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Petersburg mullahs link up with Matvienko for election campaign.
Priests, mullahs, rabbis, and lamas are effective in the capacity of agitators, but still a substantial portion of believers express bewilderment about whether it is fitting for one who cares for human souls to serve caesar rather than God.
The mufti of Leningrad province Jafar Panchaev gave a hutba (Friday sermon) with clear signs of election agitation. The mufti said that "now in the upcoming gubernatorial elections we Muslims should consider what kind of governor we need. We all know which candidate we can get the most benefit from, that is Valentina Matvienko." Panchaev went on to preach: "Matvienko promised to give us help and for this we should vote for her."
We sought the opinion on this matter from the chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Ravil Gainutdin. "First of all I would note that the Leningrad mufti, Panchaev, is not a member of our council so that we are not able to have any influence on him. As regards directly agitation in mosques, I do not see here anything that is in principle illicit. Muslims, like all citizens, have their own political interests. It is another matter whether people listen only to someone who enjoys real authority among Muslims. Now we see that throughout the country religious figures deal with politics but, despite all their efforts, their opinion remains just their own personal opinion."
Meanwhile Russian law views this question more strictly. According to current legislation "the conduct of the election campaign by participants in religious associations should not be accompanied by agitation during the time of worship services or agitation in the name of any confession." In order to get the Russian Orthodox church to obey this law, the chairman of the Central Election Commission, Alexander Veshniakov, once even had to write a letter to Patriarch Alexis II in which he expressed the hope that the Russian Orthodox church would instruct clergy to refuse to participate in election campaigns. However the Muslims do not have an analogue of a patriarch or a centralized administration so that it is possible only to put pressure on those persons for whom mullahs agitate. Has the Petersburg election commission decided to do this with respect to the candidate ? (tr. by PDS, posted 18 August 2003)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
At the first session of the trial of the case of Baptist missionary Andrei Okhotin, who was arrested at the Sheremetevo airport for attempting to carry into Russia 48 thousand dollars illegally, the positions of the sides were determined and the ruling of the court may be expected by 20 August, a "Portal-credo.ru" correspondent reports.
The accused Andrei Okhotin stated to the Golovinsky court on Wednesday, 13 August, that he unintentionally chose the green corridor for going through customs but he did not intend to conceal the money he had on him. He filled out the customs declaration and presented it to the customs officers upon the first request.
Okhotin's attorney, president of the Slavic Legal Center Anatoly Pchelintsev thinks that the accusation against his client is without basis and the customs officers "simply were trying to cheat him out of money." As "Portal-credo.ru" reported earlier, Okhotin stated that the customs officers tried to get from him a bribe of ten thousand dollars to close the case. Attorney Pchelintsev requested access to materials of the videotapes of the security service of the airport, which should prove Okhotin's innocence. "They told us that there is nothing visible on these tapes. But if there are questions, we will again submit a request for access to them," he stated to the "Moscow Times" newspaper. The investigation conducted by the State Customs Committee came to the conclusion that Okhotin hid the money he was carrying and wanted to avoid inspection of his baggage. Customs officers also were questioned during the court session, but the accusation of seeking a bribe found no proof.
Attorney Anatoly Pchelintsev is confident that the trial will be finished at the next session, which is scheduled for 20 August. There remain only the concluding statements of the sides. If the prosecution wins, the 29-year-old Okhotin faces up to five years of prison. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 August 2003)
PETITION FROM EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS-BAPTISTS TO PRESIDENT V.V. PUTIN REGARDING THE CASE OF ANDREI OKHOTIN
To: President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin
Copies to:
Prosecutor General V.V. Ustinov
Moscow Prosecutor M.A. Avdiukov
Chief of Investigation Department of Airport Sheremetevo 2 T.G. Tvaltvadae
Chief of Moscow Customes A.V. Slepchenko
United Nations Commissariat on Human Rights
Embassy of USA in Moscow
USA Ambassador Yuri V. Ushakov
Senator Richard Luger
From believers of the church of Evangelical Christians-Baptists in USA
3900 Astoria St. Sacramento, CA 95838
31 May 2003
Petition
"Stop doing evil; learn to do good; seek justice; save the oppressed; defend the orphan; plead for the widow" (Is 1.16-17)
Esteemed Mr. President.
We are again forced to send to you a request for accelerating the resolution of the problem that was created by customs workers at the Sheremetevo 2 airport. On 24 March 2003 they detained an American citizen and our brother in the faith, Andrei Vladimirovich Okhotin, and confiscated from him the sum of $48,000, which had been donated by believers from USA for their needy fellow believers in the countries of the former Soviet Union and they also have threatened him with deprivation of freedom for a term of five years.
Protesting against the blatant illegality of the customs authorities with respect to believers in USA and Russia, Andrei Okhotin refused to take food, beginning on 21 May, until such time as they remove from him the fabricated accusation and return to believers their voluntary contributions.
We has seen that interested persons have skilfully and maliciously dragged out a very simple case and created artificial delays so as not to return what has been stolen. Everybody understands that Andrei Okhotin's health is now in a critical condition and gets worse with each hour.
Esteemed Mr. President! We again ask you earnestly, give an order to resolve this problem immediately and stop the artificial and dangerous delays by authorities. And may God himself help you in this work.
With respect for you and upon authorization from the church, this petition
is signed by:
[34 signatures]
(tr. by PDS, posted 18 August 2003)
Posrted on "Portal-credo.ru" site, 18 August 2003
U.S. CITIZEN ON TRIAL IN SMUGGLING CASE
by Anna Dolgov
Moscow Times, 14 August 2003
U.S. Baptist missionary Andrew Okhotin testified Wednesday at the start of his trial on smuggling charges that he had inadvertently chosen the wrong customs corridor at Sheremetyevo Airport but made no attempt to conceal the cash he was carrying, his lawyers said. Okhotin, 28, was arrested after arriving on a flight from New York in March with $ 48,000 in cash, which he says was donations intended for the work of Baptist believers in Russia.
He told the Golovinsky district court Wednesday that he had mistakenly entered the green customs corridor at Sheremetyevo -- intended for people with nothing to declare -- instead of the red one. He said, however, that he had declared the cash on a customs form and presented the paper to customs agents at their request.
But investigators say Okhotin had refused to tell officials how much money he was bringing in and resisted requests to inspect his luggage, a State Customs Committee spokesman said Wednesday.
"It all happened because for a long time he concealed all that and wouldn't allow his things to be examined," said the spokesman, who refused to give his name.
Okhotin said in an earlier interview that a customs official tried to extort a $ 10,000 bribe from him in exchange for letting him go, but he refused to pay.
Okhotin's lawyer Anatoly Pchelintsev insisted Wednesday that the case against his client was unfounded and that it was merely the result of an unsuccessful attempt by corrupt customs officials to extort a hefty bribe.
"I think they just tried to squeeze money out of him," Pchelintsev said.
Customs officials were questioned in court Wednesday, but the allegation did not come up, he said.
Despite initial fears that the trial would drag on for months, Pchelintsev said he now expects the case to be settled quickly. The judge on Wednesday adjourned the trial until Aug. 20, and Pchelintsev said he expects it to be wrapped up on that day. Only the closing statements remain to be made, he said.
If convicted, Okhotin faces up to five years in prison.
Prosecutors have so far refused to grant the defense team access to airport security videos, which Okhotin's supporters said could prove his innocence.
"As we were told, nothing can be seen on those tapes," Pchelintsev said. "But if this question arises again, we will file another petition for access to the tapes." Officials at the Moscow city prosecutor's office refused to comment on the case Wednesday. (Copyright 2003 Independent Press, posted 18 August 2003)
AMERICAN IN MOSCOW PREPARES FOR POSSIBILITY OF LENGTHY TRIAL
by Sergei Blagov and Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com,
12 August 2003
Lawyers representing an American divinity student who goes on trial in Moscow Wednesday on smuggling charges believe the trial may drag on for months.
They are also concerned that their defense of Andrew Okhotin, who was arrested at a Moscow airport in possession of $48,000, will suffer as a result of prosecutors' refusal to give them access to crucial evidence.
The 28-year-old student from the Harvard Divinity School flew to Russia last March to deliver charitable donations to Baptist churches there.
If convicted of smuggling, he could face up to five years' imprisonment.
The trial, scheduled to begin in the capital's Golovinsky district court Wednesday, could be over in two hours - but is more likely to take several months, lawyer Anatoli Pchelintsev told CNSNews.com.
Pchelintsev is an attorney with the Slavic Center for Law and Justice - an affiliate of the Virginia Beach-based American Center for Law and Justice - which is representing Okhotin.
He said the young American's defense team had from the start demanded access to airport security camera tapes.
Prosecutors had refused - without explanation - to hand them over, despite the fact they could well prove Okhotin's innocence, Pchelintsev said.
The student arrived at Moscow's Sheremetyevo II international airport on March 29, having flown from the U.S. with $48,000 in cash, which he says he planned to deliver to the International Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists in Russia.
Okhotin said he inadvertently entered the "green" customs corridor - meaning he had nothing to declare - instead of the "red" corridor, which is for visitors with items to declare.
He was detained by customs officials who accused him of trying to smuggle the money into Russia and confiscated it.
Okhotin said he gave officials a completed customs form declaring the money when asked for one, and he questions why he was not simply redirected to the correct customs corridor.
He also claims customs officials tried to solicit a large bribe from him, which he refused.
Okhotin's lawyers argue that Russian law does not prohibit bringing large sums of money into the country.
The Moscow prosecutors' office has not responded to inquiries.
'Time of testing'
The Okhotin family immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union in 1989 after Andrew's father, Baptist minister Vladimir Okhotin, spent more than two years in prison for religious activities.
Okhotin Sr. now heads a California-based organization, Russian Evangelistic Ministries, which has close links to evangelical Baptists in his former homeland.
Andrew's younger sister, Helena, said from their San Diego home Tuesday that the money her brother was carrying had been raised by the ministry and was intended for needy Baptists in Russia.
She said the past few months had been a difficult time but had also seen the already tightly knit family - parents and nine children - draw even closer together and closer to God.
Vladimir Okhotin has been speaking to his son almost daily, encouraging him as the trial date approaches.
Helena said Andrew and the family believe that "nothing happens without the Lord allowing it to happen.
"It's a time of testing, of trial, [and we know that] even if it's a difficult time, there's a reason for it - God is preparing you for something else, later in life."
They had also been greatly encouraged by the support received from Christians by phone and e-mail.
Whatever the result of the trial, she said, "we always as a family prayed that it would in the end bring glory to God. Even if it's an outcome that might seem more difficult, we know that God is in control of the situation. We'll see, I guess, tomorrow how it goes."
Andrew's mother, Nadezhda, has flown to Moscow and will be in court on Wednesday.
'Face-saving'
Moscow lawyer Pchelintsev feels that the Okhotin case has become a face-saving exercise for Russia's law enforcement agencies because the American accused customs officials of demanding bribes.
Okhotin himself also believes that the Russian Orthodox Church may somehow be involved in the case. He told CNSNews.com earlier that he had learned this from a U.S. government official.
The Orthodox Church is known to have considerable influence in Russia's political and civil affairs.
A controversial 1997 law requiring all religious groups in Russia to re-register with the justice ministry was widely viewed as an action taken by the authorities under pressure from the Orthodox Church, which was critical of other churches' efforts to win converts in territory it regards as its own. The requirement that they re-register by a deadline in 2000 affected many religious groups, especially those considered "foreign." (posted 18 August 2003)
AMERICAN STUDENT ON TRIAL IN MOSCOW HOPES FOR QUICK RESOLUTION BY by
Sergei Blagov,
CNSNews.com,
13 August
An American divinity student accused of trying to smuggle $48,000 into Russia appeared Wednesday in a Moscow court, where he testified that he had unintentionally chosen the wrong customs corridor at the airport but had not tried to hide the money.
After hearing the testimony of defendant Andrew Okhotin and witnesses, the Golovinsky district court postponed the trial until Aug. 20.
Okhotin's lawyer, Anatoli Pchelintsev of the Slavic Center for Law and Justice, had earlier expressed fears that the trial could drag on for months, but his client said Wednesday it looked likely the case would be wrapped up quickly.
Speaking after his appearance, Okhotin told CNSNews.com he felt more confident about the proceeding.
"It would be premature to express optimism over the trial's outcome, but following the first day of hearings, I became increasingly confident," Okhotin said.
The 28-year-old Harvard Divinity School student said he was carrying donations raised in the U.S. and destined for needy Russian Baptists.
After Okhotin inadvertently entered the "nothing to declare" customs corridor at Moscow's Sheremetyevo II international airport last March, he said, he was arrested, and the money was confiscated.
Okhotin alleges that customs officials tried to solicit a large bribe from him, but he rejected the idea.
Okhotin's lawyers argue that there's nothing illegal in bringing large sums of money into the Russian Federation.
The lawyers have also complained that prosecutors continue to refuse to grant them access to airport security videos, which they believe could prove Okhotin's innocence.
If convicted on criminal smuggling charges, Okhotin could be jailed for up to five years in the country his staunchly Christian family left 14 years ago to start a new life in the United States.
Pchelintsev said Wednesday that the judge had initially appeared to view the defense team in a negative light, but as the hearing proceeded, took a more neutral tone.
In Okhotin's view, the judge showed no bias toward him or his lawyers' arguments.
"I think the fact that the trial is open to the public affects the judge's attitude," the student commented.
Okhotin said he had picked up inconsistencies in the arguments put forward by prosecution witnesses.
"Some of their testimonies clearly contradicted their own statements during the investigation. They were changing their stories, and it came as yet another confirmation that I'm right and they are wrong."
The American sounded optimistic about a quick resolution to the case.
"I hope the ruling will be announced next Wednesday," Okhotin said. "There are really no formal pretexts available to drag out the trial."
A handful of U.S. Congressmen earlier wrote a letter to President Vladimir
Putin, urging him to ensure that justice is done in the case.
(posted 18 August 2003)
Related articles:
"American
uproar over detained missionary continues"
"Okhotin
case takes on life of its own"
Russia Religion News Current News Items