Religious persecution

The Catholic Church in Albania on Thursday announced that 38 Christians martyred for their faith in the Communist era will be beatified in Rome this year.

The Albanian Catholics were executed or died in prison between 1944 and 1969, when Enver Hoxha's harsh Communist regime banned all religions and persecuted those who did not abandon their faith.

A Bangladeshi law student who posted against Islamism on his Facebook page has been murdered, police said on April 7, the latest in a series of killings of secular activists and bloggers in the country.

The European Platform on Religious Intolerance and Discrimination, EPRID, has sharply criticised the proposed new law, saying that it would "seriously violate rights of religious freedom and autonomy for churches and religious communities and unfairly discriminate against them".

Macedonia: Archbishop Jovan released on parole

SKOPJE -- Head of the Orthodox Diocese of Ohrid Archbishop Jovan Vraniskovski has been released on parole.

The Court of Appeal in Skopje rejected the appeal by the public prosecutor, who wanted Vraniskovski to continue serving his sentence.

SKOPJE - Head of the Christian Orthodox Diocese of Ohrid Archbishop Jovan Vraniskovski has been released on parole after the Court of Appeal in Skopje rejected the appeal by the public prosecutor, who wanted Vraniskovski to continue serving his sentence.

The court decision to release Vraniskovski is valid until March 23, 2017, according to the Macedonian news agency MIA.

Macedonia: Bishop kept in jail despite deal to release him

SKOPJE -- The Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Skopje has filed a complaint against a decision to release Bishop of Ohrid Jovan, thus keeping him in jail.

Previously, a court decided that Bishop Jovan should be granted conditional release, and set free on January 19.

In a major drugs busting operation near Elbasan, 40 km south of Tirana, police seized more than 19.5 kg of pure cocaine and 20 kg of of chemical elements used to mix the cocaine.

"Our investigation discovered a structured international criminal enterprise with activities from Latin America into the Balkans and Western Europe," police said.

Archbishop to be released after Russian mediation

SKOPJE -- A court in Skopje has ruled that the head of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, Jovan Vraniskovski, will be granted conditional release on January 19.

SKOPJE, MOSCOW - The criminal court in Skopje has ruled that the head of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, Jovan Vraniskovski, be granted conditional release on January 19, while the canonically unrecognised Macedonian Orthodox Church (MPC) expects a dialogue with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) on its status to begin afterwards, with mediation from the Russian Orthodox Church (RPC).

Jovan Vraniskovski might be out of prison as early as Monday, December 17, a source from Macedonia's Idrizovo prison told BIRN, after the state prosecution and the Skopje criminal court approved his release.