On 23rd of January, the Appellate Court in Iasi, Romania, upheld a decision of the County Court House condemning a young nun for crying out her opinion regarding the leaders of the Romanian Orthodox Church, during the religious service.
On October 14 each year, in Iasi, Romania, the people celebrate the Saint Paraschiva, whose holly relics are inside the Metropolitan Cathedral. Being a very important Orthodox celebration, more than 600.000 pilgrims come to Iasi to take part in the event. So do the nuns from the Vladimiresti Monastery, well known for their criticism against the leaders of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Their criticism is based mostly on the attitude these leaders had towards the policy the former dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, and on the attitude they have now, being surrounded by luxury while preaching modesty and virtue.
Due to the fact that in previous years these nuns interrupted the religious ceremony by crying loud against the Patriarch and the Metropolitan, this year their access was forbidden inside the Cathedral for the whole duration of the celebrations (one week). Although the perimeter is public space and there was no court order to impose such a restriction on the freedom of movement, and there was a Government Ordinance forbidding any discrimination based on beliefs, the police didn't allow the sisters from Vladimiresti to enter the Cathedral.
Still, one of them managed to pass the security check. Once into the cathedral, she attended the church service. At one moment during the service, the priest asks the believers a rhetorical question, whether the leaders of the church are worthy of remembrance before God. Usually, no one answers this question, but Paula Bulgaru chose to cry loud: "No, they're not! Down with the Metropolitan Daniel! Down with the Bishop Cassian!" Almost immediately, civilian-like policemen took her out of the cathedral and into the police station.
After being held into the police station 24 hours for inquiry, the prosecutors issued a pre-trial arrest warrant for 5 days. The Metropolitan Church sent a letter to the Police asking that proper measure should be taken in order to avoid such attitudes in the future. After the media had a strong reaction, the judges decided that the arrest warrant is void, but the 18 year old girl already spent 4 days in prison. The trial finished extremely fast, which is unusual for Romanian justice system, given the fact that a judge has to deal with an average of 80 files per session. This fact allowed the media to speculate this trial was politically ordered.
Finally, the young Paula Bulgaru was convicted to a criminal fine of about 130 USD for public morals violation and obstructing people from practicing a religion, just because she cried out her beliefs. The amount was reduced to about 100 USD because of the days she spent in detention. The main proofs of the prosecution were the contradictory statements of three sisters who were somewhere near her when shy cried out.
This week the appeal to this decision was rejected, while everybody hoped for an acquittal. The lawyers defending Paula Bulgaru declared they will continue attacking the decision and they will even reach the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.