Abp. Jovan of Ohrid still in jail after nine months

H/T: SOC-WAD

(Diocese of Ohrid) - Today, September 12, 2012, nine months are completed since Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid is in detention.

Archbishop Jovan is put in cruel prison conditions: he is locked in a cell for twenty-three hours per day, and has the opportunity to walk for one hour only. Four months nobody has visited him, because to the only ones who were allowed to visit him, his mother and his sister, the court has prohibited the visits!

Archbishop Jovan has diabetes and serious problems with his spine!

Despite the difficult conditions in which Archbishop Jovan is being imprisoned, the prison authorities are even prohibiting him to read books; namely, several books and magazines which he received written in Greek language, the prison authorities have sent to the court, in order for the court to decide whether Archbishop Jovan should be allowed to read those books or not, but the court has not answered for more than one month!

Due to such torture of Archbishop Jovan, and with the latest, politically rigged process against the Bishops Marko and David, against the monastics and the faithful, an impression is made that the government had reached a political decision to annihilate the pan-orthodoxly recognized, canonical Church in our homeland – the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric. The authorities want to give the persecution a legitimate shape through the staged court processes, but all international reports indicate that it is exactly the judiciary which is under a direct influence of the government and has a major problem with the corruption!

Those that staged a trial and executed Christ also thought that with His crucifixion they would destroy the Church! But was that so!

On this occasion, we are appealing to the whole democratic public to intervene for the ceasing of the persecution on religious basis against people who are not guilty for what they are persecuted for, persecution upon which it is impossible to build the future of R. Macedonia as an advanced democracy!