Stiff penalties for convicted clerics
[AP]
Clerics charged with serious offenses will have half their salary docked or will be completely removed from the payroll if they are convicted, according to a provision in a bill submitted by the Education Ministry, which Parliament started debating this week.
This is the first system of sanctions for clerics prosecuted for felonies or specific offenses described in the law or who have been irrevocably convicted. Until now, such decisions could only be taken by Church bodies.
The bill includes a long list of offenses including theft, embezzlement, fraud, extortion, forgery, bribery, breach of duty, defamation, domestic violence, abduction of minors and disruption of religious gatherings.
