The Sofia City Prosecution Office has launched an investigation for suspected terrorism in wake of bomb hoaxes emailed to schools across the country and reported by the media, the prosecution said Tuesday. The magistrates are working with all competent authorities in collecting evidence to establish the source of the alerts.
The prosecution has launched pre-trial proceedings for a crime against the Republic of Bulgaria for terrorism pursuant to Article 108a(1) of the Criminal Code. Evidence whether the hoaxes were sent for the purpose of causing disturbance/fear among the population or threatening/forcing a competent authority, a member of the public or a representative of a foreign state or international organization to perform or omit part of his/her duties will be collected in the process.
The punishment for terrorism is imprisonment from fifteen to thirty years, life imprisonment or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Earlier on Tuesday, dozens of bomb threat alerts were received at schools in Sofia, Pleven, Sliven and Burgas. One was even received at the University of National and World Economy. Schools in Sofia, Varna and Burgas were emailed bomb hoaxes on Monday too.
To date, 102 alerts for bomb hoaxes have been received at schools in the regions of Pleven, Sliven, Varna, Burgas and Sofia with emails of near identical content, Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Petar Todorov told journalists in Plovdiv later in the day. There is no real danger, he added.
/RY/
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