COURT IN SARATOV FINDS PROSECUTOR'S ATTEMPT TO CLOSE MORMON HOUSE OF WORSHIP ILLEGAL
SOVA Center for News and Analysis, 20 February 2015
In Saratov a court ruled illegal the attempt by the prosecutor's office to prohibit conducting worship services in a building simply on the basis of violation of norms of fire safety.
On 17 February 2015 it was reported that the Lenin district court of Saratov protected representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from an attack from the prosecutor's office and ruled the ban on "worship activity" in the house of worship on Ordzhonikidze Street illegal.
We recall, on 30 and 31 January 2015 an unannounced inspection was conducted in the above-mentioned premises, as a result of which a case of administrative violation of law was opened. The basic claims of the prosecutor came down to "nonconformity of the house of worship meetings with the norms of fire safety"
"The declared [by plaintiff] demands come down
to the removal of the violations of fire safety, whereas the
demands for interim measures in the form of prohibition of
conducting worship services, religious rituals, and ceremonies
were based on actual suspending of the activity of the
institution, which was not the subject of the lawsuit," the
court's decision says. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 February 2015)
Background article:
Harassment
of Mormons in Saratov due to US sanctions on Russia
February 5, 2015
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