By Mike Karadjis
While the Greek government insists that there are no (Slav) Macedonians in Greece and therefore they cannot be oppressed, when actual people put holes in this convenient theory by claiming to exist, the government's response is oppression.
Amnesty International has written to the Greek government expressing its concern about the alleged violent treatment of Archimandrite Nikodimos Tsarknias upon his return to Greece after holding an Easter mass at a Macedonian church in Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia.
Archimandrite Tsarknias, a Greek citizen of the Macedonian ethnic minority, was reportedly beaten by Greek border guards on May 4 when returning to Greece. His sister, who had come to meet him, was also reportedly attacked. Following further interrogation in Florina, he collapsed and was hospitalised.
He was later released without charges being laid. Amnesty International is therefore concerned that the only reason for his mistreatment was his outspoken defence of Macedonian national rights in Greece. Last year he faced a church court for using the Macedonian language in his church and was defrocked.
Amnesty reports that another ethnic Macedonian, Christos Sideropoulos, is facing trial on May 25 charged with "spreading false information which may cause disruption of the international relations of Greece". This charge relates to a statement he made at an international human rights conference in Copenhagen in 1990, where he claimed to belong to the "Slav-Macedonian" minority in Greece whose rights were violated.
Following this conference, Sideropoulos faced considerable harassment, including having his job transferred to the other end of Greece in order to encourage him to quit.
Amnesty states that, if imprisoned, "he will be a prisoner of conscience and should be immediately and unconditionally released". The International Helsinki Human Rights Federation has demanded that Greece withdraw the accusations against Sideropoulos.
Sideropoulos and another Macedonian, Anastasios Boulis, were sentenced last year to five months in prison on another charge, that of claiming to "feel Macedonian" and stating that their people were oppressed. Following an appeal, their sentences have been stayed.
Sissy Vovon, from the Left Feminists Forum in Greece, was recently in Skopje as a guest of the Civilian Forum for Dialogue between Greece and Macedonia. Over Macedonian radio, Vovou said that the Anti-Nationalist Anti-War Campaign in Greece, of which she is a leading member, has made attempts to organise demonstrations in Salonika, demanding an embargo on nationalism rather than on Macedonia.