40 years after the start of the so-called Revival Process, no convicts have been convicted, a NOVA investigation showed. The case is in the prosecutor's office. The exact number of Bulgarian Muslims who were forced to change their names is not clear. According to NOVA, the investigation is now being conducted for crimes against humanity, not for abuse of office.
Every December, Rufat Yumer remembers 1984. He was a student then. He understood that he had to change his name by force, and after his refusal, he was arrested.
„On December 27, they handcuffed me. At first, they beat me in Mlechino, then they took us to Kardzhali. There were 16 of us. They put us on a hearse and took us to the North. We didn't know where they were taking us and we ended up on December 28, 1984 at dawn on Belene Island," said Rufat Yumer, a former camp inmate from "Belene."
His brother-in-law Ahmed Ahmed tells about life behind bars in Belene. "In these cells, the beds were on three floors. Imagine in one room, where it is normal for there to be 5-6 people, there were over 25 of us. It was very difficult to breathe," said former camp inmate from "Belene" Ahmed Aliosman Ahmed.
"The hardest thing for us was that... My throat is really dry when I think about it. There was a plastic bucket behind the door that we were forced to use as a toilet,” Ahmed said.
And even though 40 years have passed, Ahmed still feels like he is being followed when he walks the streets of Sofia.
“I still can't get rid of this feeling, and when I come and walk the streets of Sofia, I keep thinking about those times. And it seems to me that I am being followed,” says Ahmed Aliosman Ahmed – a former camp inmate from “Belene.
The exact number of Bulgarian Muslims who were forced to change their names is not clear. “517 are in the “State Gazette”. However, there are more, we checked. The names of some who were interned are missing, said Safie Yurdakul from the “Civil Organization for Justice, Rights and Cultural Cooperation in the Balkans”.
Not only those who were interned in “Belene” suffered, but their families also suffered, because there was pressure on them so that they would not dare to seek their rights and raise their heads.
Over the years, the case has been discontinued and returned for further investigation many times, but to date, no one has been convicted.