Macedonia: Religious Law Successfully Challenged

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Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 19:14:58 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: Macedonia: Religious Law Successfully Challenged

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

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Religious Law Successfully Challenged in Macedonia


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PRESS AND INFORMATION SERVICE

Section "Religious Intolerance and Discrimination"

March 1, 1999

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MACEDONIA

MACEDONIAN EVANGELICALS SUCCESSFULLY CHALLENGE RESTRICTIVE LAW
Traditional Religions Favored in 1997 Law

by Felix Corley

Compass (19.02.1999) / HRWF (01.03.1999) Website http://www.hrwf.net-
Four Evangelical churches in Macedonia have achieved partial success
in their challenge to the country's restrictive law on religion. The
Constitutional Court ruled on December 24 that six articles should be
struck from the 1997 law. The legal action was led by the Baptist
Church in Skopje, the capital of the Balkan country.

"After 12 months and five sessions on the subject, the Constitutional
Court decided to annihilate six of the 11 articles we challenged,
admitting that they violate constitutional rights. This is a great
victory our Lord has won for us!" said Dr. Ivan Grozdanov, president
of the Macedonian Baptist Union. Grozdanov has long campaigned against
the law.

The Constitutional Court struck from the law article 3 (which banned
"religious work and rituals" by unregistered groups), article 10 (the
requirement for 50 adult members to form a religious group), and
article 11 (which required one representative to file detailed
information with the Office for the Affairs of Religious Communities
and Religious Groups). The Court also voided article 13 (which
established an official register of legal religious groups), article
14 (which granted legal status to a religious group from the date it
was recorded in the official register), and article 22 (which required
permission from the Office for the Affairs of Religious Communities
and Religious Groups for the construction or acquisition of religious
buildings).

The evangelical churches that brought the case also had the support of
some local human rights groups, which shared their opposition to some
elements of the law. The Skopje-based Macedonian Helsinki Committee
for Human Rights welcomed the Constitutional Court's ruling, although
it believed the court should have gone further.

"The Macedonian Helsinki Committee believes that there are a few more
articles [of the religion law] that should be abolished," Committee
Chairman Meto Jovanovski told Compass. Remaining articles that the
Helsinki Committee regards as discriminatory and that were not removed
by the Constitutional Court include Article 8, paragraph 2 (which
allows only one religious denomination for any one faith) and Article
19 (which requires permission from the Office for the Affairs of
Religious Communities and Religious Groups to hold religious events in
public places). "Because of that, we are preparing our own challenge
to the Constitutional Court," Jovanovski declared.

The Law on Religious Communities and Religious Groups was passed by
the Macedonian Parliament on July 16, 1997. It divided religious
denominations into two categories: "religious communities," defined in
article 8(1) as "voluntarily organized non-profit communities of
adherents of the same religion"; and "religious groups," defined in
article 9(1) as a "voluntary non-profit association of adherents of
the same religion who do not belong to any registered religious
community."

The Macedonian Orthodox Church and Islam were regarded by the law as
"religious communities" and the non-traditional or "new" religions
were categorized as "religious groups" whose registration could be
restricted. Article 8 also stated that "one religion can have only one
religious community," a rule favoring large, "traditional" religions.

Although the law provided that "citizens can freely and publicly
establish religious groups in conformity with the law," it laid down
rigorous controls over the function of religious organizations. These
controls restricted religious freedom. A "religious group" wishing to
be registered had to have at least 50 adult adherents, each one a
Macedonian citizen with permanent residence in Macedonia. The
registration application had to contain the names of all 50 founders,
the addresses of their meeting places, and the names of persons
organizing the meetings. Religious groups that were not registered
were considered illegal.

The law restricted access for foreign preachers and missionaries to
Macedonia; a violation of this provision carried a penalty of 30,000
to 50,000 DEN (up to $950), equivalent to six times the average
monthly salary. Foreign citizens were subject to penalties if they,
for example, practiced religious activities without permission or
organized religious instruction for children under the age of 10
without the consent of their parents. Minor penalties were stipulated
for nine other activities, including proselytism, collecting money, or
carrying out activities outside registered places of worship.

By the end of 1997, over 20 religious groups and communities were
registered. However, in the wake of the adoption of the law, some
harassment of non-Orthodox religious groups was reported. Protestant
groups complained of being unable to register their churches and
obtain regular employment status for their employees. On several
occasions, they were prevented from holding religious meetings in
venues outside churches.

Macedonia, part of Yugoslavia until 1992, recently had a change of
government. In the wake of the opposition victory in elections last
October and November, a coalition government was formed, led by the
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO-DPMNE) and its
coalition partners, the Democratic Alternative (DA) and the Democratic
Party of the Albanians (PDP-A). Evangelicals are hoping the new
government will be more tolerant of minority religious groups, as
promised by the new prime minister, Ljubco Georgievski, at a reception
for church leaders on December 28.

Macedonia currently has a population of some 2,000,000 people, 65
percent of them Macedonian Slavs and 23 percent Albanians, with
smaller minorities of Turks, Romanies (Gypsies), Serbs, Slav Muslims
and Vlachs. While the majority is of Orthodox Christian background,
there is a large Muslim community of about 450,000 people. Catholics
represent 63,000 of the population, with 5,000 Methodists and 2,000
evangelicals.

_______________________________________

Greek Helsinki Monitor &
Minority Rights Group - Greece
P.O. Box 51393
GR-14510 Kifisia
Greece
Tel. +30-1-620.01.20
Fax +30-1-807.57.67
e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
________________________________________

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