23/08/2005 (Agence Europe) - Bishop Josef Homeyer, the President of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), has written to Tony Blair, Javier Solana and Olli Rehn, the Commissioner for Enlargement, asking them to strive for the immediate release of Archbishop Jovan, a representative of the orthodox church in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Archbishop Jovan was convicted in July 2004 “of allegedly instigating ethnic, racial and religious hatred, discord and intolerance”, and his sentence (to two and a half years imprisonment) having been confirmed in July, Archbishop Jovan has been in prison since 25 July, a COMECE press release indicates, noting: “there are reasons to believe that the statements made [by] the Archbishop were consonant with the provisions for freedom of religion and freedom of expression as delineated in articles 9 and 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms”.