Court because we think he does not deserve such a high position,” Gendzhev said after the ceremony. “He used fake documents to register Mustafa Alish Hadzhi as Chief Mufti. We referred the matter to the prosecution and this is why we don't want him to be elected.”

According to the News.bg website, Gendzhev said he used this curse three times in 25 years. “I pray to Allah to punish all those who vote in favour of Stefan Grozdev,” Gendzhev told the media.

The former chief mufti claimed that he had once cursed a chief prosecutor who was now “mentally unstable” and a judge from the Sofia City Court who died. A third person, cursed by Gendzhev, also had died.

Meanwhile, Dnevnik.bg reports that the SJC failed to elect a head of the appellate court.

Grozdev got 11 votes in favour, six against and five abstentions. The other candidate, Veselin Pengezov, who until recently held the position, got one vote in favour, 16 against and five abstentions.

In order to be elected, either candidate must have at least 13 votes of SJC members.