Through the
Court of First Instance Skopje II
the Court of Appeals in Skopje

Ref. : Reg. RG.No.4/08
Subject :

After rejection of the Ruling Reg. RG. No. 4/08 of the Court of First Instance Skopje II, by which the registration into the Unique Court Registry of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups have been rejected to us, hereby we declare this complaint to the Court of Appeals in Skopje in due time, with a complaint on the following :

1. Substantive violation of the guaranteed human rights and religious freedom

2. Erroneous application of the provision of the Law on Legal Status of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups

3. Vagueness of the rationale

4. Partially established situation of the facts

On 05/11/2008, the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom lodged a request to the Court of First Instance, being of jurisdiction for registrations of religious communities, in regard to registration thereof into the Unique Court Registry of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups in the Republic of Macedonia. All the evidence required by the Law had been enclosed to the aforesaid request. After a long period of silence by the Court, aiming to remind the Court of the Article 14 of the Law on Legal Status of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 113 dated on 20/09/2007), providing only 8 days for carrying out of the registration, on 23/23/3008 we had submitted a petition to the President of the Court of First Instance Skopje II to the Republic Judicial Council, to the Ombudsman of the Republic of Macedonia and to several International institutions, reproaching on the unprofessional behavior of the judge Margarita Toshanova being in charge for our request. Only few days after, on 29/12/2008 we received written communication by the aforesaid judge that we should complete the request with evidence on citizenship of the founder, which we did the very next day. However, the Court had not proceeded to dealing with the case again, and on 08/01/2009 we received a communication that we should pay the stipulated fee amounting to MKD 800.00 before the Court could proceed to dealing with the case. We paid the fee the very next day, and then followed waiting for the response to our request from 09/01/2009 to 03/03/2009. So, the procedure before the Court for which the Law provides to be finished within 8 days, lasted full 118 days.

The rejection of registration of the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom is a substantive violation of the Law on Legal Status of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups, and moreover, it is a violation of the Article 19 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia and violation of the Article 9 of the Convention for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Rejecting to register us under whatever form (for the Ruling does not give any instruction in regard to the conditions under which we could be registered), the Court discriminates us on religious basis. What was to be prevented with passing of the new Law is on the contrary continued, now with the irresponsible, unprofessional and politically harmful for the Republic of Macedonia application thereof. The reality is that the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom exists, and it waits to acquire legal status for 8 years now (since 2002). It means that the lack of legal status has not caused it to cease to exist, and no Court decision would be able to prevent the existence of any Church. The Church has learned to exist even without legal status long time ago. We need the legal status for the purpose barbarian intrusions at our religious services by the police to be prevented, as well as the mistreatment of our guests at the border crossings and rejections of entrance into the Republic of Macedonia to them on sole grounds that they plan to visit us (as it has been the practice during the last seven years). The legal status is necessary for us also for the purpose of disposing of with the property that we own already, and not to manage our property through private companies or natural persons. So, if you have understood it well, the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom exists, lives, functions, manages with property, and the institutions of the state do not have any insight into it. The state is the one that would have more advantage of our registration, thus having insight in all the transactions and management of the property of the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom. Here is one rather obvious example : The Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom has its own publishing business and publishes books, magazines, brochures etc. If it is not registered, who shall be responsible before the law for the contents of the printed material? These examples are quite practical, and they have arisen during last seven years of lawfully unlegalized existence of the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom and we are pointing to them so that one could see that the Court now creates even bigger disorder in regard to the religious freedom of the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia with its erroneous interpretation of the Law.

The Act of Founding of the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom, enclosed to the files of the case, i.e., Article 1 thereof, reads: “This decision is aimed at registration of the \'Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom’ into the Unique Court Registry of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups in the Republic of Macedonia as volunteer, non-profit of believers of the Christian religious faith, that do not belong to any other registered religious community, and that especially have nothing in common with the Macedonian Orthodox Church.” This clearly and unambiguously affirms that we do not want to be a part of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and seek legal status out of its framework. However, the aforesaid Ruling of the Court states that our very seeking of legal status is contrary to the Article 1 paragraph 1 of the Law. Does it mean that it is contrary to the Law if somebody wants to break off the Macedonian Orthodox Church? Please remember, for it was not so long ago, that this Law has been passed under enormous pressure by the International Community so that the ones who do not want to be in unity with the Macedonian Orthodox Church could acquire legal status. It is easily noticeable that the Court had no wish whatsoever to register the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom only because the Article 1 of our Statutes reads“… do not belong to any other registered religious community, and that especially have nothing in common with the Macedonian Orthodox Church.”

Regretfully, religious discrimination in the Republic of Macedonia is renown to the International entities, especially after imprisonment of the Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje kyr kyr Jovan (John) on religious basis and under the pressure of the Government, the Court not only tolerates, but even stirs up such discrimination for years now.

The Court has applied erroneously the Article 16 paragraph 1 of the Law as well with rejection of the request for registration; for it shall be done only if substantive conditions are not fulfilled. On the contrary, the Request fulfills all the substantive and factual conditions stipulated by the Law, and the Court had not any reprimand to it, and even if the Court had such a reprimand, it could be dealt with during these 118 days while the judge processed the case, instead of issuance of Ruling for rejection of the registration.

The situation of the facts has been only partially established in the Ruling; however the law has been applied completely erroneously. Namely, on page 3 of the Ruling, the Court has stated : “In the sense of the aforesaid legal provisions, in this particular case, out of the files of the case may be concluded that the submitter had lodged a request for registration of a volunteer community of natural persons designated therein as the “Stavropegic Monastery St. john Hrysostom” to the Court, i.e., a request for registration of a volunteer community of natural persons not being foreseen at all by the aforesaid Law in such a form. The Court deems that such a request for registration of volunteer community of natural persons designated therein as “Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom” is contrary to Article 1 paragraph 2 of the Law on Legal Status of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups, i.e., the request is ungrounded, so therefore the Court has rejected it as ungrounded.”

Furthermore, on page 3, the Ruling states that the registration of the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom would violate the Article 1 paragraph 1 and Article 2 of the Law, because “Law regulates only the legal status of certain religious entities: volunteer communities of natural persons defined and listed in the Law as: a church, a religious community, and a religious group.”

Instead of such confusion, it would be clearer if the Court has stated: “We are not allowed to register you because we are under the pressure of the Government.” It would be at least honorably, but yet unjustly.

The Article 1 paragraph 1 of the aforesaid Law on Legal Status of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups literally reads: “This Law regulates the founding and the legal status of churches, religious communities and groups, the services, prayers and religious rites, religious instruction and educational activities, the revenues of churches, religious communities and groups and other issues.”

It means that it is not true that the Law does not provide founding of new churches, religious communities and groups. The Law regulates the legal status of the churches, religious communities and groups, but also the founding of new religious communities. As for our request for registration submitted by the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom states that it is about: “registration of the Stavopegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom for registration thereof into the Unique Court Registry of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups as one of the religious communities in the Republic of Macedonia.” (Please refer to the registration files)

Out of the aforesaid, it may be concluded that the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom has not requested to be registered as a trade company or an association of citizens that are not regulated by this Law, but seeks registration of a religious community with a concrete name. On the occasion when we requested of the Court of First Instance in Bitola to register the association of citizens named “Sisterhood St. John Hrysostom”, the request was rejected with a rationale that an organization with such a name shall seek registration according to the Law on Churches, Religious Communities and Groups. (The matter is about Ruling Reg. ZGF No. 65/02 dated on 22/10/2002). Now, when we have requested registration according to the Law on Churches, Religious Communities and Groups, under circumstances when the Ruling of the Court is not clear in regard which substantive conditions are not fulfilled and led the Court to proceed upon Article 16 paragraph 1 of the Law, we assume that the matter is again about the \'problematic’ name. Our aim is not this to sound like a joke, and we state with an extreme pain and so upset, that we would agree the judge who has rejected our request to be our God father and name us as she wishes, if only she grants us a legal status. Is it too much to ask? We want only what International Conventions and the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia guarantee, and that is religious freedom.

The name “Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom" is a name of a concrete religious community, as is the name of, e.g., "Sayta Say Centre – Skopje”, which is registered into the Registry of the Churches, Religious Communities and Groups in the Republic of Macedonia, or the “Bekteshi Community” and other similar to them. Ergo, if the name “Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom” is the eyesore for the judge, she could have noted some proposal that we would consider, but the complete rejection of the request for registration of the religious community with a rationale that it would be contrary to the aforesaid Articles of the Law is not merely unprofessional, but also tendentious and malicious, and we find that it was obviously made under pressure of the Government. After all, we had timely pointed out in our petition to the President of the Court and to several other institutions that the aforesaid judge is biased in regard to our issue and also put under pressure.

Thus, the rationale of the Court that “the registration of a volunteer community of natural persons \'Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom’ as a religious community is a form not foreseen at all by the Law on Churches, Religious communities and Groups. On the other hand, the Court disregarded the situation of the facts when stating: “this Law regulates only the legal status of certain religious entities – volunteer communities of natural persons defined and listed in the Law as: churches, religious communities and groups, and not other religious entities – volunteer communities of natural persons …”, overlooking that the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom submitted the request for registration just as one of the religious communities in the Republic of Macedonia. (Please refer to the registration files)

Finally, it is quite unclear why the Court deems that the registration of the religious community Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom would violate the freedom of religion of the other volunteer communities of natural persons already registered into the Unique Court Registry. It appears that not registering the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom is not a violation of the religious freedom, and that the registration thereof would be violation of the freedom of religion of a community unnamed by the Court. Not naming that community by the Court creates great vagueness. Whose religious freedom would be violated by the registration of the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom? Is the matter about the Islamic Religious Community or about some protestant community? It is most naturally if one thinks that the Court has in mind the Macedonian Orthodox Church. It is the only religious community from the Republic of Macedonia that is mentioned in the Act of Founding of the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom, as an organization with which the Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom does not want to have anything in common. However, what denies the freedom of the members of the Macedonian Orthodox Church? How could the freedom of religion of a member of some religious organization be violated if a member of some other religious organization does not want to be in unity with it? The freedom of religion is just about making free choice where one wants to belong, without being called a traitor to your country or imprisoned if the choice is not to belong to the state protected MOC, as was the case with the Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje kyr kyr Jovan (John).

The request of this Complaint of ours to the Court of Appeals is the following: How could we exercise freedom of religion guaranteed to us by the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia? We plead the Court of Appeals to instruct us on the way to be registered, but so that we still would not to be a part of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Our fall is great when we ask for mercy for something that is guaranteed to us on every grounds. Since 2002, when we seceded from the Macedonian Orthodox Church, we are under inhuman pressure by the Government and the judiciary. Now, when we have won the amending of the law dealing with the religious communities, here comes across a new obstacle: inapplication thereof by the Court.

Considering that there is a substantive violation of the Law on Legal Status of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups, especially of the Article 4 thereof, as well as of the Article 19 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia and of the Article 9 of the Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom, hereby we make a motion to the Court of Appeals to repeal the Ruling in question and to register the religious community “Stavropegic Monastery St. John Hrysostom into the Unique Court Registry of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups in the Republic of Macedonia.

6th March, 2009

village Nizhopoli, Bitola County

Submitted by :
PRIORESS
sister Olympiada Mizhimakovska, nun