Bulgarian ultra-nationalist gets jail term for trafficking migrants

A Bulgarian ultra-nationalist whose party fiercely opposes immigration was given a suspended jail sentence on Wednesday for trafficking refugees.Anelia Veleva from the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB) party was arrested in July in a convoy of two cars transporting two Syrians and three Iraqis.After crossing over from Turkey into Bulgaria, Veleva aimed to help the migrants cross into Serbia on their way to western Europe, a court in Plovdiv heard.Veleva, who has resigned as the head of a local branch of the NFSB, was with five others given a suspended jail sentence of three years and fined 5,000 leva (2,560 euros, $3,000).The party is part of an alliance of Bulgarian nationalist groups, the United Patriots, that entered into coalition with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in May.The head of the NFSB is Valery Simeonov, a notorious figure whose many outbursts in the past have included calling the Roma "ferocious humanoids".Simeonov is deputy prime minister and heads a national panel advising the government on policies to promote the social inclusion of marginalised groups.