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Jehovah's Witnesses under judicial attack

OPEN LETTER
To Prosecutor General of the Russian federation, Yu.Ya. Chaike

Esteemed Yurii Yakovlevich

In the name of all Jehovah's Witnesses Christians I write to you in connection with the deepest concern evoked by the actions of several highly placed officials of the office of Prosecutor General of the Russian federation in relations with our religious organizations. These actions have led to massive violations of the constitutional rights of believers that are guaranteed by articles 28 and 29 of the constitution of RF, specifically the right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religious confession and also the prohibition of propaganda or agitation that arouses religious enmity and strife. We shall provide only a few instances.

Without the production of accusations, believers are searched, arrested, and subjected to compulsory photographing and fingerprinting, and their religious literature is confiscated.  The inviolability of residence and the personal life of believers are infringed and information about the religious affiliation of school children, teachers, and representatives of other professions is illegally gathered simply because they are Jehovah's Witnesses.

These instances began happening especially frequently after an informational letters over the signature of the deputy prosecutor general was sent in 2007 to the prosecutors of all component elements of the Russian federation; this letter dealt with measures for prevention of religious extremism which designated the Jehovah's Witnesses, among other organizations. As a result, in various regions of Russia, more than 45 notices were send to Jehovah's Witnesses religious organizations with baseless warnings about the impermissibility of extremist activity.

In the cities of Gorno-Altaisk, Asbest (Sverdlovsk province) Salsk (Rostov province), Vladikavkaz, and other cities, judicial proceedings were initiated; the basic arguments prosecutors have used are linguistic expert analyses conducted by specialists who not only do not have sufficient qualifications but even are not specialists in matters of religion, and sometimes agents of FSB act in the role of such specialists (?!). It is significant that when the European Court on Human Rights reviewed a complaint from Jehovah's Witnesses, it made the following explanation on this account:  "The right to freedom of religious confession in that form in which it is guaranteed by the convention excludes any kind of freedom for actions on the part of the government for determining whether religious beliefs or means used for expression of such beliefs are legitimate" (Manussakis and others v. Greece, 26 September 1996).

Back before the beginning of the above stated judicial investigations more than 80 reports were disseminated by news media, provided by prosecutors, accusing the literature of Jehovah's Witnesses of extremism. We recall that the literature of the Jehovah's Witnesses has been published now for more than 100 years and distributed throughout the world in nearly 500 languages. In the former USSR Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to fierce persecution, although in democratic Russia they were completely rehabilitated as victims of political repressions. Many of the religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses against whom judicial proceedings were initiated have operated peacefully in Russia now for dozens of years.

In February 2009 instructions were sent to prosecutors of the component elements of RF by the first deputy prosecutor general of the Russian federation regarding conduct of ascertaining the legality of the activity of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Unfortunately, the nature of the formulations in the instructions and the extremely compressed time limit for fulfilling it demonstrate that the clear intention is the liquidation of this religious organization.

Unfounded and unjust accusations are being made against Jehovah's Witnesses of "violation of legislation," "abstention from military service," performance of "asocial actions" and "social isolation" (letter from the prosecutor of Moscow province of 13 February 2009). Declaring that the activity of Jehovah's Witnesses supposedly "evokes negative attitudes on the part of the populace and traditional Russian confessions," the prosecutor directly has violated the principle of the secularity of the Russian state. It turns out that, on one hand, the prosecutor defames Jehovah's Witnesses in the news media, and on the other hand appeals to their bad reputation. Making Jehovah's Witnesses guilty a priori cannot be deemed anything other than "propaganda . . . of the inferiority of a person on the basis of identification of his . . . religious attitude" (point 1, article 1, item 3 "On prevention of extremist activity").

In fulfillment of the above mentioned instructions, in the provinces have been conducted massive investigations "in cooperation with agencies of internal affairs, territorial directorates of FSB of Russia, the Ministry of Justice of Russia, Russian Health Supervisor, military commissars, and education and health departments," which paralyze the normal activity of religious associations. As of now, the number of such investigations that we know of has reached more than 500. This violates the resolution of the European Court on Human Rights which says:  "The right of believers to freedom of religious confessions includes the expectation that an organization will be permitted to work peacefully without undergoing arbitrary interference on the part of the state" (Moscow Detachment of Salvation Army v. Russia" (5 October 2006).

In violation of article 61 of the foundation of legislation of the Russian federation for protecting the health of citizens and article 8 of the Convention on Protection of human rights and basic freedoms, prosecutors in the provinces demand from hospitals and the Ministry of Protection of Health of Russia provision of information for which the law makes medical confidentiality. Pressure is put on Jehovah's Witnesses patients to impose on them methods of treatment that are unacceptable to them on medical and religious bases. Those who do not consent are forcibly discharged from hospitals in conditions that are critical for their health and life.

In violation of the resolution of the European Court for Human Rights, religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses are being interrupted. And this is despite the fact that the European Court called "study and discussion of liturgical texts by members of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group" a "recognized form of [their] confession of their religion in the course of conducting worship services and education" (Kuznetsov and other v. Russian federation of 11 January 2007).

Unfortunately prosecutors in the provinces explicitly declare that they are "people in epaulets and are obliged to do what they are ordered from above," and the unprecedented scale of these actions along with the authority of this respected state agency do not permit effective appeal against the above mentioned actions in the courts.

Considering what we have said, we ask you to use your supreme office to put an end to the massive discrimination against Russian citizens who profess the Jehovah's Witnesses religion, on the basis of the identity of their religion.

With respect

President of the Administrative Committee of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious organization,
V. M. Kalin
(tr. by PDS, posted 13 March 2009)

Russian original posted on Slavic Legal Center site, 11 March 2009

Related article:  "Nationwide strike at Jehovah's Witnesses," by Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18 News Service

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Far-Eastern rabbi thrown out of Russia

FEDERAL JEWISH AUTHORITY EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER DEPORTATION OF CHIEF RABBI OF COASTAL REGION
Interfax, 5 March 2009

The Federal Jewish National and Cultural Authority expressed serious distress in connection with the deportation from Russia of Coastal Region Chief Rabbi Isroel Zilbershtein.

"The decision of the Pervorechensk regional court of Vladivostok complicates what apart from the decision is an already difficult situation with respect to religious persons who are foreign citizens, and its seems to us to be very serious, since it can have a negative impact on the spiritual climate in our country," a letter from the leadership of the authority that was turned over to Interfax on Thursday says.

The Jewish authority considers that "the problem has been developing for a long time and it requires immediate resolution, inasmuch as this is by no means the first precedent in connection with the work of foreign clergy." From 1998 to 2003, 30 religious leaders have been thrown out of Russia, among whom were not only Jews but also Catholics and protestants.

"The case is greatly complicated by the fact that the list of specialties for receiving workers' visas does not include clergy. Thus, the problem of the expulsion of rabbis and other clergy could be fixed if the rules were clarified," the authors of the document think.

In their opinion, "it is necessary to take note of the selflessness of the rabbi, who despite the recent violent attack upon him in November 2008 has continued his work in the territory."

"Isroel Zilbershtein has had great success in his work for the good of the Jewish community. Now the large community of the Coastal Region Territory is left without its spiritual leader," the directors of the Jewish authority write.

As was reported, in February of this year the court of the Pervorechensk region of Vladivostok issued a decision for the expulsion from the Russian federation of the chief rabbi of the Coastal Region Territory, USA citizen Isroel Zilbershtein. The basis for the decision was nonobservance of the rules for residence in the country: the purposes for residence indicated in the rabbi's visa did not correspond to his actual activity.

The rabbi submitted an appeal with the Coastal Region territorial court, but he did not await a decision with respect to it and on 25 February he voluntarily left Russia.  (tr. by PDS, posted 5 March 2009)


CHIEF RABBI OF COASTAL REGION MADE MISTAKE. OR WAS CONFUSED?
by Boris Klin
Izvestiia, 26 February 2009

On Wednesday the chief rabbi of the Coastal Region, American citizen Israel Zilbershtein, was expelled from Russia. The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia expressed "extreme dismay over the deportation." In a statement, FEOR President Alexander Boroda said:  "It cannot be ruled out that at the base of these action may lies antisemitism in the Russian regions." However, experts at Izvestiia think that the problem has a legal and not a political character.

The occasion for the exile of Rabbi Zilbershtein was disagreement between the goals stated at the issuance of the visa for residence in the country ("cultural ties") and his actual religious activity.  FEOR thinks that the enlightenment and educational activity of the rabbi conform to "cultural ties." The statement stressed that the presence in Russia of a large number of foreign religious persons is connected with the fact that the soviet authorities suppressed manifestations of Jewish religious life and deprived its citizens of the possibility of receiving religious education and training rabbis. The harsh evaluations by the federation were evoked by the fact that Israel Zilbershtein is not the first. In 2003, Rabbis Kaplun and Friedman were expelled from Rostov-on-Don.

At the Slavic Legal Center (a nongovernmental organization defending the rights of believers) Izvestiia was told that from 1998 to 2003, 30 religious leaders were thrown out of Russia, among whom were not only Jews but also Catholics, protestants, and the Moonie Patrick Nolan.  In February of this year, the last one won a suit against Russia in the European Court for Human Rights, since his expulsion was based on the threat of his religious preaching to state security. In the opinion of the judges, such a formulation violates human rights. A representative of the Slavic Legal Center, Roman Lunkin, thinks that there is no antisemitism in the action of FMS. Russian legislation distinguishes between religious activity and "cultural ties." At a press conference FMS explained that in accordance with an order of MVD of 2003, cultural ties refer to participation in art exhibits, concerts, and tours. Preaching is a separate form of activity and requires issuance of a special visa. In his turn, FEOR Press Secretary Daniil Yakovlev reported that Rabbi Zilbershtein sent to the authorities eight months ago a request for issuance of a worker's visa, but he was refused. Catholic priest Evgeny Genriks told Izvestiia that representatives of his church also faced difficulties of a similar nature. Some priests were deprived of their visas and others were deported. According to Fr Evgeny, this was connected with the fact that the list of specialties for receiving workers' visas does not mention clergy.

Thus, it turns out, the problem with the deportation of rabbis and other clergy could be fixed by the authorities if they made the rules more precise. (tr. by PDS, posted 5 March 2009)

Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 26 February 2009.


DECISION FOR EXPULSION OF COASTAL REGION RABBI IS UNJUST AND WE WILL APPEAL IT AT THE HIGHEST INSTANCES
Interfax, 25 February 2009

A court in the Coastal Region Territory satisfied the suit of the regional division of the Federal Migration Service (FMS) of the Russian federation for the deportation of USA citizen Rabbi Isroel Zilbershtein.

Regarding how the Jewish community has taken this decision and what it intends to do and how this and a number of other similar cases may reflect on the image of Russia in the international arena and why it is necessary to invite foreign rabbis for work in the country, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar talked with Interfax-Religiia in an interview.

--How did you take the news about the deportation of the chief rabbi of the Coastal Region?

--The judicial decision about the expulsion of a rabbi from Russia on a suit from the Federal Migration Service is without doubt an unprecedented act. The Jewish community is accustomed to the fact that in our country the authorities respect the traditional religions, and to the extent possible they have facilitated the restoration of spirituality and national cultures. I do not think that this course has been altered or that the Vladivostok precedent signifies a return to the policy of repression against Jewish believers.  But, unfortunately, this is not the first instance when the authorities in the provinces have undertaken actions that willy-nilly force one to recall the "soviet" relations to the Jewish question. Similar problems occurred in Rostov, where the local GUVD, under fabricated pretenses, deported two rabbis. The stories are different, but one perceives similar actions by the executive authorities at the regional level: bureaucrats on the basis of formalities and using pseudo-legal casuistry deprive Jewish religious figures of the possibility of working with believers.

--But, from your point of view, whey must local bureaucrats do this?

--That is not a question for me; these men, as you understand, do not share their thoughts with me. I can say only one thing: they are playing a dangerous game. Now in our country and without that many problems, federal authorities are trying to pull society together in the face of crisis phenomena; the country needs spiritual support and so such attempts to redraw the religious map of Russia and to use interethnic tension to work on goals directly contradictory to the policy of the state. In addition, in the international news media this story has already received publicity and naturally it is not for the good of Russia. As you recall, in its time the charge of state sponsored antisemitism was one of the important causes for the economic isolation of the Soviet Union. I do not know whether the initiators of such antisemitic actions as the deportation of Jewish religious figures have such far reaching goals, but I would very much not wish that they would not talk about our country abroad in the same terms as they once talked about USSR.

--What do you intend to do in this most complicated situation?

--I will appeal to the Public Chamber and to the Interreligious Council and will ask all state structures at the federal level to make an assessment of what has happened and of the direction of the actions of local authorities. As regards the judicial decision, we consider it unjust and, it seems, we will submit an appeal to the highest instances. I hope that legality will reign supreme at the federal level. As regards Isroel Zilbershtein, his visa has expired so that in any case he must leave Russia. But we will apply for a worker's visa for him, because really we want to see him as a rabbi in one of our congregations. He is a very well educated man who enjoys deserved authority in Jewish religious circles. For us it would be a great success if he could work with us.

--In general, why do you invite foreigners as rabbis in Jewish congregations?

--Because for four generations of communist rule in USSR Jewish religious life was destroyed. People were sent to the GULAG simply because they read the Torah. Indeed, we have done everything we can to train our own cadre of religious authorities, but this requires a great deal of time. Any believing person, whatever his religious affiliation, will tell you that it is not merely sufficient to have an education to be a spiritual leader. It requires tradition, received from one's parents, from grandparents and great grandparents, and for us this connection has been sundered by violence. So it is necessary to invite people from communities that have not experienced such destruction. Because congregations are growing quickly and the thirst for a return to their roots and to traditional spirituality is enormous, until they have sufficient of their own rabbis. Russia is the legal heir of USSR and it bears responsibility before believers to correct those injustices of which religious communities were the victims in the 20th century. At the federal level, this is understood very well and they are acting accordingly. At the regional level some places this is not understood or it is not thought necessary to understand it. Nevertheless I would like to hope that the state approach will take the lead.  (tr. by PDS, posted 5 March 2009)

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Methodist pastor vs. Orthodox priest

PETITION ON VIOLATION OF ELECTORS' RIGHTS FILED WITH SMOLENSK PROSECUTOR
Slavic Legal Center, 4 March 2009

A petition concerning violation of the rights of electors and of legislation on elections and concerning the participation of the Smolensk diocese of RPTsMP in political activity in the person of Bishop of Viazemsk Ignaty has been submitted to the prosecutor of Smolensk province, the press service of the Slavic Legal Center reported. The petition was sent to Smolensk province prosecutor Yury Verkhovtsev on 26 February 2009 by the pastor of the United Methodist church of the city of Smolensk, Alexander Vtorov, and it was registered in the prosecutor's office.

In the opinion of Pastor Alexander Vtorov, his rights and the rights of other non-Orthodox believers and citizens as a whole were violated not only by the distribution of a phony "Protestant" newspaper, were Baptists were alleged to be acting in support of candidate Maslakov but also by the fact that one of the candidates, Valery Razuvaev, exploited his adherence to the Orthodox faith. In a pamphlet it was affirmed:  "We are Orthodox Christians because our faith is the correct or orthodox Christian faith." In addition, placards were posted around Smolensk showing Valery Razuvaev and Bishop Ignaty together under the slogan "Love the city; care for people." The signatures of Valery Razuvaev and Bishop Ignaty appeared under the photos.

Pastor Alexander Vtorov noted in his petition:  "On the basis of the above presented facts, I ask that measures of prosecutorial response be taken in accordance with existing Russian legislation and that the incitement of interreligious strife be terminated."

Alexander Vtorov became famous for his active civic position in defense of non-Orthodox believers and of the principle of freedom of conscience beginning in January 2008, when the intentional persecution of the Methodist church on the part of Bishop Ignaty began.

According to the pastor, "On 22 January 2008 Bishop of Viazemsk Ignaty planned and conducted a hounding of the Methodist church by sending simultaneously an appeal to law enforcement agencies, UBOP, Inspection of Affairs of Minors, police departments, the Department of Education, the provincial UVD, and the prosecutor's office, which demanded "taking measures for protecting residents of our city and especially youth from this pseudoreligious organization." Bishop Ignaty maintains in the appeal:  "It is completely obvious that the activity of this Methodist college is aimed not at the regeneration of the spiritual and moral foundations of the life of our city, but at its spiritual destruction."

In his turn, on 22 February 2008, the pastor filed suit in court against Bishop Ignaty. Alexander Vtorov accused Bishop of Viazemsk Ignaty of inciting interreligious strife and hounding of a protestant church and he demanded payment of damages. However the Smolensk prosecutor's office rejected Vtorov's suit. On 24 March 2008 the Smolensk United Methodist church was liquidated on the basis of a suit by the Smolensk provincial prosecutor. In Pastor Alexander Vtorov's opinion, the suit for the liquidation of the Methodist church was the prosecutor's response to an appeal from Bishop Ignaty, a vicar of the Smolensk and Kaliningrad diocese of PRTsMP, regarding the necessity of investigating the Methodist church. In June 2008 the Supreme Court of the Russian federation overruled the decision of the Smolensk provincial court for the liquidation of the Methodist church. (tr. by PDS, posted 5 March 2009)

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Russian judge approves prayers in schools

COURT RULES ORTHODOX PRAYER DOES NOT HARM PROTESTANTS
by Boris Klin
Izvestiia, 3 March 2009

In Voronezh province the legal proceedings have concluded on the suit regarding violation of the constitutional rights of second-grader David Perov (Izvestiia wrote about its start on 7 December 2007). His father, Aleksei Perov, pastor of the "Community of Christ" church, filed the suit against the school over the conduct of an Orthodox prayer service. The Gribanov regional court and then the Voronezh provincial court did not take up the claims of the protestant family.

"This story began on 3 September 2007. I took my son to school," Perov explains. "I saw that a local Orthodox priest, Fr Alexander Muraviev, had come there; he also brought a child, but I did not think that he would conduct a prayer service. In the final analysis, we have a secular state and the law forbids conducting religious rites in the schools."

According to the pastor, after classes he was not able to find his son for about ten minutes. At home David explained:  there had been a prayer service at school and he had to kiss a cross and icon.

The regional prosecutor considered conducting a religious rite in the school to be a violation of the law and conducted an investigation. The school director and teacher were issued reprimands. But the director of the school, Tatiana Zhukov, did not acknowledge the suit.

The pastor explained the motivation for going to court as his own patriotism. He wanted to show that religious minorities are not repressed in Russia. But the court's decision turned out to be a surprise. Perov's suit was rejected. As rights defender Olga Gnezdilova, who represented the Perovs' interests in court, explained to Izvestiia, the regional court not only did not recognize the incident of "compelling a child to participate in a rite," but also recognized that participation in it caused no harm to the children, and especially to David Perov. Especially since the prayer service was conducted "outside of the framework of the school curriculum." Gnezdilova noted that in his explanation to the court the priest indicated that "the presence of outside persons at rituals cannot serve as a basis for their prohibition."  "We consider that David Perov, who was enrolled in the school for study, is not an outside person, in contrast to the priest Muraviev," the rights defender noted.  The pastor did not achieve his patriotic goals. Now the complaint will be sent to the European Court for Human Rights. And there, in Gnezdilova's opinion, chances for success are good. The court issued a decision in favor of a family from Norway. In order for children to refuse to study foundations of Christianity in school their parents had to betray their religious convictions.

The director of the press service of the Moscow patriarchate, Fr Vladimir Vigiliansky, commenting on the situation, said that he sees nothing abnormal about prayer services in schools:  "Russia is an Orthodox country. The reaction of the protestants amazes me. While they call themselves Christians, they consider calling upon Christ to be shameful."

While the court proceedings were going on, no prayers were conducted in the Gribanov school. But now nothing prevents their being conducted. The Voronezh servants of Justice have created a precedent.  (tr. by PDS, posted 5 March 2009)

Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 5 March 2009.

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Religion injected in political campaign

"ORTHODOX'" CANDIDATE LOSES SMOLENSK MAYORAL ELECTION
Slavic Legal Center, 3 March 2009

The "Orthodox" candidate from the "United Russia" party, Valery Razuvaev, who was supported by vicar bishop of the Smolensk diocese of RPTsMP, Ignaty of Viazemsk, lost in the elections for mayor of Smolensk, the press service of the Slavic Legal Center reported. The elections for city head in Smolensk were held 1 March.

The self-sponsored candidate Eduard Kachanovsky was elected mayor of Smolensk with 28.5% of votes. The candidate from the "United Russia" party, Valery Razuvaev, finished third and received 17.56%. Before the elections Kachanovsky joined "United Russia," but in the course of the campaign he was ejected from the party along with a number of other candidates, since he opposed the official candidate of "United Russia," who, as political observers noted, was a businessman with an ambiguous reputation, the chairman of the "Lavash" cooperative, and deputy of the provincial duma.  (Valery Razuvaev conducts business with his two brothers, one of whom heads the "Provincial Center of Adventure" night club.)  Razuvaev was not helped by the active support of Bishop Ignaty and even by the chief slogan of the final part of his campaign, "If you trust Putin, Vote for Razuvaev."

The participation of a vicar of the Smolensk diocese of RPTsMP, Bishop Ignaty, in the electoral campaign in the form of support of one of the candidates, as the press service of Slavic Legal Center has already reported, evoked criticism on the part of leaders of other Christian churches. Throughout Smolensk placards were posted showing Valery Razuvaev and Bishop Ignaty together under the motto "Love the city; Care about people." The signatures of Valery Razuvaev and Bishop Ignaty were under the photos.

In addition, the post boxes of residents of Smolensk received a pamphlet of the candidate from the "United Russia" party, businessman Valery Razuvaev, titled "Faith will save us." It contained a photograph of the candidate with spouse, where they are holding icons. The pamphlet stated that the Orthodox faith occupies a special place in the candidate's life. In addition, the pamphlet explains that Orthodoxy is the "correct faith," and reproduces the text of the Creed.

In an interview with the press service of the Slavic Legal Center, Bishop Viktor Ignatenko of the Association of EKhB Churches for Smolensk province and Pastor Alexander Vtorov of the United Methodist church of Smolensk noted that participation of religious associations in political activity is completely forbidden and there are specific rules and legislation to this effect. "Clergy should not be drawn into political agitation," the head of the Baptist association noted.

Along with this action by the Orthodox candidate, a provocation against another candidate was arranged. On 12 February a fraudulent "Protestant" newspaper was distributed around the city with the heading "Special edition of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists for Smolensk," where Baptists were supposedly expressing support of mayoral candidate Sergei Maslakov, the general director of the "Smolensk Communal System" holding company. The politically incompetent newspaper, according to Presbyter Viktor Ignatenko, contains a spurious interview and appeal from the head of the Union of Baptists, Yury Sipko, with his photograph, as well as several other supposedly Baptist leaders. The newspaper represents Baptism as a threat to Orthodoxy and the candidate as supposedly intending to support protestantism instead of the Orthodox church, living on "American money." According to the fraudulent newspaper, Orthodoxy is in dire need of a defender in the province.

Back on 12 February Bishop Viktor Ignatenko asked the prosecutor of Smolensk province and the Directorate of FSB to investigate the situation and to open a criminal case on the dissemination of a fraud. On 13 February Viktor Ignatenko met with mayoral candidate Sergei Maslakov himself, who reported that he also had filed a declaration with the prosecutor's office for Smolensk province demanding investigation of the source of such provocations.

However, at the end of February Sergei Maslakov was suddenly removed from the election campaign. The Lenin regional court satisfied one of three suits filed by Smolensk mayoral candidate Valery Razuvaev against his opponent Sergei Maslakov. They were based on the supposed illegal publication of photographs of the Maslakov couple, involvement of municipal employees in his election campaign, and producing printed materials by an unlicensed front. The court rejected the first two claims but found the last to have foundation. In connection with this the so-called "Baptist" candidate was excluded from the list of candidates for mayor.  (tr. by PDS, posted 4 March 2009)


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Discrimination against non-Orthodox religions in land questions

KONSTANTIN BENDAS:  PROTESTANTS CONCERNED NOT ABOUT PROPERTY BUT EQUALITY
Regions.ru, 25 February 2009

The first vice-chairman and chief of staff of the Russian Unified Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) Konstantin Vladimirovich Bendas noted that relations between the state and religious organizations regarding land and property have many facets, including some that are much more painful.

"Russian protestants are more disturbed by another issue reflected in existing legislation, in the law on freedom of conscienceÑthe question of the equal opportunities for all religious confessions to receive from the state parcels of land for constructing houses of worship. Unfortunately, so long as the standard of the law is not binding but rather permissive, we are faced with the fact that since the beginning of 2000, of 5,000 protestant religious associations in Russia, only one congregation has actually been able to receive without charge a parcel of land for the construction of a church building. In all other instances--and I myself have personally participated in drawing up 70 petitions to the administrations of cities and governors for allotment of land for congregations-- they have been rejected under various pretenses," he said.

"Congregations of many thousands often have been forced to assemble in small rented premises, that are not always amenable for worship services, suffering substantial difficulty and discomfort. And obviously it is only Christian forbearance and forgiveness that have kept hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens from bursting out in dissatisfaction. This is a very critical question for us. In a number of regions Muslim religious organizations have faced a similar situation. I think that this is impermissible," he concluded. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 March 2009)

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Publisher of on-line news of religion harassed

THREATS AGAINST STAFF OF "SOVA" CENTER CONTINUE
Slavic Legal Center, 2 March 2009

Threats are continuing against workers of the "Sova" informational and analytical center, Civitas reports.

As was reported in the news media, in the middle of February, on the eve of the release of the center's annual report, a letter with threats was received by the associate director Galina Kozhevnikova. In addition, threats against the director of the center, Alexander Verkhovsky, were invigorated. His home address and other data were published, inter alia, in a regular list of "enemies of the Russian people," that appeared at the beginning of 2008. Since that time unknown persons have often threatened him by telephone and email, and they also have come to Verkhovsky's home, trying to coax him outside for "conversation." In July 2008 neo-nazis even posted a video of the first visit on the web.

In 2009 there have already been two such visits, the latest was last Saturday evening, 21 February. The police have conducted an investigation but, as previous experience has shown, they can hardly manage to find quickly the "visitors," who this time appeared immediately under the apartment's door.

Meanwhile, on 2 March the release of "Sova's" handbook on nationalistic organizations is scheduled in the Independent Press Center in Moscow, which could evoke a new outbreak of activity on the part of radical nationalists, including threats. Previously Sova tried not to call attention to the threats against its staff, but at present the situation obviously has gotten out of control and giving publicity to this problem perhaps will help to protect the organization and intensify the work of law enforcement agencies.  (tr. by PDS, posted 2 March 2009)

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