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 was registered on the visitors’ list.
Priest Stokić said that this was just one in a series of examples of psychological torture carried out against Karadžić.
He noted that yesterday’s visit to Karadžić was supposed to be the sixth in a row and that such a thing had not happened before.
“I did not expect this to happen, because two weeks ago I had requested permission and scheduled the visit, as a chaplain,” said priest Stokić.
He reminded that he has been an SPC chaplain for 20 years and has entered many prisons from Scandinavia to Estonia and other countries where Serbian prisoners are held, and that nowhere has he encountered a situation where he was forbidden entry into the prison chapel.
“Until now, it has never happened that I couldn’t serve liturgy, hear confession, or give communion to an inmate. This is the only case in a ‘Christian country’ like England, which is inhumane, impermissible, and unacceptable,” emphasized Stokić.
He assumes that the problems began when he asked to meet the chief prison chaplain in order to talk about the chapel.
Stokić said he reached the chief chaplain, Imam Ali, who is a Muslim—though that in itself is not the issue—but it is clear that this conversation has something to do with the ban on his visit.
“I asked the imam for an explanation, I asked: ‘Do you have a room where your inmates can perform religious rituals?’—which he did not answer. ‘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 and hear confession or give communion to an inmate who practices his faith?’” he explained.
Priest Stokić said that tensions arose in the argument, and afterward someone removed him from the visitors’ list.
He also added that it was illogical, since Karadžić had already been informed by prison staff that he would have a visit.
“After that, I asked for the prison governor to come, which he promised, but he did not come—instead he sent a message that the ‘answer is negative’ since I was not on the list,” said Stokić.
He added that he spent eight hours traveling from the town of Bedford near London, only to end up unable to visit Karadžić.
Priest Stokić said he plans to try to visit Karadžić again by the end of the year, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he is denied visits again.
“This must not remain untold, because it is psychological torture of a man,” the priest believes.
He recalled that on Holy Saturday before Easter he was with Karadžić, and afterwards also visited other Serbian prisoners.
“Everywhere I went, the doors were open to me as a chaplain—except in ‘Christian’ England. Here Muslims have more rights than we Christians,” added Stokić.
He also recalled that there had previously been problems and examples of inhumane behavior, when gifts and books he brought for Karadžić were returned—even plain paper.
“Karadžić is an intellectual who writes, prepares his defense, but even that gift was not allowed. I did not get into conflicts so as not to harm him, but this is classic harassment,” the priest assessed.
Priest Stokić also mentioned that Karadžić had not received his medication for 17 days, and that he had been in solitary confinement for 10 days, stressing that this is not a humane approach, but torture, adding that in England they are ‘masters of such things.’
