Bulgarian police arrest 18 in Plovdiv linked to neo-Nazi ‘Blood and Honour’
A total of 18 people belonging to the international neo-Nazi organisation “Blood and Honour” have been arrested at an overnight raid on a private club in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv, the head of the city’s regional directorate of the Interior Ministry Vassil Kostadinov told reporters on August 16.
“The people who gathered at the private club shared the ideology of the international neo-Nazi political network ‘Blood and Honour’, preaching the superiority of the white race. The movement is banned in several European countries,” Kostadinov said.
Flags and posters with various neo-Nazi symbols, as well as a gas pistol, were found in the private club.
Among those detained at the club, which is near Plovdiv’s Mladeshki Hulm, is an 18-year-old man arrested earlier in the week for an assault some months ago on two Nepalese citizens. He was released by the District Court on bail of 700 euro.
The man was at the club last night with his father and brother, who also are among those detained, Kostadinov said.
The club had been checked before, in November 2023, and proceedings were initiated under Article 162 of the Penal Code – which outlaws inciting hatred and violence based on race, skin colour, origin, nationality or ethnicity or sexual orientation – but were terminated by prosecutors, according to Kostadinov.
He said that none of those had been present at the murder of Georgi Kuzev on Mladeshki Hulm, but were there were people with links to those who had been present at the murder. Kostadinov was referring to the vicious killing of Kuzev by a group of youths who allegedly were inspired by a Russian neo-Nazi.
Kostadinov said that the group had been meeting for two years and included both males and females.
The connection between the two young men who assaulted the Nepalese citizens – who are long-term residents of Plovdiv – and the group from the Mladeshki Hulm killing was established during the investigation into the murder of Kuzev. The attack on the Nepalese citizens was also captured on video.
All those arrested live in Plovdiv . They are people with different professions and interests, Kostadinov said.
Since Kuzev’s murder earlier in August, there have been several calls for authorities to take action against neo-Nazi groups in Bulgaria, in particular against neo-Nazi ideology spreading among young people.
(Screenshot: bTV)
