{"id":2538,"date":"2021-12-09T09:48:36","date_gmt":"2021-12-09T09:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/?p=2538"},"modified":"2024-02-16T10:38:22","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T09:38:22","slug":"bulgarian-pastors-challenge-governments-disinformation-campaign-against-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/news\/bulgarian-pastors-challenge-governments-disinformation-campaign-against-christians","title":{"rendered":"Bulgarian pastors challenge government\u2019s disinformation campaign against Christians"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2538\" class=\"elementor elementor-2538\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-01f3c94 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"01f3c94\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-d1cab19\" data-id=\"d1cab19\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-efb4296 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"efb4296\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li data-leveltext=\"-\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><p><b>Bulgarian government labeled non-Eastern Orthodox Christians as sects and warned children off against them in school lessons<\/b><\/p><\/li><li data-leveltext=\"-\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><p><b>ADF International files response to Bulgarian government at Europe\u2019s top court<\/b><\/p><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ab3a5b1 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ab3a5b1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>STRASBOURG\/ BURGAS (9 December 2021)<\/b> &#8211; Two Bulgarian pastors are standing up against a scaremongering campaign by their local government to label all non-Eastern Orthodox Christians as sects and warn children off against them. In 2008 the City Council of Burgas, together with the police, sent a letter to all school administrators in the city. In the letter they made slanderous accusations against evangelical Christians and instructed faculty to &#8222;inform&#8220; children of the danger they pose and provide written feedback. The government has never rescinded the letter or apologised. This year, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided to hear the case. Today, ADF International filed a brief at the ECHR, responding to the Bulgarian government\u2019s arguments in defence of its actions.<\/p><p>\u201cWhen it comes to religious freedom, the government\u2019s job is to respect it. Yet in Bulgaria you have the very opposite. The government decided that the theology and beliefs of non-orthodox Christians are illegitimate and then proceeded to warn an entire city off against them. The government has never retracted the letter, and national courts refused to step in, so there is nothing to stop something like this from happening again. That is why we are taking the case of Pastor Tonchev and Pastor Kiryakov to the European Court of Human Rights, not just for faith leaders like them in Burgas, but for religious minorities in Bulgaria and beyond. Everyone has the right to live in accordance with what they believe and should be able to share their faith with their friends and neighbours without facing government hostility,\u201d said Robert Clarke, Deputy Director of ADF International and co-counsel at the European Court of Human Rights.<\/p><p><b>Slanderous accusations<\/b><\/p><p>In 2008 the City Council of Burgas, together with the police, sent a letter to all school administrators in the city. In it they accused Protestants of \u201ccarrying out a massive campaign of agitation\u201d, &#8222;tricking new members&#8220;, and &#8222;disuniting the Bulgarian nation&#8220;. They also alleged that there was a danger of suffering \u201cmental aberrations and disorders\u201d when attending Protestant church services. The students in the class were asked to report if they have ever met someone from one of the named groups. The government also provided material to the press to generate coverage on what was referred to as its \u201cWar on the Sects\u201d.<\/p><p>\u201cWhen we read the letter, we were shocked because after the fall of communism, we thought that we would be able to share the Gospel freely. At the same time, the media also started to say that we are dangerous cults and sectarians, and that people should be very careful,\u201d recalls Pastor Radoslav Kiryakov.<\/p><p><b>Seeking justice at Europe\u2019s highest court<\/b><\/p><p>Pastor Tochev and Pastor Kiryakov went to court to challenge these accusations. Their case is now being heard by the European Court of Human Rights.<\/p><p>&#8222;Religious beliefs are part of the dignity of human beings and have to be respected. The actions of the government in this case were reckless and they caused significant damage to the ability of the pastors that I represent, Tonchev and Kiryakov, to exercise their religious rights. They also caused damage to all other congregations and, in a larger context, to all believers in the city and in the country,\u201d said Viktor Kostov, ADF International\u2019s allied lawyer, who is representing the Pastors before the ECHR.<\/p><p>Pastor Zhivko Tonchev stated: \u201cWith the years, I believe that we are again gaining trust. But with these letters, they very easily pull down everything we try to build. With the help of Viktor Kostov and ADF International we believe that this case could be good for our society, for Christians, and for our nation.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0e4514a elementor-widget elementor-widget-video\" data-id=\"0e4514a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;youtube_url&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/youtu.be\\\/j1zsgDrjcaA&quot;,&quot;video_type&quot;:&quot;youtube&quot;,&quot;controls&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"video.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-wrapper elementor-open-inline\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-video\"> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-container brlbs-cmpnt-content-blocker brlbs-cmpnt-with-individual-styles\" data-borlabs-cookie-content-blocker-id=\"youtube-content-blocker\" data-borlabs-cookie-content=\"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\"><div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-preset-c brlbs-cmpnt-cb-youtube\"> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-thumbnail\" style=\"background-image: url('https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/borlabs-cookie\/1\/yt_j1zsgDrjcaA_hqdefault.jpg')\"><\/div> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-main\"> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-play-button\"><\/div> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-content\"> <p class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-description\">You are currently viewing a placeholder content from <strong>YouTube<\/strong>. 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site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bulgarian pastors challenge government\u2019s disinformation campaign against Christians - ADF International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/de\/news\/bulgarian-pastors-challenge-governments-disinformation-campaign-against-christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bulgarian pastors challenge government\u2019s disinformation campaign against Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two Bulgarian pastors are standing up against a scaremongering campaign by their local government to label all non-Eastern Orthodox Christians as sects and warn children 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