Bulgarian police
detained more than 120 people on Friday after hundreds of nationalists
and soccer fans attacked a mosque in the country's second city Plovdiv,
smashing its windows with stones.
Over 2,000 people had gathered
outside a Plovdiv court as it heard an appeal case dealing with the
return of an ancient mosque in the central city of Karlovo, taken over
by the state more than 100 years ago, to Bulgaria's Chief Mufti, the
Muslim religious authority.
The
rally then marched through the city and some protesters, chanting racist
slogans, approached a Plovdiv mosque cordoned off by police, police
said in a statement.
"Firecrackers, torches and stones were thrown at the mosque. One policeman was injured. Some 120 people were detained," it said.
Sofia prosecutors said they had charged eight people with hooliganism, crimes against religion and xenophobia.
TV
footage of national BNT television showed several protesters who
appeared to have suffered head injuries in clashes with police.
The
Chief Mufti condemned the attack on the mosque and said the attempt to
pressure the court put democracy at risk in the European Union country.
Muslims make up about 13 percent of Bulgaria's 7.3 million people.
The
Chief Mufti has launched some 26 court cases to try to restore Muslim
ownership of 29 mosques and other property across the Balkan state,
prompting some public opposition in the predominantly Orthodox Christian
population.
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