Nikolai and the four other Witnesses appealed the criminal decrees and fines. In decisions of October and November 2016, the Burgas Regional Court vindicated Nikolai and the other Witnesses and canceled their fines.

In the meantime, Jehovah’s Witnesses challenged the constitutionality of the ordinance in Burgas. On October 12, 2016, the Burgas Administrative Court determined that the ordinance that purported to restrict the Witnesses’ religious activity violated Bulgaria’s constitutional guarantees and its international commitments to religious freedom.

The Burgas City Council was already aware that the restrictive provisions of the Ordinance for Preservation of Public Order violated constitutional rights. In 2013, a nationalist political party had proposed amendments, alleging that some people in the community were complaining about the Witnesses’ religious activity. The district governor reviewed the ordinance and concluded that the amendments were discriminatory and issued an order declaring them unconstitutional. However, the next district governor revoked the order, and the city council passed the amendments. The Ombudsman warned the city council that the new regulations were unlawful, but they remained in effect until the Burgas Regional Court invalidated them.

Similar cases occurred in Kyustendil, where the city council also knowingly adopted amendments to an ordinance that restricted religious freedom and then directed municipal police to enforce those amendments. The Kyustendil Administrative Court overturned six criminal decrees and fines of up to 800 leva ($439 U.S.) imposed on Witnesses for allegedly illegal religious activity, stating in one of its decisions: “The Applicant is held liable for an act that by its essence represents the exercise of her right to religious freedom guaranteed to her by the Constitution and the LRA [Law of Religious Acts].” On June 24, 2016, the same court granted an application filed by local Witnesses and declared the amendments made to the ordinance to be unconstitutional. The Kyustendil City Council has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.