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Five times more Muslim congregations than Orthodox in Tatarstan

DIRECTORATE OF MINISTRY OF JUSTICE OF TATARSTAN PUBLISHES STATISTICS ON RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS IN REPUBLIC
Religiia v svetskom obshchestve, 11 March 2012

At the beginning of March the Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Justice for the republic of Tatarstan published data about the number of religious organizations in the republic. In 2010, 1440 registered religious organizations were active in the republic: more than 1100 of them are Muslim, around 200 are Orthodox. A year earlier there were 1413 religious organizations in the republic, of which Muslim societies constituted, according to the ministry's data, 1087. According to information from the Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Tatarstan, it incorporates 1247 parishes.

According to the information of the Ministry of Justice, there are 11 active Muslim educational institutions in the republic in which 723 study in the day division. There are also in the republic Sunday classes which 35,000 Muslims attend.

The press release of the Ministry of Justice for Tatarstan does not report an exact number of Orthodox parishes. IA REGNUM provides data for the Kazan diocese: 201 parishes, served by 324 priests and 66 deacons. (tr. by PDS, posted 11 March 2010)

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Jehovah's Witnesses arrested for protest action

INCIDENTS OF VIOLATIONOF HUMAN RIGHTS AND LEGALITY WITH RESPECT TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
Press Service of Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 9 March 2010

1.  On 26 February 2010 in the city of Nizhny Novgorod a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses, one of whom was a minor, were arrested during the distribution of the booklet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." They were detained by unidentified men in camouflage uniforms and accused of violation of the law of Nizhny Novgorod province. At the police station a report was composed. Despite objection, the minor Jehovah's Witness was interrogated over the course of 20 minutes in the absence of his legal representative (father), who was at the door and tried to enter the office where the interrogation was being conducted. The refusal of the minor detainee to give an explanation was met with threats that he would be sent to a children's home, the document confirming that he has parents would be burned, and the Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah's Witnesses (the building for worship services) would be dynamited. Police officers who conducted the arrest and interrogation refused to identify themselves. After some time men in civilian clothing arrived; they also refused to identify themselves, and they instructed the local police officers which questions should be posed to the detainees. After this the detainees were again questioned. The second time, the minor was interrogated in the father's presence, while a video tape was made. As a result, written explanations were taken from the detainees, but copies of them were not given. The detention lasted from 18:00 to 22:00, after which the detainees were released.

2.  On 26 February 2010 in the city of Omsk a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested by police officers during distribution of the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." At the police department an examination and confiscation of personal things of the detainees were conducted and an inventory of them was drawn up. Two other detainees, who were not sober, appeared while this was going on. Later the things were returned. Police officers also took fingerprints from the detainees, recorded explanations, and made photographs. A request to be given copies of the explanations was met with refusal. Police officers expressed dissatisfaction when the detainees tried to submit their own written statement of dissent from the illegal actions of the police. The detention lasted two hours and forty minutes.

3.  On 26 February 2010 in the city of Omsk police officers approached two women Jehovah's Witnesses on the street during distribution of the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians," for checking documents. They demanded that the Jehovah's Witnesses leave and not return any more to the place where they evangelized, after which they were released.

4.  On 26 February 2010 in the city of Unecha, Briansk province, a Jehovah's Witness was distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians," on the street. He offered it to a policeman who was passing by. The latter took the pamphlet and asked the believer where he got it, after which he suggested that the Jehovah's Witness go with him to the police department. To the request that he identify himself and explain the reason for his arrest, he got the answer that he is a commander of the internal affairs department.

5.  On 26 February 2010 in the settlement of Prokhorovka, Belgorod province, two women Jehovah's Witnesses, one of who is elderly, were arrested by the vice-chairman of the administration while distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." They were taken to the police department where explanations were taken and a protocol regarding administrative violation of the law was composed. The believers received no answer to their question about what they were accused of. The detainees refused to sign the protocol, considering that it was partly illegal. The detainees were not given copies of the explanations and protocols that were composed.

6.  On 26 February 2010 in the city of Smolensk, a Jehovah's Witness was arrested by a police officer while distributing on the street the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." He explained that the arrest was based on the fact that "distribution of such pamphlets is illegal." The detainee was taken to the Department for Combating Organized Crime, where he was questioned about the activity of Jehovah's Witnesses. After two hours of questioning the police officers accused the detainee of violation of passport regulations and took him to the police department. Since the identity of the believer had been established, he took his passport and tried to leave. But the police officers put him by force in a vehicle and took him to the settlement where the detainee was temporarily registered. In the course of an hour the police officers put pressure on the local head of the administration who consequently removed the detainee from the place of his temporary registration without informing the owner of the house where he was registered. An explanation was composed. After this the detainee was again taken to the place where the report had been composed. At approximately 15:00 agents of internal affairs left, having composed a subpoena in connection with the alleged violation of passport regulations. The officer, having reviewed the documents and report that had been composed, photographed the detainee and released him without drawing up a protocol. The detention of the Jehovah's Witness lasted almost 7 hours.

7.  On 26 February 2010 in the settlement of Tselina, Rostov province, a woman Christian Jehovah's Witness, was conducting evangelism and distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." She dropped by the prosecutor's office and left a pamphlet with an assistant prosecutor of Telina. After she left the prosecutor's office she continued distributing the pamphlet. Twenty minutes later she was arrested by police officers who were sent after her by the assistant prosecutor. At the police station in Tselina the detainee was questioned. The pamphlet that was left with the assistant prosecutor was ordered sent for expert analysis so that a search of the detainee's home could be made later. The detention lasted one hour and fifteen minutes.

8.  On 26 February 2010 in the village of Grachevka, Orenburg province, a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses were distributing on the street the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." They were arrested by a policeman. At the internal affairs department the detainees were fingerprinted and photographed and explanations were taken.

9.  On 26 February 2010 in the city of Alatyr, Chuvash republic, a Jehovah's Witness, who was distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians," was arrested by police officers. None of them showed his identification nor asked her to produce her passport. At the internal affairs department the detainee was kept in the corridor about 30 minutes. Then a man in civilian clothing invited her to go with him. He was the first one to question the detainee and he forbade her to use the telephone and declared that he had reason to suppose that she was distributing extremist literature and keeping it at home. Then a second agent of law enforcement questioned her. He spoke loudly and put pressure on the detainee and threatened that she could receive a "sentence." After this the interrogation was continued by another pair of police officers in uniform. The detainee was photographed. After this a search of her automobile was conducted and religious literature was confiscated and personal information in her cell phone was examined. Later in the course of an hour the interrogation of the detainee was continued. In all the detention lasted 4 hours. During questioning the officers conducted themselves rudely, threatened to search her home, accused her, and applied psychological and emotional pressure.

10. On 26 February 2010 in the city of Krasnoufimsk, Sverdlovsk province, a Jehovah's Witness offered the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russian" to people who wanted it and was arrested after he offered a pamphlet to an internal affairs commander. The detainee was at the police department for three hours.

11.  On 26 February 2010 in the city of Krasnoufimsk, Sverdlovsk province, two Christian women Jehovah's Witnesses offered the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians" on the street to those who wanted it. They were arrested by police officers, who forced the believers to get into a vehicle, threatening that otherwise they would apply force and handcuff them. At the police department explanations were taken from the detainees. According to the police officer conducting the questioning, the explanations were going to be sent to the Department for Combating Extremism.

12.  On 26 February 2010 in the city of Krasnoufimsk, Sverdlovsk province, a woman Jehovah's Witness was distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians," on the street. A police officer who caught sight of the pamphlets in her hands demanded that she cease and sent her home under threat of arrest.

13. On 26 February 2010 in the city of Rostov-on-Don, two women Jehovah's Witnesses were distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians."  Hooligan acts were committed against them by a minor youth. He tried to tear the pamphlets away from the believers, he threw sticks and stones at them, he spit at them and cursed them. Several hours later this same youth did similar things to others who were passing by with these pamphlets. His actions caused psychological trauma to the four-year-old daughter of one of the believers, who was with them. This youth had earlier done similar things to a classmate who is a Jehovah's Witness. At the same time the youth frequently mentioned the decision of the Rostov provincial court regarding the Taganrog local Jehovah's Witnesses religious organization. After a conversation with his parents the physical violence was replaced with verbal insults.

14.  On 26 February 2010 in the settlement of Chernianka, Belgorod province, five Jehovah's Witnesses, who were distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russian" to all who wanted it, were arrested by police officers. They were taken to the police department. Explanations were taken from the detainees and a protocol of an inspection of the site of the events and evidence from witnesses and a bunch of pamphlets that they had were confiscated. The reasons for such actions were not stated and a copy of the protocol of the inspection was not provided.

15.  On 26 February 2010 in the settlement of Chernianka, Belgorod province, a woman Jehovah's Witness, 55 years old,, who was offering the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians" to those who wanted it, was arrested by a man who identified himself as an assistant prosecutor of the prosecutor's office of Cherniansky region. The agent of the prosecutor's office behaved crudely. After a long wait at the prosecutor's office, the woman wished to leave. He then ran up to her and demanded that she go with him. Seeing his crude behavior the detainee refused to go with him. In response to this, the agent of the prosecutor's office grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled. He released her only when the detainee stated that she will go on her own. The assistant prosecutor composed a protocol and confiscated a bunch of pamphlets. In addition he forbade the detainee to answer a telephone call and in a threatening way demanded that she turn off the cell phone. Copies of the protocol that was composed were not provided. On 3 March 2010 the believer was summoned to the prosecutor's office. She was presented an order for opening a case regarding administrative violation of the law, citing the law of the Belgorod province "Concerning evangelistic activity."

16. On 26 February 2010 in the city of Cherepovets, Vologda province, two women Christian Jehovah's Witnesses were distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians" on the street. They were arrested by a policeman. At the police station a protocol regarding administrative violation of the law was composed for "annoying citizens for the purpose of religious agitation." Personal searches of the detainees and their possessions were conducted and religious literature was confiscated. The detention lasted from 8:30 to 15:00, after which the detainees were released.

17.  On 26 February 2010 in the city of Taganrog, Rostov province, a Jehovah's Witness was distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." At the time a policeman approached him and asked him to go to the police station. Besides this believer two other women Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested. They were taken to the police station. The three detainees were questioned separately. The pamphlets they had were confiscated, protocols of the confiscation were composed, and photographs were taken.

18.  On 26 February 2010 in Talmenka, Altai territory, a Jehovah's Witness was distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." At that time he was arrested by police officers. At the police department the contents of his bag were examined and religious literature was confiscated, about which a protocol of examination was composed. Then the detainee was questioned. The detention lasted 3 hours.

19.  On 26 February 2010 in the settlement of Aginskoe, Krasnoiarsk territory, a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses were sharing their convictions with residents of one building. A local priest, who lives in the building where the Jehovah's Witnesses were evangelizing, called the police. The Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested by law enforcement agents. The priest went in a separate vehicle along with them and wrote a statement in which he accused the Jehovah's Witnesses of engaging in extremist activity. Explanations were taken from the detainees, after which they were released. After some time the believers were summoned to the department in Aginskoe and asked to provide documents regarding the registration of the organization.

20. On 26 February 2010 in the city of Chudovo, Novgorod province, a Jehovah's Witness, who was giving the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians" to people who wanted it, was arrested by police officers. Since she did not have her passport with her, she asked one of her fellow believers to bring it, as a result of which he also was arrested. Explanations were taken from the detainees, literature was confiscated, protocols were composed concerning the confiscation of literature and concerning administrative violations of the law in accordance with article 13.21 of the Code on Administrative Violations of Law. After this the detainees were taken to court where the judge asked them to write an application for transferring the case to their place of residence. The detention lasted, respectively, 6 and 5 hours.

21. On 27 February 2010 in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, two Christian women Jehovah's Witnesses who were distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians" near the metro station were arrested by Nizhny Novgorod metro police officers. The believers were accused of distributing extremist literature. At the place to which the detainees were taken there were several police officers who explained that they had received instructions to arrest all persons who were distributing extremist literature. The detainees' document were checked, a report and protocol of arrest were composed, and personal things were confiscated. One of the policemen expressed to the detainees his negative attitude in the form of insults and curses and for a long time he would not consent to show his identification and demanded that the detainees give up their cell phones for the purpose of recording their internal numbers. After this the detainees were taken to the internal affairs department of Moscow region. An agent of FSB arrived and interrogated the detainees. As a result, explanations were taken from the believers. The whole time of the detention lasted from 8:40 to 12:30.

22.  On 27 February 2010 in the settlement of Chernianka, Belgorod province, two women Jehovah's Witnesses, who were distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians," were arrested and taken to the police department. There the detainees refused to give explanations, citing article 51 of the constitution of the Russian federation. A protocol concerning administrative violation of law was composed, citing article 5.1.2 of the law of the Belgorod province, "On evangelistic activity."

23.  On 27 February 2010 in the city of Serafimovich, Volgograd province, three Jehovah's Witnesses met a representative of the administration and acting ataman of their city, accompanied by two people. The representative of the administration expressed the claim against the Jehovah's Witnesses who, in his opinion, were doing illegal activity. He demanded that they cease distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." The believers tried to explain that they were not compelling anyone and that they provided the information only for those who wanted it. To which the representative of the administration, appealing to the Cossacks whom he supposedly was unable to restrain, declared:  "In the summer they will either light a fire or they will take you into the forest and do whatever they want with you. The Don has always been Orthodox and we do not want to tolerate any sects here." He demanded that the activity of the Jehovah's Witnesses in their city be stopped.

24.  On 27 February 2010 in the city of Kurgan, a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses, who were offering the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians," were arrested by a squad of police. According to the police officers, they had received oral instructions to do this. At the police station of the city of Kurgan explanations were taken from believers, but copies were not given to them, with the claim that this was not a protocol.

25. On 27 February 2010 in the city of Urai, Khanty-Mansiisky autonomous province, a representative of the city administration telephoned the home of a Jehovah's Witness and demanded that he cease distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." Forty minutes after the call a squad of police arrived at his home under the pretense of checking the passport regulations. After the believer opened the door, three police officers entered the apartment without permission of the owner. After checking the passports, the policemen insistently suggested that the owner of the apartment go with them to the internal affairs department of Urai to "touch base" with the chief. In response to the question of the basis for the detention, the detainee did not get a comprehensible answer. At the internal affairs department the chief of internal affairs, in whose opinion Jehovah's Witnesses were acting illegally in the city, conducted an interrogation of the detainee and demanded that he cease distributing the pamphlet. One of the police officers behaved rudely toward the detainee and threatened him. The detainee was released when the chief of criminal police of Urai stated that there was no evidence of a crime in the actions of the detainee.

26.  On 27 February 2010 in the settlement of Vorotynets, Nizhny Novgorod province, one woman Jehovah's Witness, who was conducting an evangelistic service on the street and distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians," was arrested by police officers, supposedly in order to check her identity, although she had the document certifying her identity on herself. She was taken to the police station. An interrogation was conducted and a protocol was drawn up. They refused to give her a copy of the protocol and forbade her also to make a notation of nonconsent on it.

27.  On 27 February 2010 in Leningradskaia Station, Krasnodar territory, a Jehovah's Witness was summoned by the chief of the internal affairs department, to whom he had earlier given the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." The believer was questioned and told that this pamphlet is extremist and he was forbidden to distribute it.

28.  On 27 February 2010 in the city of Penza, two women Jehovah's Witnesses, one of whom is a minor, were distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." An unidentified man approached them with the request to explain what is said in the pamphlet. Having received an explanation, he later approached them now with a police officer. The unidentified man identified himself as an off-duty police officer. They asked the detainees to display their documents certifying their identity and then arrested them. At the police department explanations were taken from the detainees. An interrogation of the detainees was conducted in various rooms. Copies of the explanations were not given to them.

29. On 27 February 2010 in the city of Bui, Kostroma province, two women Jehovah's Witnesses, one of whom is crippled, were distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." An unidentified man approached them and asked for a copy for himself and, having received it, he roughly seized one of the believers by the arm and threw her into a vehicle. To the woman's question of who he was, the man showed his identification as an FSB agent. He took the detainees to the FSB department and behaved aggressively toward them. He drew up a document (the detainees did not remember its title) although they signed it for him. Then the Jehovah's Witnesses were taken to the police where a document of confiscation of literature was composed. After this the detainees were transferred to the Department of Internal Affairs, where an interrogation was conducted and a protocol regarding administrative violation of law was composed on the basis of article 47, point 1 of the Code of the Kostroma province, and where it was mentioned that Jehovah's Witnesses "distributed brochures imposing their religious convictions." They tried to photograph the detainees, but they expressed their dissent. According to the detainees, the police officers nevertheless photographed them secretly. The detention lasted almost 6 hours, after which the detainees were released.

30. On approximately 27 February 2010 in the city of Kupavna, Moscow province, five Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested, who were sharing their religious convictions with other people and distributing the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians." Two of them were taken to the police department and after a while they were released. The detainees were accused of illegal distribution of "religious and political pamphlets." Police officers did not explain the points of law whose violation the detainees were accused of, despite the latters' request to do so.

31. On 2 March 2010 in the city of Ertil, Voronezh province, a Jehovah's Witness who was walking down the street met police officers, who were interested in whether she had participated in the distribution of the pamphlet "Is history repeating itself? A question for Russians" on 28 February 2010. When he received a positive answer, the police officer demanded that she go with him to the police department. However the believer refused. After this they wrote out for her a summons to appear that same day at the police department. The officers also asked the detainee to call up someone who participated with her in the distribution of the pamphlet. In accordance with the summons, the Jehovah's Witness, along with her fellow believer, appeared at the police department. Explanations were taken from them. Since the detainees refused to answer several questions, the police officers began to accuse them of violating the laws of registration of place of residence and of sojourn, stating that they would be brought to administrative responsibility and would be summoned and photographed the next time. (tr. by PDS, posted 10 March 2010)

Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 10 March 2010

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