Court Proceeds with the Trial of Bourgas Airport Terrorist Attack

More than a year after the first sitting, Bulgaria’s specialized court on 19 December proceeded with the case of the terrorist attack at Bourgas airport (Sarafovo).

On 18th of July, 2012, a bomb exploded in a bus with Israeli tourists just arriving for their vacation in the Bulgarian coastal city of Bourgas. The blast killed five Israeli citizens, a Bulgarian bus driver and 35 people were injured. The seventh victim was the bomber himself.

The two suspects accused in-abstenia are Meliad Farah, holder of Australian passport and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a Canadian passport-holder and Lebanese citizenship. According to the prosecution, the two will face charges for allegedly assisting the suicide bomber Mohamad Hassan El-Husseini, who died along with the other six in the explosion at the airport in Bourgas.

As required by the new Code of Criminal Procedure, at the first hearing the court considered that no procedural violations had been committed and there were no reasons for termination or suspension of the case.

The trial was postponed many times because of irregular summoning of some of the Israeli citizens injured in the attack. Subject to further decision is whether some of them will come personally to testify before the court or options would be sought for videoconferencing or delegation.