09.07.2012

Today, July 9th 2012, according to the valid legislative of R. Macedonia, the deed for which the schismatic “Macedonian Orthodox Church” (MOC) is accusing His Beatitude Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje, is completely outdated, because ten years have passed since the last date which is included in the accusations.

The deed is completely outdated, and the Court of Appeals has not yet pronounced a verdict! Despite that, Archbishop Jovan was first two months in prison, and is now in detention for whole five months!

Against Archbishop Jovan in the last ten years, in continuity, as soon as one court process is finished, a new one is started, and upon a request by the schismatic MOC, he is being imprisoned for the sixth time. Such attitude towards Archbishop Jovan has been characterized by the human rights activists as a typical state torture against the personality of Archbishop Jovan, and hence, it is utterly clear that under the guise of an “independent judiciary”, state terror on religious basis is being performed against Archbishop Jovan and the other Bishops, monastics and faithful people of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.

The mentioned attitude of the corrupted and subjected to political influences judiciary, is resulting with negative reports of the relevant international institutions in regard to the violation of the religious freedoms in R. Macedonia, and its reformation has become a condition for the integration of our country in the civilized democratic flows.