Bulgaria Issues European Arrest Warrants in Starlink Antenna Fire

Image: Starlink

Bulgaria’s Sofia City Court has authorized European Arrest Warrants for two German nationals charged over the October 9 fire that hit Starlink antennas near Sofia.

That’s according to BTA, Bulgaria’s state news agency, which covered Monday’s hearing. The Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office asked the court to authorize the warrants and is seeking remand in custody. The ruling can be appealed within three days, and court-appointed defense lawyers said they would appeal.

Prosecutors told the court that Zeka Islam and Tirpan Beytullah were charged in absentia on October 14 with setting fire to Starlink antennas at the Plana teleport facility south of Sofia. If found and convicted, they face three to 12 years in prison. Both hold German personal documents listing 2007 birth years, and German authorities say their current whereabouts are unknown.

According to the indictment summarized by BTA, the pair entered Bulgaria through the Kalotina border checkpoint at 5:37 p.m. on October 9, said they were visiting as tourists, and left toward Serbia through the same crossing at 11:55 p.m. in a German-registered car. The charge says they set the antennas alight around 10:25 p.m., using gloves and masks. Prosecutors say three antennas were completely destroyed, two were partly damaged and three others were affected.

Defense lawyers argued the evidence identified a vehicle and two attackers but left room to question whether these two men are the right suspects. The court found reasonable grounds to suspect them anyway and authorized the warrants.

The case is the next chapter after Prime Minister Rumen Radev confirmed the Plana fire in parliament on October 14 and asked security officials not to spill details mid-investigation. It also sits beside the separate Poland Starlink ground-station blaze, where German police arrested two suspects at Warsaw’s request. Starlink has not posted a new statement on the Bulgarian warrants.

Will the European Arrest Warrants bring the pair back to Sofia, or does the trail go cold outside Bulgaria?