BELGRADE, March 3 (Hina) - A Serbian Orthodox Church bishop, who hadbeen sentenced by a Macedonian court to a prison term for incitingreligious, racial and ethnic hatred, was released from the Idrizovoprison in Macedonia on Friday,
his lawyer confirmed in an interviewwith Belgrade radio B92.
BELGRADE, March 3 (Hina) - A Serbian Orthodox Church bishop, who
had been sentenced by a Macedonian court to a prison term for inciting
religious, racial and ethnic hatred, was released from the Idrizovo prison in
Macedonia on Friday, his lawyer confirmed in an interview with Belgrade radio
B92. Bishop Jovan Vranisovski spent eight months in prison and was
released following a decision by the Macedonian Supreme Court to reduce his
sentence by ten months.
The Macedonian Orthodox Church had relieved the bishop of his duties,
and the Serbian Orthodox Church, which does not recognise the Macedonian
church, later accepted him and appointed him head of the Ohrid diocese.
The Serbian Orthodox Church and Serbian state authorities had protested
on several occasions against the sentencing of Bishop Vranisovski.