Ahmed Musa Ahmed

The Plovdiv Appeal Court  upheld the ruling of the District Court in Pazardzhik on August 2, which left Ahmed Musa Ahmed's request for replacement of his "detention" measure with the lighter one, FOCUS News reported.

The Pazardzhik District Court has released from the arrest Ahmed Musa Ahmed on bail of BGN 5,000, reported BNR.

Ahmed and 13 of his supporters have been indicted on charges of spreading the ideas of the terrorist organisation Islamic State and calling for war.

All witnesses in the case against Ahmed Musa Ahmed and his 13 supporters who were questioned on Thursday by the Pazardzhik District Court have withdrawn their statements, reported BNR.

The witnesses were mostly from the Iztok Roma neighbourhood. All of them stated that, during their initial statements, they were confused or misunderstood.

No burqas should be worn in public in Bulgaria, Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov has said.

Tsatsarov has commented in relation to an ongoing trial against 14 people accused in spreading anti-democratic ideology and war propaganda.

 The court case against 14 defendants charged with spreading the ideas of the Islamic State (IS) group and inciting jihad is to be launched on Thursday in Pazardzhik.

All the defendants are from Southern Bulgarian towns and cities and were apprehended in the Roma neighborhoods of Plovdiv, Pazardzhik, Smolyan, and Asenovgrad in specialized operations.

The Plovdiv Appellate Court has increased the sentence of Ahmed Musa Ahmed, imam in Pazardzhik, over preaching an anti-democratic ideology, incitement of hatred and participation in an unregistered organization, from one to two years of imprisonment.

Ahmed Musa Ahmed, an imam accused of preaching radical Islam in the Bulgarian town of Pazardzhik, provided logistic support to two Bosnian Muslims who wanted to cross the Bulgaria-Turkey border, officials say.

A Bulgarian court of appeal on Tuesday granted a defence request to postpone hearings in the case of 13 Bulgarian Muslim clerics sentenced for preaching radical Islam.

The lawyers of the defendants have asked the Appeals Court in the city of Plovdiv, in southern Bulgaria, to allow new evidence, according to BGNES news outlet.

The Pazardzhik court ruled that the seven accused for propagation of anti-democratic ideology and and instigation of war must remain under arrest, awaiting trial.

The district court of Pazarzdhik is to decide on Friday whether Muslim spiritual leader Ahmed Musa Ahmed should remain in custody.

Ahmed Musa Ahmed was arrested after a special operation on Wednesday in Southern Bulgaria.

The operation resulted in the detention of seven people who were charged with membership of a criminal group preaching radical Islam and propagating war.