DECISION ON FINE FOR ILLEGAL EVANGELISM SET ASIDE IN SAMARA OBLAST
SOVA Center for News and Analysis, 3 August 2018
The city court in Novokuibyshevsk cancelled the order of a magistrate court regarding a fine for "illegal" evangelism by a Pentecostal who described at a worship service his personal experience of deliverance from drug addiction.
On 17 July 2018, the city court in Novokuibyshevsk of Samara oblast halted proceedings in a case of a parishioner of the "Church of God" church of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals), who was charged on the basis of part 4 of article 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Violations of Law of the RF ("conducting missionary activity with violation of the requirements of legislation on freedom of conscience and freedom of religious confession and on religious associations").
On 7 April 2018, during a service, he shared his story of deliverance from drug dependency. This speech was published on YouTube.
Law enforcement agencies considered this to be illegal missionary activity. A magistrate court fined the believer 5,000 rubles.
Now the city court has set aside this decision. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 August 2018)
ROSKhVE LEGAL DEPARTMENT OBTAINS ACQUITTAL FOR BELIEVER IN NOVOKUIBYSHEVSK
Website of ROSKhVE, 23 July 2018
The city court of Novokuibyshevsk acquitted a believer and set aside a fine assessed for a testimony in church, which someone of the parishioners recorded and posted on the internet. The director of the legal department of the Russian Associated Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (ROSKhVE) (Pentecostals), Vladimir Ozolin, arrived from Moscow for participation in the trial.
On 17 July 2018, the city court of Novokuibyshevsk halted the trial on a case of administrative violation of law based on part 4 of article 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Violations of Law of the RF (conducting missionary activity with violation of the requirements of the legislation on freedom of conscience and freedom of religious confession and on religious associations) with respect to one of the parishioners of the "Church of God" of the city of Novokuibyshevsk of Samara oblast because of the lack of an incident of administrative violation of law.
"This decision is completely legal and based on a complete and comprehensive examination of the materials of the case," the director of the legal department of ROSKhVE, Vladimir Ozolin, who represented the interests of the believer in court, said in his commentary.
We recall the history of the case. On 7 April 2018, one of the parishioners of the Church of God of the city of Novokuibyshevsk during a worship service shared a personal testimony regarding deliverance from drug dependency and a complete change in his life. Later this testimony was posted by somebody who attended the meeting on the video host YouTube. It was this that personnel of law enforcement agencies considered to be illegal missionary activity.
Vladimir Ozolin said that recently he has had more frequent occasion to deal with judicial actions that are bringing to justice both ordinary believers and clergy and churches for any words about God, about faith, and about spiritual experiences. The magistrate judge, after studying the materials submitted at the same time by both the prosecutor's office and the F.S.B., perceived in the actions of the parishioner of the church a violation of the law on missionary activity and assigned a penalty in the form of an administrative fine of 5,000 rubles.
"The issue here is not at all the size of the fine, which is easier to pay and to accept, but it facilitates the formation of negative practice on the basis of which every day more and more believers are being held accountable," the director of the legal department of the ROSKhVE especially emphasized. "This is at root an incorrect position and it is necessary to defend and protect our rights, using lawyers for this, especially since the ROSKhVE has such specialists at its disposal."
Speaking of the importance of this victory, Vladimir Ozolin noted that since it was on the basis of illegally bringing someone to justice that the case was halted there is the possibility of collecting incurred damages from the state. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 August 2018)
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