CHAPLAIN OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH DENIED VISIT TO KARADŽIĆ – CONTINUED PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE

ISLE OF WIGHT, SEPTEMBER 14 /SRNA/ – The official chaplain of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Radmilo Stokić, was not allowed to visit the first President of Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadžić, in the British prison Albany on the Isle of Wight, even though he had been registered on the list of visitors.

Priest Stokić told SRNA that this is just one in a series of examples of psychological torture being carried out against Karadžić. He stated that yesterday’s visit was supposed to be the sixth in a row and that nothing like this had ever happened before. "I did not expect this to happen, because two weeks earlier I had requested permission and scheduled the visit as a chaplain," said Priest Stokić. He reminded that he has served as an SPC chaplain for 20 years and has entered many prisons from Scandinavia to Estonia and other countries where Serbian detainees are held, and nowhere has he faced a situation where he was denied entry to a prison chapel. "Until now, it had never happened that I could not serve the liturgy, hear confessions, or give communion to an inmate. This has only happened in a so-called ‘Christian country’ like England, which is inhumane, unacceptable, and intolerable," Stokić stressed. He assumes that the problems began when he asked to speak with the head prison chaplain about the chapel. Stokić explained that he found the head chaplain to be Imam Ali, a Muslim, which in itself is not the issue, but it is clear to him that this conversation is linked to the ban on his visit. "I asked the imam for an explanation, I said: ‘Do you have a room where your inmates can perform their religious rites?’ He stayed silent. I asked: ‘How is it that you can do this in a Christian country, which is fine, but I, as a Christian priest and official chaplain, cannot enter the chapel to hear confession and give communion to an inmate who practices his faith?’" he explained. Priest Stokić said the discussion was tense, and after that, someone removed his name from the visitation list. He added that it was illogical because Karadžić had already been informed by prison staff that he would be receiving a visit. "After that I asked to see the governor of the prison. He promised to come but did not show up, instead sending a message that the ‘answer is negative’ because I was no longer on the list," Stokić said. He noted that he had spent eight hours traveling from Bedford, near London, only to be denied the visit. Stokić said he plans to try to visit Karadžić again before the end of the year, but would not be surprised if he is denied again. "This cannot remain untold, because this is psychological torture of a man," the priest emphasized. He recalled that on Holy Saturday before Easter he had visited Karadžić, and afterward other Serbian inmates as well. "Everywhere else the doors were open to me as a chaplain – except in so-called ‘Christian’ England. Here Muslims have more rights than we Christians," Stokić added. He also reminded that there had previously been problems and inhumane behavior, such as when gifts and books he brought for Karadžić were sent back, even simple sheets of paper. "Karadžić is an intellectual who writes and prepares his defense, but even that was not allowed. I avoided conflicts so as not to harm him, but this is classic harassment," Stokić assessed. He also mentioned that Karadžić went 17 days without receiving medication and spent 10 days in solitary confinement, stressing that this is not humane treatment but torture, adding that in England they are ‘masters of such things.’