Brief retelling from RIA II
The Estonian Orthodox Church and the Pukhtitsky Monastery filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights, challenging the decisions of the Estonian State Court to sever the canonical connection with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro proposed terminating the agreement on the free use of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and has already unilaterally terminated the lease agreement for office space at the EPHC.
According to lawyer Artur Knyazev, the Estonian authorities want to force local Orthodox believers to renounce religious ties with the church, which is contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights.
MOSCOW, October 8 – RIA Novosti. The Estonian Orthodox Church and the Pukhtitsky Monastery filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights, challenging the decisions of the Estonian State Court to sever the canonical connection with the Russian Orthodox Church, the ERR television and radio company reports.
Earlier, ERR reported that Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro proposed terminating the agreement concluded between Tallinn and the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church (EPCC) on the free use of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the cathedral (main) church of the EPCC, which was consecrated back in 1900. As ERR clarifies, earlier Tallinn also unilaterally terminated the lease agreement for office premises at Pikk, 64, where the office of the EPHC was located; the legality of the termination is now being disputed in court.
In June, the Estonian State Court recognized as legal and left unchanged amendments to the law on churches, forcing the EPCC to break its canonical connection with the Russian Orthodox Church. The amendments were adopted with the aim of “preventing the spread of hostile influence.” Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro subsequently stated that the Estonian Orthodox Church should terminate existing relations with the Russian Orthodox Church. Later, the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs recalled that organizations are obliged to bring their charters, management and activities into compliance with the new requirements by December 28, 2026, and in case of refusal to comply with them, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Estonia will be able to apply to the court with a petition for the forced termination of the activities of a religious association.
“The Estonian Christian Orthodox Church and the Pukhtitsa Monastery have filed complaints with the European Court of Human Rights. The subject of the dispute is amendments to the law on churches and communities, which give both organizations until December 28 to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church,” the report says.
According to Artur Knyazev, a lawyer representing the church and the monastery, the Estonian authorities want to force local Orthodox believers to renounce their religious ties with the church, which has existed for more than a thousand years, that is, in fact, they are forced to change their religion.
“The European Convention on Human Rights considers that part of freedom of religion, which concerns a person’s beliefs, as an absolute right. The state can regulate how religion is practiced in public, but it cannot force a person to change religion,” ERR quotes Knyazev as saying. The lawyer believes that the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs offers Orthodox believers a choice between two impossible things - choosing another church and another religion, or stopping current activities.
According to the lawyer of the Pukhtitsa Monastery, Stephen-Hristo Evestus, not a single Estonian law enforcement agency has identified any illegal actions of the church or monastery. "There is no court decision, no indictment, no trial. There is punishment, but no action. Our church or monastery did not threaten anyone, cannot threaten anyone and does not want to do this. However, their religious identity is being interfered with," Evestus told reporters.
