Volen Siderov, leader of the fascist party Ataka, addresses supporters in PazardzhikHundreds of nationalists rallied in a southern Bulgarian town on Monday in support of the prosecution of 13 religious leaders accused of spreading radical Islam in a case causing communal strains in the Balkan country.

The trial, just months after a suicide bomber killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian driver at the Black Sea port of Burgas, has tested a delicate ethnic balance between the country's minority Muslims and its Orthodox Christian majority.

Prosecutors in the southern town of Pazardzhik have charged 12 Bulgarian citizens, most of them Muslim prayer leaders, and one woman for preaching radical Islam between 2008 and 2010. Three of them are also charged with inciting religious hatred.

Protesters, led by far-right parties Attack and VMRO, waved banners reading "Our religion is Bulgaria" and "Tough sentences for fanatics", and said the march aimed to counter gatherings of Muslims in front of the courthouse in support of the accused.

The suspects, who deny any wrongdoing, face up to five years in prison if convicted. They are accused of working with an unregistered branch of Al Waqf-Al Islami, an Islamic foundation set up in the Netherlands and funded mainly by "Salafi circles" from Saudi Arabia, the court said, referring to an ultra-conservative brand of Islam.

About 100 Muslims also rallied near the court under heavy police protection in support of the accused, saying the 13 had preached only traditional Islam. Bulgaria's Mufti Office has also declared its support for the accused.

The trial has the potential to threaten a culture of tolerance in Bulgaria, where Muslims make up about 12 percent of the 7.3 million population, analysts said.

Bulgaria is the only European Union (EU) country where Muslims are not recent immigrants but a centuries-old local community, mostly ethnic Turkish descendants of Ottoman rule that ended in 1878.

"Trials like this could dramatically raise tension in the places where Bulgarian Muslims live," said Antonina Zhelyazkova, head of the Sofia-based International Center for Minority Studies.

The trial has revived memories of the 1980s when hundreds of Muslims were forced to change their names to Bulgarian ones and over 300,000 left the country as a result of a campaign by late communist dictator Todor Zhivkov to revive mainstream Bulgarian culture.

Nationalist parties are also trying to use the trial to gain popularity before a general election next year, analysts said.

Reuters, 29 October 2012

See also "Divided Bulgarian xenophobes stage anti-Muslim protests", Novinite, 29 October 2012

Update:  See "Bulgarian Imams' trial resumes", Press TV, 29 October 2012

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Sorry guys, I haven’t been around much, I had food poisoning and I couldn’t move around, I had to lay down the whole day, so I am back just in time for the Trial of the Century, the Trial of the former president, Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.

It seems like Egypt only has sad news to give us, after last post that was concerned with the election results, I bring you yet another sad piece of news. Today, was the day that the court was going to rule in the biggest case, the Trial of the century. The Mohamed Hosni Mubarak trial, he was being charged alongside his two children, Gamal Mubarak and Alaa Mubarak, his minister of Interior Al Adly and the chief of the Nation’s Security alongside other big names in the old regime. They were charged with counts of murder towards the rebels and the protestors that died starting from the 25th of January, since the outbreak of the revolution.

Everyone who has been watching this trial closely noticed that it is a big charade, all evidence was not present, either intentionally hidden or manipulated with, all the witnesses were paid off or threatened. It was a total mess. It was a play in front of the public eyes. Also if you watched today ruling, it was obvious that the defendants already knew the ruling before the judge said it, at the moment of the ruling they were busy talking with each other like they had no care in the world. In reality, if they didn’t know the ruling, they should be so anxious and worried. The judge gave the ex president and his minister of interior 25 years in jail, as for the rest of the gang, “INNOCENCE”.

One can say at least they got 25 years in prison, which is a good thing. It would be, but the fact is that they are not in jail, they are having the time of their life and everyone knows that they are being pampered and spoiled at prison, Jacuzzis, swimming pools and high end food. It is just as if they re-located their home into jail. I really feel bad for all the parents, friends and relatives for all of the people who died and got killed and their killers are either free or being pampered in prison.

After the ruling, it was obvious that no one wanted any ruling less than execution of these murderers. People already started to invite their friends and relatives on Facebook and social networks to go back to the square “Midan El Tahrir” so they can protest the outcome of this charade. And to demand a fair and a just trial for the people who killed and humiliated the Egyptian people.

The next blog, I will talk more in details about the 2nd round of the Egyptian presidential elections between Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq.

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The international network of counter-jihadist groups that inspired Anders Behring Breivik is growing in reach and influence, according to a report released on the eve of the Norwegian's trial.

Far-right organisations are becoming more cohesive as they forge alliances throughout Europe and the US, says the study, with 190 groups now identified as promoting an Islamophobic agenda.

The report, by anti-racism group Hope Not Hate, states that since the 33-year-old's killing spree, the counter-jihad movement – a network of foundations, bloggers, political activists and street gangs – has continued to proliferate.

Campaigners cite the formation three months ago of the Stop Islamization of Nations (Sion) group, designed to promote an umbrella network of counter-jihad groups across Europe and the US, as evidence of a global evolution.

An inaugural Sion summit is planned in New York this year to coincide with the anniversary of 9/11. Speakers are set to include Paul Weston, chairman of the anti-Islamic British Freedom Party (BFP), which recently announced a pact with the English Defence League. In the manifesto that Breivik published online 90 minutes before his attacks, he cited blog postings by Weston which discussed a "European civil war" between the west and Islam.

Researchers at Hope Not Hate name the UK as one of Europe's most active countries in terms of counter-jihad extremism, with 22 anti-Islamic groups currently operating.

In Europe as a whole, 133 organisations were named in the report, including seven in Norway, and another 47 in the US, where a network of neo-conservative, evangelical and conservative organisations attempts to spread "negative perceptions of Islam, Muslim minorities and Islamic culture".

Nick Lowles, director of Hope Not Hate said: "Breivik acted alone but it was the 'counter-Jihadist' ideology that inspired him and gave him the reasoning to carry out these atrocious attacks. All eyes this week will be on what Breivik did last July, but we ignore those people who inspired him at our peril."

Observer, 15 April 2012

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