Dokument #1084638
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
In a 4 February 1998 telephone interview,
the chair of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee in Sofia provided the
following information, which represents the Committee's viewpoint.
The chair has not heard any reports since January 1997 indicating
that members of UMO-Ilinden have been charged with, or convicted
of, political crimes. However, the chair would not discount the
possibility that such events had occurred. A UMO-Ilinden member in
the city of Petrich was charged in 1997 with planning to commit
violence against a public official. The chair stated that the
government may have viewed the alleged planning as a political act,
although the UMO-Ilinden member was not charged under the
provisions of the criminal code pertaining to political crimes,
i.e., crimes against public order and the state.
Additional or corroborating information on
whether members of UMO-Ilinden have been charged with, or convicted
of, political crimes since January 1997 could not be found among
the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is
not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any
particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the
list of additional sources consulted in researching this
Information Request.
Reference
Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, Sofia. 4
February 1998. Telephone interview with the chair.
Additional Sources Consulted
CSCE Digest [Washington].
Electronic sources: IRB databases,
LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, REFWORLD (UNHCR database), World News
Connection (WNC).
Minority Rights Group International
Report [London]. Irregular.
Nationalities Papers [Abingdon,
Oxfordshire, UK]. Quarterly.
News from Helsinki Watch [New
York]. Monthly.
Resource centre country file on
Bulgaria.
Transition [Prague]. Twice
monthly.
Uncaptive Minds [Washington].
Quarterly.