European nation rules sharing beliefs criminal

Crete

Share your faith and go to jail. Sounds like Iran or North Korea? How about on the civilized Greek island of Crete?

According to international human rights attorney Vassilios Tsirbas, jail is exactly what his client is facing for leading another man to Christ.

Damavolitis Emmanuel, a Pentecostal Christian and father of six, was accused of proselytizing to another man in 2006. The conviction was upheld by an appeals court in Crete over the weekend.

Emmanuel now faces four months in prison and a fine of 840 euros, more than $1,000.

"This is a very sad day for freedom of religion in Greece. The court's decision reinforces the belief that freedom of religion and freedom of speech do not exist in Greece for evangelical Christians," said Tsirbas.

"After many years Greece once more remembered the old days of its intolerance against churches other than the state church, and came down hard on believers who thought they had the freedom to share their faith with their fellow citizens," said Tsirbas.

According to the U.S. State Department's 2010 International Religious Freedom Report, among Greece's 11.3 million people, 95 percent identify themselves as Greek Orthodox.

The State Department report also says that the constitution of Greece allows for freedom of religion but has laws against proselytizing.

According to the report: "Privileges and legal prerogatives granted to the Orthodox Church were not routinely extended to other religious groups."

And it says, "Some Orthodox Church officials instructed their members to shun members of groups that they consider sacrilegious, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, evangelical Christians, and other Protestants."

In a podcast provided by the International Human Rights Group, Emmanuel's attorney tells how the charges came about. He tells how Emmanuel befriended another man from the same village a few years back, and they would hunt together.

Emmanuel eventually had the opportunity to share his faith with the young man, and "the other man came to the Lord, and was baptized by the pastor of a local church."

According to Tsirbas, "there was so much pressure from the family of the young man, that the charges of proselytizing then came about."

The conviction by the court was for "sharing his faith."

Tsirbas said that at one point the prosecutor stated that the "defendant shouldn't sit in a coffee shop sharing his faith or talking about religious matters."

The jail time had been suspended, but Emmanuel will need to pay the fine.

"He's a poor man, and didn't have money, and was in imminent danger of going to prison," said Tsirbas. "We have since found a solution for him to give this money now, and gather it himself at a later time."

Tsirbas now will decide the next step. The case can be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

"Now, we must turn to the international courts to restore the fundamental freedoms that are guaranteed in Greece," said Tsirbas.