PASTOR OF WORD OF LIFE CHURCH FULLY ACQUITTED BY VOSKRESENSK COURT
Press Service of ROSKhVE, 16 May 2018
On 11 May 2018, a hearing was held in the Voskresensk city court (Moscow oblast) in the case of the pastor of the Word of Life church in the city of Voskresensk, Vladimir Zakharchuk. The judge cancelled the fine of ten thousand rubles imposed on the minister because in a meeting of the congregation he allegedly forced two persons to adopt "his religion."
An experienced lawyer from the Church of Faith Association, Alexander Fomichev, arrived from Moscow especially for helping and representing the defense in the judicial hearing. This was the third session scheduled on this particular case. Two previous sessions were effectively not held because of the nonappearance of the so-called "victims." Even court bailiffs were unable to bring them in and in the end the judge issued the final decision only six months after the opening of the case. A worker from the press service of the Russian Associated Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) (ROSKhVE), Anna Martirsian, was personally present at all judicial sessions to facilitate objective reporting of the trial in news media.
Pastor Vladimir Zakharchuk said that for him such a situation was the first experience in all of his Pentecostal life. Never before had the clergyman had a problem with the law, much less one connected with the article on freedom of conscience and religious confession: "I thank the Lord for the fortunate outcome of the case, for the triumph of justice, and for the help of the association, which extended the hand of aid in the difficult moments."
The Word of Life Church has been operating in Voskresensk for more than two years and it is a member of the Church of Faith Association of Christians of Evangelical Faith, the spiritual leader of which is the first deputy of the ruling bishop of the Russian Associated Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals), Bishop Matts-Ola Iskhoel. (tr. by PDS, posted 17 May 2018)
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