Bulgaria Prosecutors Office Blocks Building of New Mosque in Sofia

The only mosque in Sofia is located in the downtown nearby a synagogue and an Orthodox cathedral. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Prosecutor's Office has issued a resolution blocking the construction of a second mosque and a Muslim center in Sofia.

The news was reported by the BGNES news agency, which claims to have a copy of the resolution.

Bulgaria's Head Mufti's Office was planning to build a second mosque and a Muslim center in the Malinova Dolina ("Raspberry Valley") Quarter in Sofia. The Mufti's Office has even bought the land there for USD 500 000, and has said the fund had been provided by the international organization Islamic Conference.

According to the Head Mufti Mustafa Hadzhi, the project would serve the needs of the Islamic Institute of Higher Education. The Muslim center was supposed to have an administrative building, an educational center, a dormitory, a mosque, a sports center, a library, and a supermarket. The Institute cannot get a university accreditation unless it has a building.

The Prosecutor's Office resolution states that the permit for the construction of a religious temple on the respective plot could be issued only with a special alteration of the existing urban planning drafts regarding the purpose of the buildings.

According to the resolution, no requests for such legally required changes have been tabled to the Sofia Municipality authorities.

The resolution was issued over the warning of the Chair of the "Law, Order, Justice" Party, MP Yane Yanev, who has alerted Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor, Boris Velchev, over radical Islam activities.

During a meeting, which took place on November 25, 2008, Yanev told Velchev that the first USD 500 000 for the construction of the new mosque and Muslim center had been transferred to the Mufti's Office by Islamic fundamentalist groups.

 

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