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.

Anastasios and Koula Georgiadis