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Baptists complain of discrimination by authorities

EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN-BAPTIST MINISTERS ARRESTED BY POLICE IN BRIANSK PROVINCE
Slavic Legal Center, 21 July 2008

On 12 July at 11:00 a.m. ministers of the church of Evangelical Christians-Baptists of the city of Klintsi in Briansk province were arrested by police officers and taken to the police station. They were Presbyter Evgeny Voronin and Deacon Vladimir Skovpen. In addition, Kirill Moskalenko and American citizen Michael Walker and his companion Aleksei Pleshakov were arrested.

Presbyter Voronin was charged with organizing an unsanctioned procession on the "50th Anniversary of October" city square. During the arrest and transfer to the police station police officers caused harm to the health of Vladimir Skovpen while they refused to give to him medical care.

Church Presbyter Evgeny Voronin explains what happened in this way:  "From 9 to 13 July our church conducted in the church building and adjacent yard an event titled "Time to Believe," which included daily topical worship meetings, youth evenings, and a children's playground. On Saturday, 12 July, a group of youth, including several members of the local church, with my permission rode bicycles to the center of the city in order to take some photographs as souvenirs. I also decided to join them and walked to the square on foot. The bicyclists were dressed in football jerseys with the slogan "Time to Believe" and they rode around the square to find a spot for photography. Several bicyclists stopped beside me and at that time two police officers approached us. After they asked which of us was the leader and they received my answer, without any explanation of the reason they arrested me and took me to the police station, where over the course of three hours they tried to determine my guilt, calling our presence on the square both a protest and a demonstration, and in the end they defined it as a procession. While I was at the police station, I heard an officer give the command "Disperse them." Several minutes later they brought the deacon of the church Vladimir Skovpen, Kirill Moskalenko, and others to the station.

"Vladimir suffered physical injury from the police officers and he was experiencing pain and asked to be given medical care, but care was refused. After the protocols had been drawn up they released us and I took Vladimir to the emergency room of the regional hospital.

"I do not consider myself guilty of organizing a procession. I consider that what happened is the aggressiveness of the authorities and religious discrimination against Evangelical Christians-Baptists."

The deacon of the church of Evangelical Christians-Baptists of the city of Klintsi, Vladimir Skovpen, gave his version of what happened:  "From 9 to 13 July our church conducted a program under the slogan 'Time to Believe.' Several events of this program were devoted to the state program '2008ÑYear of the Family.' Although I had spent some time in a clinic after breaking my collarbone, I still took an active part in the events. Since I am an expert bicyclist, I gave advice to the kids about how to use bicycles properly and I held training classes.

"On Saturday, 12 July, the youth who were participating in the program asked to take photographs as souvenirs of their stay in Klintsi. After they received permission, they went to the "50th Anniversary of October" square in identical football jerseys. I also went to the square although not on a bicycle but in a bus. When I arrived at the square I saw that several bicyclists had selected a spot for photography and others were riding around the square. At that time two police officers arrested the presbyter of our church, Evgeny Voronin, and took him to the police station. After the bicyclists took several shots for souvenirs they did not know what else to do and they sang a song and dispersed, after talking with passers-by. I left the square and began to wait for Evgeny Voronin to return in a nearby park. Suddenly the two police officer returned and approached me and grabbed my arms roughly and, without explaining the reason for the arrest, they said "Let's go with us!" I told them that I agreed to obey their demands and asked them to let go of my arms, since I was experiencing severe pain. But the policemen, paying no attention to my requests, continued to drag me, causing unbearable pain. Once we reached the police station I asked that they give me medical care, but they refused. After about a two-hour stay at the police station they asked me to sign protocols concerning administrative arrest and detention, from which I learned the basis for the arrest:  'establishment of identity.' They released Evgeny Voronin and me and he took me to the emergency room. After x-rays they told me that I had suffered a repeat of the broken collarbone. At the Briansk provincial hospital, where I was sent for consultation, they recommended surgery for me."

On 15 July at the "Church of Regeneration" of the city of Briansk there was a meeting of clergy of the association of churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists of Briansk province with an advisor to the governor for religious matters, Sergei Afenasievich Gavrikov. The ministers of the churches expressed to the representative of the authorities their concern with regard to the attitude of authorities toward Evangelical Christians-Baptists. They delivered to Gavrikov an appeal to the governor of Briansk province, Nikolai Vasilievich Denin.

The appeal states specifically:  "We express our concern with the attitude of organs of authority in the provinces toward churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. We are surprised that the head of the settlement of Mglin sent a minister of our association to the Orthodox priest to obtain permission for conducting events. We observe with alarm the development of events in Klintsi, where the first deputy of the senior presbyter of our association, E.I. Voronin, was arrested and taken to the police station, charged with organizing a procession, and other believers were arrested who were on the city square in order to take photographs as souvenirs.

"We are disturbed by the absence of a public space in the province for a dialogue with the authorities, whom we bless and support.

"We would hope that we are mistaken in our feelings that the authorities are ignoring us. We count on understanding and we await a dialogue."

Sergei Gavrikov gave assurances that he would meet with the governor the next day. So far it is not known what were the results of this meeting or whether it even occurred." (tr. by PDS, posted 23 July 2008)

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Accelerated campaign against Jehovah's Witnesses

THEY HAVE AWAKENED
Power ministries begin persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Ekaterinburg, Taganrog, and Murmansk
by Dmitry Ursulov
Kasparov.ru, 21 July 2008

In a number of regions of Russia persecution of the "Jehovah's Witnesses" religious organization has begun. There have been reports of actions by law enforcement agencies against "Witnesses" in Ekaterinburg, Asbest, Taganrog, and Murmansk.

In Ekaterinburg, as reported by ANN agency, a search was conducted on 16 July in a building belonging to Jehovists. The occasion was the opening by the prosecutor's office of the city of Asbest in Sverdlovsk province of a criminal case against "Witnesses."  The prosecutor saw in texts of the publications "Watchtower," "Awake," and "Drawing Near to Jehovah," "incitement of hostility, propaganda of the exclusivity of the Jehovist faith, and disrespect for human dignity on the basis of religious identity."

In Rostov provincial court a review is continuing of a suit by the prosecutor of Taganrog for the liquidation of the local religious society of "Jehovah's Witnesses" in Taganrog, the Sova informational and analytical center reported. Here Jehovists also were accused on the basis of the "extremism" 282nd article of the Criminal Code of RF. The Taganrog prosecutor also spotted in a number of publications of the organization "propaganda of exclusivity, disrespect for human dignity, and incitement of religious strife."

In Murmansk "Witnesses" were not permitted access to the Central Stadium of Unions, where they had planned worship services for 18 and 20 July, "Rosbalt" reported. The prosecutor cited the federal law "On physical culture and athletics in the Russian federation," according to which use of athletic facilities is permitted only for the performance of physical education and athletic events and for attendance at them, the prosecutor's office notes.

The head of the Committee on Freedom of Conscience of the National Assembly, Sergei Mozgovoy, in his commentary for Sobkor.ru on 21 July, assessed the attack on the "Witnesses" as a successive stage in the attack upon the human rights and freedoms in the religious sphere, placing Jehovists alongside "Bogorodichniks" [i.e. followers of the Bogoroditsa centerÑtr.] and other religious societies who already have been subject to a "round of state repressions."

"Religious security," "spiritual security"Ñsuch concepts have begun recently to be used by higher ranking bureaucrats in their speeches, Mozgovoy noted, drawing an obvious parallel with "national security." Put differently, this system may not exist; it is necessary to crush and "chop it off."

As to the accusations of extremism of Jehovists, the expert expressed the opinion that the texts of practically any religion contain fragments that may be interpreted as "propaganda of exclusivity," and as "incitement of hostility." Sergei Mozgovoy thinks that there are two basic reasons that "Jehovah's Witnesses" have become the target of authorities. "First, the authorities cannot use them for their own interests," he said, "since they on principle distance themselves from politics and official bureaucratic structures. Second, this confession has developed dynamically. But I think that repressions can, on the contrary, strengthen this development and influx of converts."

"Jehovah's Witnesses" are an international religious organization within Christianity, but it contains in its teachings a number of serious doctrinal divergences from the teachings of the main Christian confessions.

According to a report in August 2007, the maximum number of members of this organization in all the world had approached 7 million persons.

In 2004 the Moscow congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses was denied registration by decision of the Golovin court of Moscow after a years-long judicial investigation. However "Witnesses" assembled and preached openly even after this.

In January 2007 the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg satisfied a complaint against persecution on the part of authorities of members of the Jehovah's Witnesses group from Cheliabinsk, requiring Russia to pay the plaintiffs 30,000 Euros as compensation for moral damages and more than 60,000 Euros as compensation for expenses. (tr. by PDS, posted 22 July 2008)

Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 22 July 2008

Related article posted on 22 July 2008 a Forum-18: "RUSSIA: Is mass disruption to Jehovah's Witness congresses coordinated?" by Geraldine Fagan and Felix Corley

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Russia's KGB successor harasses Jehovah's Witnesses

FSB OFFICERS CONDUCT SEARCH AND ARRESTS IN JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES' KINGDOM HALL IN EKATERINBURG
Portal-credo.ru, 21 July 2008

On 16 July officers of the Federal Security Service arrested eighteen believers who were engaged in preparations of a worship service in the Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Ekaterinburg, the regional "Center for Public Information" reports.

Those arrested were forbidden to use cell phones so that they could not communicate with their relatives and attorneys. A search and confiscation of biblical literature were conducted in the Kingdom Hall.

The basis for such actions was the opening in the city of Asbest, Sverdlovsk province, of a criminal case regarding distribution of Jehovah's Witnesses' religious literature which supposedly contain "indications of extremism."

Meanwhile, as the "Center of Public Information" notes, Jehovah's Witnesses' literature is generally available and well known in many countries. Copies of articles published by Jehovah's Witnesses are placed in many large libraries of the world. In Russia such literature was subjected to expert analysis in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian federation after the adoption of the federal law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations." Throughout the world Jehovah's Witnesses use such liturgical publications in their religious meetings and freely offer them to all who desire them.

On 11 January 2007 the European Court on Human Rights issued a decision in the case "Kuznetsov and others against the Russian federation" which condemned the disruption of a religious meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Cheliabinsk. According to the constitution of the Russian federation, the standards of the Convention for Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms are a priority in the legal system of Russia. What happened in the city of Ekaterinburg goes direction contrary to the conclusions of the European court, which the government of the Russian federation has recognized by paying to the plaintiffs compensation for moral damages and court costs, the "Center for Public Information" notes.

During the time of the Soviet Union, thousands of men, women, and children were exiled to Siberia and other places for "anti-Soviet activity," which actually was for their belief in God. By decree of the president of RF of 14 March 1996, "the years-long terror conducted by the Bolshevik party-soviet regime with regard to clergy and believers of all confessions was condemned." By this same decree, the Prosecutor General and FSB of Russia were given the obligation "to conduct the rehabilitation of citizens of Russia who were baselessly accused of political, state, and judicial crimes, deprived of freedom, and subjected to other deprivations and restrictions of rights in connection with their religious activity and convictions." As a result, thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses were rehabilitated as victims of political repressions.

"In view of these historical facts, the recent events in the city of Asbest are completely beyond understanding. Steps taken in our country with a goal of restricting freedom of conscience and religious profession evoke the most profound anxiety," declared the president of the Executive Committee of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, Vasily Kalin.  (tr. by PDS, posted 21 July 2008)


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Moscow church extends olive branch to Ukrainian dissidents

SYNOD OF UKRAINIAN CHURCH RETURNS TO DISCUSSION OF AUTOCEPHALY
Declares readiness for "ecclesiastical procedure" with UPTsKP and UAPTs
Portal-credo.ru, 17 July 2008

Members of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate (UPTsMP), meeting on 16 July in their regular session under the leadership of Metropolitan Vladimir Sabodan in the Kiev caves lavra, displayed a unanimous attempt to overcome the church divisions in Ukraine on the way to creation of a single Ukrainian local church. As the official web site of UPTsMP reported, they responded favorably to an appeal from the leadership of UPTsKP [Ukrainian Orthodox church of Kievan patriarchate] and UAPTs [Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox church], which up to now have been officially viewed by the Moscow patriarchate as "schismatic groupings."

Participants in the synod's meeting, held on the eve of the celebration of the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Kievan Rus-Ukraine and the historic visit to Kiev by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, included metropolitans of Odessa and Izmail Agafangel, and Dnepropetrovsk and Pavlograd Irinei, and archbishops of Khust and Vinogradov Mark, Belotserkov and Boguslav Mitrofan, and Kamenets-Podolsk and Gorodok Feodor, and bishops of Alexandriisk and Svetlov Panteleimon and Borispolsk Antony.

Responding to the appeal from the bishops of UPTsKP, the synod of UPTsMP noted in particular:  "Realizing the necessity of the urgent overcoming of church divisions in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox church is ready for a constructive dialogue and cooperation with all interested parties, including representatives of those religious groups that do not now have unity with ecumenical Orthodoxy."

The Holy Synod of UPTsMP declared officially for the first time that "it is ready to engage in strict compliance with ecclesiastical procedure, with the only condition being that such procedure not lead to a degradation of canonical ecclesiastical consciousness which would have yet greater catastrophic consequences for the church."

Speaking of the necessary preconditions for canonical autocephaly of the Ukrainian church, the synod of UPTsMP indicated two conditions:  "1) the unanimous opinion of the episcopacy, clergy, and faithful of the local church regarding the necessity of the proclamation of autocephaly; 2) agreement to the new status for the local church on the part of the plenitude of the Orthodox church, including the mother-church." At the same time the leadership of UPTsMP posits that their church already possesses "the canonical rights which are effectively equivalent to the rights of an autocephalous church."

The synod wished for "the spiritual wisdom and courage" for all brothers and sisters who, for one reason or another, are separated from the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church and are seeking a way to return to church fellowship.

At the same session the synod of UPTsMP reviewed the appeal from the Bishops' council of UAPTs to the local council of UPTsMP and sent to the hierarchy of UAPTs an official answer. It approved the attempt of UAPTs to continue a dialogue with UPTsMP with the goal of restoring unity to Ukrainian Orthodoxy. "As the documents and appeals of UAPTs, adopted during 2006-2008, testify, there is within UAPTs a clear tendency to seek understanding with the Ukrainian Orthodox church in canonical, ecclesiastical matters," the document states. It notes, in particular, the condemnation by UAPTs of ethnocentrism [ethnophiletism] as "a perverse representation of the principles of the organization of the life of the local church."

As is noted in the response, "there exist today in our church various points of view regarding its future." In the opinion of the authors of the response, "it is not surprising that a substantial part of the clergy and laity of our church now are negatively disposed toward the idea of autocephaly, seeing in it a threat to liturgical and spiritual unity with the Russian Orthodox church." In developing the idea of the full independence of UPTsMP, the synod concludes that it has even more rights than the officially autocephalous Greek Orthodox church is considered to have. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 July 2008)


KIEV PATRIARCHATE CONSIDERS POSITION OF UPTsMP SYNOD FRUIT OF COMPROMISE
Portal-credo.ru, 17 July 2008

The response by the Holy Synod of UPTsMP to the appeal of the Holy Synod and episcopacy of UPTsKP, which was published on the official web site of UPTsMP on the evening of 16 July, was received positively in the Kiev patriarchate. This was reported on another site of the church of the Moscow patriarchate, "Orthodoxy in Ukraine."

"On the whole, we assess the answer we received positively," a representative of the Information Publishing Department of UPTsKP, Bishop of Vasilkov Evstraty, commented regarding the decision of the synod of UPTsMP.

In the opinion of the representative of UPTsKP, "this response is the fruit of a compromise within the church of the Moscow patriarchate in Ukraine itself." "The very fact of a response gives evidence of essential advances in the position of UPTsMP relative to the possibility of dialogue with the Kiev patriarchate. After all, in previous suggestions from this church they responded to us, at best, in only one way: they expect us to repent and there will be no dialogue with us. The current answer is more pragmatic and it corresponds better with present reality," the representative of UPTsKP noted.

Bishop Evstraty thinks that "the current leadership of UPTsMP finds itself between two fires: on the one hand, pressure from Moscow, and on the other, an understanding of Ukrainian realities."

"Thus we value highly the action of Metropolitan Vladimir, who in the past year has decided for the first time to receive in his residence official representatives of our church and thereby, not only in words but also in deeds, to show his desire to see a united Orthodox church in Ukraine. Thus we also value this answer as a way to continue to search for ecclesiastical unity. We hope that communication between representatives of our churches will continue both on an informal and possibly on a formal basis. I am sure that one way or another our churches will reach a useful and constructive dialogue which will have as its result a united Ukrainian church," the representative of UPTsKP concluded. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 July 2008)

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Dissident bishop censures patriarch

BISHOP DIOMID CONFIRMS GENUINENESS OF HIS ANATHEMA AGAINST THE LEADERSHIP OF RPTsMP
Portal-credo.ru, 18 July 2008

On 18 July the disgraced primate of the Chukotka diocese himself confirmed, in a conversation of a Portal-credo.ru correspondent, the authenticity of the appeal, published yesterday, by Bishop of Anadyr and Chukotka Diomid "to the clergy of the Russian Orthodox church and to all Orthodox Christians of the Russian land."  He was in the remote parish in Mys Shmidta.

Doubts of the Moscow patriarchate regarding the genuineness of the document were expressed by the head of its press service, the priest Vladimir Vigiliansky, who shared his suspicions that this appeal was a "fabrication of unscrupulous news media."

The extremely long document attracted special attention by its anathemas against Patriarch Alexis II and metropolitans Kirill and Filaret, whom the head of the Chukotka diocese considers to be participants in "the heresies of ecumenism, anti-tsarism, and globalism" (along with likeminded bishops), and from whom he has broken canonical and prayer fellowship.

According to Bishop Diomid, he composed this text independently and deliberately, making its publication to coincide with the day of commemoration of the holy tsarist martyrs. The views contained in the text are shared also by the adherents of the Chukotka bishop among the clergy, monastics, and laity in various dioceses of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus and in countries of the far abroad.

As regards the latest events in Anadyr, particularly the seizure of documents of diocesan administration, Bishop Diomid stated that he was not especially avoiding participating in these events, but the inclement weather has prevented him for about a week from returning from Mys Shmidta to the capital of Chukotka region. The apartment on Partizan street in Anadyr used for diocesan administration is his private space and so Bishop Diomid considers it unlikely that it will be seized by the new diocesan leadership appointed by Moscow. Besides, the bishop does not rule out the possibility that his persecutors will take advantage of his absence during the transfer of documents and will be able to engage in falsification in order to create one or another accusations against Bishop Diomid.

The bishop intends to spend the next couple of months in Chukotka, and then, as he said earlier, he intends to move to Moscow province where his followers have outfitted a monastery on a private parcel of land. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 July 2008)

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