16.07.2009
BELARUS: CHURCH FINED FOR ACTIVITY "NOT ACCORDING TO ITS STATUTE"


A registered Protestant congregation in western Belarus has been fined for
activity which officials claim was "not according to its statute," local
Protestants told Forum 18 News Service. The church held a special prayer
service in its registered building, which church members insist was within
its statute. Trouble for the New Generation Church began when Baranovichi
local Ideology Department officials saw posters in the town advertising the
service. One official and two "witnesses" arrived at the church 30 minutes
before the service, but left 10 minutes before it began without witnessing
it. The official, Sergei Puzikov of the Ideology Department, refused to
explain to Forum 18 what activity was outside the church's statute, as did
the Department's head. In defiance of international human rights standards,
Belarus bans all unregistered religious activity - including both
unregistered communities and unregistered activity by registered
communities. Religious activity is kept under close surveillance by the KGB
secret police, and officials often issue warnings for activity they claim
is illegal. Two such warnings can lead to a religious organisation being
closed down.

BELARUS: CHURCH FINED FOR ACTIVITY "NOT ACCORDING TO ITS STATUTE"

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service

A registered Protestant congregation in the western Brest Region of
Belarus was fined on 14 July, for activity which officials claim to be "not
according to its statute," local Protestants have told Forum 18 News
Service. Officials objected to a special Sunday morning prayer service at
the New Generation Full Gospel Church in the western town of Baranovichi
[Baranavichy], which church members insist fell inside the list of
activities in their statute.

In defiance of the country's international human rights commitments,
Belarusian law bans all unregistered religious activity - including both
unregistered communities and unregistered activity by registered
communities. Religious organisations are kept under close surveillance by
the KGB secret police, and officials often issue warnings for activity that
they deem to be illegal. For two "offences", the registration body can
apply to a court to have a religious organisation liquidated, and also has
the power to halt the organisation's activity in the run-up to the court's
decision.

Just such a warning was issued to the New Testament Pentecostal Church in
Minsk in late May, after it invited a visiting Ukrainian pastor to preach
at one service without specific state approval (see F18News 15 July 2009
).

Officials may complain about any activity religious organisations
undertake that is not specifically listed within organisations' statutes,
which have to be approved at the time registration is granted. This allows
officials wide scope for questioning the legality of any religious activity
they do not like, especially if it takes place outside a religious
organisation's registered legal address.

Marina Tsvilik of the government's Office of the Plenipotentiary for
Religious and Ethnic Affairs said she was not familiar with the fine
imposed on the Baranovichi church, but said she would be "surprised" if
they had been fined merely for holding a prayer service in their own church
building. "I don't see any violation in this," she told Forum 18 from Minsk
on 15 July.

Ideology Department targets New Generation

Trouble for the New Generation Church began when Baranovichi local
Ideology Department officials saw posters the church had placed around the
town, to advertise a special service on 21 June to pray for protection
against evil in individuals' lives.

Sergei Puzikov, the chief specialist of the Ideology Department of
Baranovichi Executive Committee, arrived at the church together with two
"witnesses" half an hour before the service was due to begin, church
members told Forum 18. Puzikov drew up an official record of what he
claimed was an administrative violation. He and the two witnesses left
after 20 minutes, before the service had even begun.

The official record, of which Forum 18 has seen a copy, notes that the
advertisement indicated that the service would take place and that the
service was a violation of Article 9.9 Part 1 of the Code of Administrative
Violations. "Such forms of activity are not the activity as in the statute
of the New Generation religious community of Full Gospel Christians," it
records.

Article 9.9 Part 1 punishes "creation of a religious organisation or
leadership of it without registration under the established procedure or
activity of a religious organisation outside the statute".

On 14 July, Judge Oksana Sarakhman of Baranovichi Town and District Court
found that the New Generation Church had violated Article 9.9 Part 1 of the
Code of Administrative Violations. The judge handed down the maximum fine
under this Article of 10 base units or 350,000 Belarusian Roubles (786
Norwegian Kroner, 87 Euros or 122 US Dollars).

Are churches banned from holding prayer services?

Church members insisted to Forum 18 that a prayer service is within the
terms of the church's statute. They told Forum 18 that the statute
describes the church's basic religious activity as "religious services,
prayer meetings, religious rites, rituals and ceremonies." Church members
noted that many religious communities conduct activities that are not
specifically identified in their statutes. These often only describe their
activity as religious services and rites, without identifying the exact
forms of services and rites used.

Church members also pointed out that Puzikov of the Ideology Department
and the two "witnesses" had not witnessed the prayer service, as they had
left ten minutes before it started and only had information about it from
the advertisements.

Puzikov refused to explain to Forum 18 why he and the Court regarded the
nature of the service as being "not in accordance with the statute". He
claimed from Baranovichi on 15 July that the country's Law on State Service
banned him from speaking to the media without permission from his
superiors.

Puzikov's boss, the head of the Ideology Department Tatyana Zhidko,
refused absolutely to discuss the case with Forum 18 on 16 July. Asked what
activity the church had conducted that was not included in its statute, she
responded firmly and repeatedly: "I have no information at all about this -
ask the Court." Asked how a prayer service in a church's own premises could
constitute activity outside its statute, she repeated her response. When
Forum 18 pointed out that Puzikov, who had determined that a "violation"
had taken place, was an official of her department, she put the phone down.

No other Ideology Department official would explain to Forum 18 why
holding a religious prayer service was outside the terms of the church's
statute.

Church members told Forum 18 that they have not yet received the Court's
written verdict, but say they intend to challenge the fine at Brest
Regional Court.

New Generation's earlier problems

New Generation Church - which is led by Pastor Leonid Voronenko - has
faced earlier pressure from the authorities over alleged incorrect land use
(see F18News 7 February 2008
), and the presence of
a visiting foreign pastor (see F18News 18 October 2006
).

Activity "outside the statute" punished

The authorities have frequently used very tight definitions of what
constitutes activity within the terms of a religious organisation's statute
to restrict peaceful religious activity. Organisations registered as
social, rather than religious, can be deemed to be acting illegally if they
allow any religious activity

A rehabilitation programme for alcoholics and drug addicts in the eastern
city of Mogilev [Mahilyow] run by a Belarusian Christian social
organisation, Cliff House, was raided in March by a local Ideology
Department official accompanied by police officers. They accused the
organisation of conducting "illegal" religious activity. In May, Lyudmila
Batyuk, the co-ordinator of the programme, was fined 140,000 Belarusian
Roubles (315 Norwegian Kroner, 35 Euros or 50 US Dollars) under Article 9.9
Part 1 of the Administrative Violations Code for conducting unregistered
religious activity.

Irina Batishcheva, the head of the District Executive Committee's Ideology
Department who led the raid, refused to discuss the case with Forum 18 (see
F18News 11 June 2009 ).

Similarly, Catholic priests and nuns involved in prominent social activity
have been expelled from the country (see eg. F18News 7 January 2009
). (END) www.forum18.org