16.12.2015

The court hearing in the latest politically motivated and rigged state persecution against Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, two Bishops, priests, monastics and adherents of the canonical Church in R. Macedonia, the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, was scheduled for December 16, 2015.

The court hearing was scheduled after the Supreme Court, with unambiguous statements and serious remarks in regard to the inconsistency of the Court of First Instance, and in favor of the unjustly accused, annulled the convicting verdict of the Court of First Instance, and returned the case for a retrial under the same judge that reached the convicting verdict.

Again, for the fourth time, the court hearing was postponed!

The judicial system in our homeland is exposed to serious criticism, and its radical reform is one of the main conditions for the approximation of the country towards the advanced democratic societies!

The next hearing is scheduled for the end of January, next year! Having in mind that initially the beginning of the trial was scheduled for July this year, it is obvious that the court is not capable to start the trial for a period of whole seven months!

We are reminding that the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, in May this year, responded positively to the request by the unrecognized Macedonian Orthodox Church, for initiation of a dialogue for solving the problem of this Church in schism, but with an unambiguous decision of the Holy Assembly of Bishops: the dialogue will not conclude before this politically rigged court process ends with an acquitting verdict of the court!