Bulgarian imam jailed for spreading Islamist propaganda

Sofia: A controversial Bulgarian imam was sentenced to two years in prison Wednesday for propagating "anti-democratic ideals" and inciting hatred on religious grounds.

Ahmed Moussa Ahmed is the only one of 13 Muslim clerics charged with spreading radical Islamist propaganda to be sentenced to prison. 

He had been twice given jail sentences for promoting radical ideology in mosques, conferences and cafes but remained free pending his appeal. 

The others imams and muftis (experts in Islamic law) received fines.

Ahmed Moussa Ahmed, the self-declared spiritual leader of a Roma community in the south of the country, is also suspected of spreading IS propaganda and helping Bosnian jihadists travel to Syria. 

That investigation is ongoing.

He is not recognised as an imam by religious authorities in Bulgaria. 

Bulgaria, primarily Orthodox, is 13 percent Muslim -- with most of the religious minority comprised of Turks and Romas.