DOCUMENT: OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF CHURCH
ON SITUATION IN
SAMARA
"Leaders of the Church are concerned
about the
distorted and prejudiced coverage in news media of the activity
of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints."
On Thursday, 25 August, a number of
news media
published information about the deportation of foreign
volunteers who are in
the Russian federation upon the invitation of the local
religious organization
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the city
of Samara.
These reports contain a number of
inaccuracies and are
not entirely reliable. The leaders of the centralized religious
organization
"The Religious Association of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day
Saints in Russia" (hereinafter "Church"), of which the local
religious organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints in
the city of Samara is a member, consider it necessary to
explain.
The claim that the volunteers who were
invited to
Russia are not on the migration register, in violation of
Russian law, does not
comport with reality.
Over the course of many years (the
local religious
organization in Samara was registered in 1999) the invitation of
citizens from
various countries of the world has not evoked any complaints.
They were recorded
on the migration register at the address of the religious
organization. In the
free time of their stay there they were recorded at the address
of their
residence used in accordance with their employment contract.
Placement on the migration register at
any of the
indicated addresses complies fully with existing legislation. In
accordance
with point 4 of part 1 of article 2 of the federal law "On the
migration
registration of foreign citizens and persons without citizenship
in the Russian
federation" the place of the stay of a foreign citizen in the RF
at an
address that is not the place of residence is also another
location,
institution, or organization in which the foreign citizen is.
Courts in the city of Samara decided
that the
aforesaid citizens of the USA should have been recorded on the
register at the
address of residence. However even in this case their
administrative
deportation beyond the borders of the Russian federation,
ordered by the court,
is a manifestly disproportionate penalty. The religious
association is
considering the question of appealing these judicial decisions.
In addition, one publication (life.ru)
posted a
photograph of citizens of the USA who arrived in the Russian
federation, while
the constitution of the RF (article 24) forbids dissemination of
information
about the private life of a person without his consent. These
people had not
given their consent to taking the photograph and publishing
their images, which
gives them the right to appeal for judicial protection.
Volunteers of the Church throughout the
world serve on
the model of Jesus Christ. They devote two years of their life
to volunteer activity,
which they perform on a voluntary basis. Volunteers finance
their ministry
independently and they do not receive pay for this. Upon return
home, for the
rest of their life they remain ambassadors and defenders of the
country in
which they served.
The leaders of the Church are concerned
by the
increasing instances of distorted and prejudicial coverage in
the news media of
the activity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
(Mormons).
Believers have the right to count on a respectful attitude on
the part of
representatives of news media and the public. (tr. by PDS,
posted 28 August
2016)
Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 26 August 2016
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