Estonian Court Endorses Religious Discrimination Against Orthodox Christian Minority

Intern JPTi
May 26
2 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

🕊️ Estonia Must End Institutionalized Religious Bigotry

On 26 May 2025, Justice pour Tous Internationale (JPTi) filed a supplementary submission to the United Nations Special Procedures, expanding its original complaint against the Republic of Estonia. This action follows the Tallinn Administrative Court’s ruling of 15 May 2025, which upheld the discriminatory withdrawal of state funding from the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church (EOCC) based solely on its canonical affiliation with the Moscow Patriarchate.

The decision, rooted in the Estonian Parliament’s political designation of the Russian Federation as a “terrorist state,” treats spiritual loyalty as de facto political extremism—without presenting a shred of individualized evidence. As our Executive Director, Sharof Azizov, stated:

“This decision institutionalizes a doctrine of guilt by association. It is a judicial endorsement of political theology and religious discrimination disguised as counter-terrorism.”

The expanded complaint exposes the weaponization of national security rhetoric to target Orthodox Christians, in clear violation of Articles 18, 19, 20(2), 21–22, 26, and 27 of the ICCPR, and relevant UN Security Council counter-terrorism resolutions. Estonia is not only eroding legal protections for religious minorities but also coercively dismantling canonical structures that are centuries old.

💬 JPTi expresses its profound sympathy with the victims of the 21 May 2025 hate crime in Washington, D.C., where two Israeli Embassy staff members—Mr. Yaron Lischinsky** and Ms. Sarah Lynn Milgrim—were murdered in an antisemitic act of terrorism outside the Capital Jewish Museum. This heinous attack, carried out solely on account of their perceived religious and national identity, underscores the lethal consequences of ideological profiling and hate-based incitement. JPTi unequivocally condemns all forms of Antisemitism and Russophobia, recognizing both as manifestations of the same dangerous logic of collective punishment—where individuals are targeted not for their actions, but for their affiliations or beliefs. In this context, JPTi calls for robust international oversight and accountability mechanisms to ensure that no religious minority—whether Jewish, Orthodox Christian, or otherwise—is subjected to persecution or institutional repression under the false pretense of national security.