Please find below the text of the letter with which we submitted the packet of documents in protest against the latest legislative initiative of the Bulgarian Socialists, namely draft laws Bulgarian Law on Religious Confessions (Proposal No. 654-01-26 on 1 March, 2016 and Proposals No. 654-01-32 on 14 March 2016) at three European bodies on April 11.
The Declaration was submitted to Bulgarian parliament on April 1.
Many thanks to all the kind people and Christian brothers and sisters from within Bulgaria and abroad who supported this initiative. Over 2100 support pledges were entered into the institutions with additional 800 which came in late.
Please, read further to see additional information and links including the translation of the offensive bill and our letter to the Venice Commission and two other European bodies.
Here you can view a link of a press conference the Coordinating Council of three entities Freedom for All and two evangelical Christian denominations along with other supporting organizations organized on the day the Decrlartioin was filed with Parliament. Bulgarian only,no subtitles.
http://www.bta.bg/bg/live/show/id/0_tg5jzv3y
This link is to a TV debate on Bulgarian national television BNT1 with the participation of Viktor Kostov, PhD, attorney, one of the authors of the Declaration and critic of the bills, Mr. Philip Popov, MP, one of the authors of the second bill, and Lubomir Mladenov, former Directorate of Religions director. The first 40 min of the show, in Bulgarian, no subtitles.
EMAIL TO EUROPEAN BODIES FOLLOWS:
From: Editor FFA [This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it...]
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2016 12:06 PM
To: 'This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.'; 'This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.'; 'This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.'
Subject: Protest Declaration against the two bills amending the Law on Religions in Bulgaria, March 2016
Honorable Commissioners, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Please find attached a PDF file of 13 pages total, containing: Title Page, Declaration of March 18, Excerpt of List of Supporting Organizations and Individuals, and List of Foreign Supporters.
ADDITONAL INFORMATION:
At the links below you can access three other documents of pertinence to the case, in English:
1) Critical notes to the first of the offending draft laws. (We are currently working on the translation of the second bill which is of the same nature. Keep in mind, however, that the bills are almost identical, being introduced to Mr. Kadiev’s bill will largely give one an idea of the Bulgarian Socialist Party bill, submitted to the Bulgarian Parliament two weeks later): http://www.svobodazavseki.com/images/pdf/critical_notes_kadiev_antireligous_bill.pdf
2) A link to the English translation of the draft law in question (containing a link to the original and official submission of the draft law in Bulgarian): http://www.svobodazavseki.com/images/pdf/bill_kadiev_en.pdf
3) The following link will take you to a Memorandum by Alliance Defending Freedom meant for the Bulgarian Parliament and expounding on the European law and the European Court of Human Rights precedent on the subject matter:
http://www.svobodazavseki.com/images/pdf/adf-memo-bg-bills-lawandprec.pdf
Thank you for attending to this issue. Please, do not hesitate to contact us for further information on the issue.
Best regards,
This is a link to a news web site in English for expats in Bulgaria that reports on the problematic bills and quotes from our publications on the subject.
