A European Court Rights a Wrong

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN GREECE

MILITARY service is compulsory in Greece. At any given time, about 300 of Jehovah’s Witnesses are in prison for refusing to perform military service. Amnesty International views them as prisoners of conscience and has frequently urged successive Greek governments to free them and to pass legislation that would allow them to carry out civilian service of a nonpunitive nature.

In 1988, new legislation affecting military service was passed. Among other things, this stipulated that “the following are exempted from military service: . . . Recruits who are religious ministers, monks or trainee monks of a recognized religion, if they so desire.” The religious ministers of the Greek Orthodox Church are always exempted simply and easily, without facing any problem or any sort of abuse of their basic human rights. Would the same apply to ministers of a minority religion? A test soon provided an answer.

Imprisoned Against the Law

In accordance with this law, in late 1989 and early 1990, Dimitrios Tsirlis and Timotheos Kouloumpas, appointed religious ministers by the Central Congregation of the Christian Jehovah’s Witnesses of Greece, lodged applications with their respective recruitment offices to be exempted from military service. Along with their applications, they supplied documents proving that they were practicing religious ministers. As anticipated, the applications were rejected on the specious ground that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not belong to a “known religion.”

Brothers Tsirlis and Kouloumpas reported to their respective military training centers and were arrested, charged with insubordination, and placed in detention. In the meantime, the General Headquarters for National Defense rejected their appeals of the decisions of the recruitment offices. The military authorities used the argument that the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church had informed them that the faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses is not a recognized religion! This contradicted the rulings of a number of civil courts that had stated that Jehovah’s Witnesses are indeed a known religion.

The military courts in turn found Tsirlis and Kouloumpas guilty of insubordination and sentenced them to four years’ imprisonment. The two brothers appealed these decisions to the Military Appeal Court, which adjourned the examination of the appeal three times for various reasons. However, it refused each time to order the appellants’ provisional release from prison, although Greek law provides for that.

In the meantime, in another set of proceedings, the Supreme Administrative Court annulled the decisions of the General Headquarters for National Defense, on the ground that Jehovah’s Witnesses do indeed belong to a known religion.

During the 15 months that Tsirlis and Kouloumpas had to stay in the Avlona Military Prison, they faced especially inhumane and degrading treatment along with other imprisoned Witnesses. A report of that time spoke of “the sordid prison conditions under which [Jehovah’s Witnesses prisoners] are living, mentioning the spoiled meat and the tails of mice, which are often served along with the food, the curtailing of visiting hours according to the Administration’s whims, the lack of space due to the cells being overcrowded with too many prisoners and the much more severe treatment meted out to such prisoners as are conscientious objectors.”

Finally, the Military Appeal Court acquitted Brothers Tsirlis and Kouloumpas but at the same time ruled that the State had no obligation to compensate them for their detention because “this detention was due to the applicants’ gross negligence.” This raised valid questions in legal circles: Who was responsible for the gross negligence? The Witnesses or the military courts?

The brothers were immediately released from prison and were finally discharged from the armed forces on the basis that they were religious ministers. When they were released, Amnesty International announced that it welcomed the release of Dimitrios Tsirlis and Timotheos Kouloumpas and expressed the hope that in the future, ministers of Jehovah’s Witnesses would be exempt from military service in accordance with the provisions of Greek law. Soon, however, this hope would be dashed.

In and Out of Prisons

Another appointed religious minister of Jehovah’s Witnesses had to undergo a slightly different ordeal for the same reason. On September 11, 1991, Anastasios Georgiadis applied for exemption from military service in the same manner. Six days later the recruiting office informed him that his application had been rejected, again because the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church does not accept that Jehovah’s Witnesses are a known religion. And this despite the express rulings of the Supreme Administrative Court on the cases of Tsirlis and Kouloumpas!

The written answer from the General Headquarters for National Defense stated: “The Administration arrived at a negative decision regarding [Georgiadis’] application, based on the expert opinion rendered by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, which does not consider Jehovah’s Witnesses to be a known religion.”—Italics ours.

Georgiadis went to the Nafplion Training Camp on January 20 and was immediately put in the disciplinary cell of the camp. Later he was transferred to the Avlona Military Prison.

On March 16, 1992, the Military Court of Athens acquitted Georgiadis. This was the first time a military court in Greece acknowledged that Jehovah’s Witnesses are indeed a known religion. The director of the Avlona Military Prison released him immediately but ordered him to report again for duty on April 4, at the Nafplion recruitment center. On that date, Georgiadis again refused to enlist and was again charged with insubordination, placed in detention for a second time, and committed to trial.

On May 8, 1992, the Military Court of Athens acquitted him of the new criminal case but decided that no compensation should be granted him for his detention. Georgiadis was immediately released from the Avlona Military Prison but was ordered to report for yet a third time for duty at the Nafplion recruitment center, on May 22, 1992! He again refused to enlist and for a third time was charged with insubordination and detained.

On July 7, 1992, the Supreme Administrative Court set aside the decision of September 1991, on the grounds that Jehovah’s Witnesses do indeed belong to a known religion. On July 27, 1992, Georgiadis was finally released from the Thessalonica Military Prison. On September 10, 1992, the Military Court of Thessalonica acquitted him but held that Georgiadis was not entitled to compensation because his detention was again said to be ‘due to his gross negligence.’

Widespread Reaction

Commenting on the case of Georgiadis, the European Parliament declared: “This situation is a case of discrimination against Jehovah’s Witnesses ministers of religion in terms of the principle of equality before the law and the enjoyment of the right to equal treatment.”

In February 1992, Amnesty International stated that it “believes that [Anastasios Georgiadis] has been imprisoned solely on the basis of discriminatory treatment on the part of the military authorities against Jehovah’s Witness ministers and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release as a prisoner of conscience.”

Even the military prosecutor of one of Georgiadis’ trials was forced to state: “The extent of a society’s cultural development is made evident by the way it deals with certain situations involving its citizens. If we here in Greece desire our cultural development to be in harmony with European standards, if we want to progress, then we have to comply with international regulations and rid ourselves of prejudice. A sector in which this is most evident is respect for citizens’ individual rights. However, actual happenings and the administration’s tactics clearly indicate the prejudice and religious intolerance prevailing against religious minorities. The case at hand is outrageous.”

Ian White, a member of the European Parliament, from Bristol, England, wrote: “The idea that Jehovah’s Witnesses are not ‘a known religion’ would bring a smile to many faces in this County. Certainly, although relatively few in number, Witnesses are very well known in this Country and frequently call from door to door.” With over 26,000 Witnesses preaching in Greece, they can hardly be ‘an unknown religion’!

A group of ten members of the European Parliament wrote to express their indignation over the Georgiadis case, saying that they were “extremely surprised and regretful” over such violations of human rights in Greece.

Appeal to the European Court of Human Rights

After being acquitted and then released from prison, all three of the victims of this religious discrimination felt ethically obliged to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. The basis of this appeal was their unlawful detention, which by itself proved unjust, and the mental and physical torture they were subjected to, as well as the immense moral and social consequences involved in being repeatedly deprived of their freedom for so long a period of time. For these reasons they pursued a valid and appropriate amount of compensation.

The European Commission of Human Rights unanimously concluded that in the cases of Tsirlis and Kouloumpas, there was a violation of their right to liberty and security of person, their detention was unlawful, they had a right to compensation, and they had not enjoyed a fair hearing by a tribunal. A similar conclusion was reached by the Commission in the case of Georgiadis.

The Injustice Is Corrected

The hearing was set for January 21, 1997. There were many in the courtroom, including students from the local university, journalists, and a number of Jehovah’s Witnesses from Greece, Germany, Belgium, and France.

Mr. Panos Bitsaxis, the attorney for the Witnesses, spoke of “the constant stubborn and persistent attitude of the Greek authorities not to recognise the existence of one religious minority,” namely Jehovah’s Witnesses. He denounced the Greek authorities’ practice of basing their official opinion of the Witnesses on the viewpoint of their chief opponents—the Greek Orthodox Church! He continued: “How far can this go? . . . And until when?” He spoke of the “denial of recognition of a certain religious community, a denial which seems absurd if you see that it comes directly, openly, and without any reasoning, against legality, against dozens of decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court.”

The representative of the Greek government confirmed the biased attitude of the Greek authorities by claiming: “It must not be forgotten that practically the whole population of Greece has belonged to the Orthodox Church for centuries. One natural result of this is that the organisation of that Church and the status of its ministers and their role in the Church are quite clear. . . . The status of ministers from the Church of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is not so clear.” What a flagrant admission of the prejudiced treatment of religious minorities in Greece!

Religious Freedom Upheld

Judgment was delivered on May 29. The President of the Chamber, Mr. Rolv Ryssdal, read out the decision. The Court, composed of nine judges, held unanimously that Greece had violated Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention. It also awarded the applicants the sum of about $72,000 for compensation and expenses. Most important, the decision included many noteworthy arguments in favor of religious freedom.

The Court noted that “the military authorities blatantly ignored” the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses are recognized as a “known religion” in Greece, according to the rulings of the Supreme Administrative Court. It further commented: “The relevant authorities’ persistence not to recognize Jehovah’s Witnesses as a ‘known religion’ and the disregard of the applicants’ right to liberty that followed were of a discriminatory nature when contrasted with the way in which ministers of the Greek Orthodox Church obtain exemption.”

The case was given wide publicity by the Greek media. Athens News declared: ‘E[uropean] court slams Greece over Jehovah claim.’ The decision in the case Tsirlis & Kouloumpas and Georgiadis v. Greece gives rise to the hope that the Greek State will bring its legislation in line with the European Court’s judgment, so that Jehovah’s Witnesses in Greece may enjoy religious freedom without administrative, military, or church intervention. Furthermore, this is yet another judgment rendered against the Greek judiciary by the European Court on matters relating to religious freedom.a

Jehovah’s Witnesses cherish their freedom, and they endeavor to use it to serve God and to help their neighbor. The three Witness religious ministers pursued their cases to the European Court of Human Rights, not for any material gain, but purely for moral and ethical reasons. Thus, all three have decided that the compensation awarded them will be used exclusively for the furtherance of the educational work of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

[Footnote]

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Esther and Dimitrios Tsirlis

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Timotheos and Nafsika Kouloumpas

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Anastasios and Koula Georgiadis