After an intensive debate at the Bulgarian National Assembly, the law against radical Islam has successfully passed. The law bans burkas and gives and exact definition of what radical Islam is, officially acknowledging it as a crime.
The United Patriots party in Bulgaria passed the proposal for an anti-radical Islam law for the second time. Initially, the approval of the law failed due to the end of the previous National Assembly’s mandate. The second passing of the law proved successful and filled some of the gaps in Bulgarian law which previously allowed imams preaching radical Islam to evade jail, due to the lack of an exact definition of “radical Islam” in Bulgarian law.
Those who force women into wearing a burka will also be persecuted by the law. According to its texts, those who trough force or promise of benefit, based on gender, make a person wear clothing which partially or fully covers their face, will face a financial fine of 5,000 – 10,000 BGN (€2,500 - €5,000) and if the crime involves more than one victim, the perpetrator may face 2-6 year of jail time. Those who make children wear such clothing will face a fine of 10,000 – 20,000 BGN (€5,000 - €10,000) and a sentence of 3 – 6 years.