20 December 2004

:: NEWS ::

European Court convicts Bulgaria of interference in religious affairs of Muslim community

2003 news

2002 news

On 16 December 2004 the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg held that in the case of the Supreme Holy Council of the Muslim Community v. Bulgaria the state had interfered with the applicant organisation's religious rights. The Court unanimously held that there had been a violation of Article 9 of the European Convention (freedom of religion). The application was filed by the then Chairman of the Supreme Holy Council of the Muslim Community in Bulgaria, Nedim Gendzev.

The Court awarded the applicant organisation 5,000 euros for non-pecuniary damage and 5,000 euros for costs and expenses.

The applicant complained, under Article 9 (freedom of religion), that the Bulgarian authorities intervened in the affairs of the Muslim community by organising and manipulating the October 1997 Muslim Conference in support of a rival faction. The applicant also relied on Articles 13 (right to an effective remedy), 6 (right to a fair hearing) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination).

While examining the violation under Article 9, the Court noted that State measures favouring a particular leader of a divided religious community or seeking to compel the community, or part of it, to place itself under a single leadership against its will would constitute an infringement of the freedom of religion. Finding that the interference with the applicant organisation's rights under Article 9 was not necessary in a democratic society for the protection of public order or the rights and freedoms of others, the Court held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 9.

The Court reiterated that Article 13 did not go so far as to guarantee a remedy allowing an applicant to challenge before a national authority the laws of a State which had ratified the European Convention on Human Rights as being contrary to the Convention. The Court therefore held, unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 13.

The Court found that it was not necessary to examine separately the complaints raised under Articles 6 and 14.

In 2000 the European Court convicted the country in a similar case filed by the former Chief Mufti Fikri Salih Hassan. Then the Court held that the state had interfered with the religious denomination's internal matters.

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