The four individuals had, at the time, harassed Jichat Halil, then acting Mufti of Komotini and now an unpaid advisor to the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports on Islam-related issues, and prevented him from praying.

The convicted individuals are: Murat Kyose (self-proclaimed “chairman of the mosque committee”), Hussein Baltatzis (former president of the Association of Scientists of the Western Thrace Minority and candidate for the European Parliament with the minority party Equality, Peace and Friendship – DEB), Ozan Ahmetoglou (president of the illegal “Turkish Union of Xanthi” and DEB official), and Bahri Beltsos (vice president of DEB).

They were sentenced to 12 months for the main charges of violence and 10 months for disturbing public order (merged sentence of 17 months). The sentence was converted into a monetary penalty with a three-year deadline for payment, and the defendants announced they will appeal. The trial concluded after one postponement and one interruption requested by the defense, and tensions were reported during proceedings.

The incidents on October 11, 2024, occurred shortly after the inauguration ceremony of the new building of the Muslim Religious School of Xanthi, attended by the Secretary-General for Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Education, Giorgos Kalantzis, and the then acting Mufti of Komotini, Jichat Halil.

After the ceremony, when a group of individuals went to the mosque to pray—led according to the indictment by the convicted persons—they allegedly attacked and harassed Halil and prevented him from entering the mosque to pray.

A statement by the Komotini Muftiate said the ruling “restores a sense of justice and sends a clear message that violence and threats have no place in democracy,” adding that “Western Thrace consistently responds with calm, unity, and respect against any attempt that undermines peaceful coexistence.”