Life sentences without parole were imposed by the Specialized Criminal Court on Meliad Farah and Hassan al-Haj, accused by the Specialized Prosecutor's Office as perpetrators of the attack on Sarafovo Airport in 2012.
The court also upheld the civil claims for non-pecuniary damages caused to the dead five Israeli citizens and one Bulgarian citizen, as well as for the many victims during the attack amounting to a total of over BGN 100 million.
Meliad Farah and Hassan al-Haj were sentenced also to the maximum conviction of 10 years in prison each for using false official documents - false driving licenses of the State of Michigan and a social security card in order to conceal their identity on Bulgarian territory.
The court held that the collected written, oral and physical evidence clearly indicated that Meliad Farah and Hassan al-Haj were the perpetrators of the organized terrorist attack against Israeli tourists on Bulgarian territory. The two defendants owning Australian and Canadian passports, were found to be of Lebanese descent and had links to the radical wing of the Shiite group “Hezbollah”.
The decision of the Specialized Criminal Court is not final and can be appealed to the Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal.