A deputy chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) has called on Minsk and Slutsk Metropolitan Filaret, head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus, to appeal for a softer punishment on journalist Alyaksandr Zdvizhkow.
Mr. Zdvizhkow, deputy editor of the now-closed newspaper Zhoda, on January 18 was sentenced by the Minsk City Court to three years in a medium-security prison over the reprinting of some of the controversial Danish cartoons that caused outrage among some Muslims across the world in 2005 and 2006. He was found guilty of "inciting racial, national or religious enmity or discord."
The case was opened in February 2006 following a complaint by Ismail Varanovich, mufti of the Spiritual Association of Muslims in Belarus. The Zhoda was closed down over the reprinting of the cartoons in the spring of 2006. In his open letter to Patriarchal Exarch Filaret, BPF deputy head Ales Mikhalevich denounced the sentence as unacceptable for a "Christian country," going so far as to suggest that "the conviction of the Christian on the basis of Muslim ethical norms is a provocation targeting the Christian community of Belarus."
Mr. Mikhalevich warned that the sentence might spark a "wave of justified social resentment among Belarusian Christians, which might undermine interdenominational peace in the country." He said that Mr. Varanovich had described the sentence as unjustifiably severe, and Abu-Bekir Shabanovich, chief mufti of the Muslim Religious Association in Belarus, had expressed regret over the conviction. He said that only the "wise advocacy by the church can save the Christian believer from prison and avert the threat of interdenominational conflict facing the country."
He called on Patriarchal Exarch Filaret to use the "great moral authority of the Christian Orthodox Church in Belarus to defend the journalist who was convicted for expressing his Christian beliefs." Mr. Mikhalevich told BelaPAN that the sentence was "indeed outrageous." He said that he expected the top Orthodox cleric to response to his appeal, noting that he should not necessarily act in public but simply talk to top government officials because his authority was great.
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Mr. Zdvizhkow, deputy editor of the now-closed newspaper Zhoda, on January 18 was sentenced by the Minsk City Court to three years in a medium-security prison over the reprinting of some of the controversial Danish cartoons that caused outrage among some Muslims across the world in 2005 and 2006. He was found guilty of "inciting racial, national or religious enmity or discord."
The case was opened in February 2006 following a complaint by Ismail Varanovich, mufti of the Spiritual Association of Muslims in Belarus. The Zhoda was closed down over the reprinting of the cartoons in the spring of 2006. In his open letter to Patriarchal Exarch Filaret, BPF deputy head Ales Mikhalevich denounced the sentence as unacceptable for a "Christian country," going so far as to suggest that "the conviction of the Christian on the basis of Muslim ethical norms is a provocation targeting the Christian community of Belarus."
Mr. Mikhalevich warned that the sentence might spark a "wave of justified social resentment among Belarusian Christians, which might undermine interdenominational peace in the country." He said that Mr. Varanovich had described the sentence as unjustifiably severe, and Abu-Bekir Shabanovich, chief mufti of the Muslim Religious Association in Belarus, had expressed regret over the conviction. He said that only the "wise advocacy by the church can save the Christian believer from prison and avert the threat of interdenominational conflict facing the country."
He called on Patriarchal Exarch Filaret to use the "great moral authority of the Christian Orthodox Church in Belarus to defend the journalist who was convicted for expressing his Christian beliefs." Mr. Mikhalevich told BelaPAN that the sentence was "indeed outrageous." He said that he expected the top Orthodox cleric to response to his appeal, noting that he should not necessarily act in public but simply talk to top government officials because his authority was great.
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