Source: www.forum18.org
Date: September 7, 2022
Minsk City Administration and local police have warned New Life Pentecostal
Church that meetings for worship in the church car park are illegal and
threatened to liquidate the Church in court. Liquidation would make any
exercise of freedom of religion or belief illegal and punishable with up to
a two-year jail term. The Church meets each Sunday in the car park after
officials evicted it in February 2021 from the church building it bought in
2002. Officials refuse to explain why the Church cannot use its building.
BELARUS: Officials threaten to liquidate Minsk's New Life Church
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Olga Glace, Forum 18
For more than 18 months, Minsk's New Life Pentecostal Church has met for
worship each Sunday outdoors in the church car park, whatever the weather,
since officials, police and bailiffs evicted it from its church building in
February 2021. Now the city administration has again warned the Church that
such meetings are illegal and threatened to seek the Church's liquidation
in court. Liquidation would make any exercise of freedom of religion or
belief illegal and subject to punishment.
Since January 2022, the newly-restored Article 193-1 of the Criminal Code
once more punishes "organisation of or participation in activity by an
unregistered political party, foundation, civil or religious organisation"
with a fine or imprisonment for up to two years (see below).
The head of Minsk's Frunze District administration and the local head of
Police repeatedly summoned the Church's Pastor, Vyacheslav Goncharenko, in
August. Both officials again warned him against holding meetings at the car
park and threatened to initiate the procedure to liquidate New Life Church
through the court (see below).
The Bishop of the Full Gospel Churches Union Leonid Voronenko initiated
meetings with the city administration and with the regime's senior
religious affairs official, Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic
Affairs Aleksandr Rumak (see below).
New Life Church – which was founded in 1992 - held its most recent Sunday
service on 4 September, behind rather than in front of the church building.
Like all its outdoor services, the Church live-streamed it on YouTube (see
below).
Forum 18 was unable to find out why the authorities will not allow New Life
Church to use its own building again, offer another building or offer
compensation. City, district and police officials could not be reached or
would not answer questions (see below).
Asked why New Life Church's situation cannot be resolved given that
officials themselves had evicted the community from its building, the Head
of the Ideology Department of Minsk City Executive Committee, Olga
Chemodanova, refused to comment. "Your question is posed incorrectly," she
told Forum 18 (see below).
Asked whether he is afraid of the church liquidation as threatened, Pastor
Goncharenko told Forum 18: "I think that our situation is not without God's
miracle, as so many times the authorities came and threatened us, but our
church is still functioning" (see below).
Meanwhile, police in the south-eastern city of Gomel summoned Living Faith
Church Pastor Dmitri Podlobko and issued him with a second official
warning, threatening him with possible criminal prosecution if he repeats
the "offence" of conducting baptisms on his own property without
permission. A court fined him two weeks' average wages for this in late
July. He will also have to meet the local police officer each month for the
next year for a "preventive" conversation (see below).
In mid-August, a Gomel court similarly fined two members of another local
Protestant community for holding public baptisms in early July without
seeking state permission (see below).
Asked why police had taken action against communities holding baptisms
locally, Head of Gomel District Police Captain Vasili Kravtsov absolutely
refused to comment. "If you want to talk to me, come and see me in person,"
he told Forum 18 (see below).
In defiance of its international human rights obligations, Belarus has
imposed a tight web of restrictions on exercising the right to freedom of
religion or belief (https://www.forum18.org/archi
All religious activity without state registration and outside
state-approved venues is banned under the harsh 2002 Religion Law and
punishable. Similarly, public meetings of any sort without permission are
restricted.
Minsk: 2021 eviction
New Life Pentecostal Church was founded in 1992. It bought its building - a
former cowshed in Frunze District on the western edge of Minsk – in 2002.
The Church converted the building into its place of worship, turning it
into a spacious, modern structure, but the authorities refused to change
its legal designation as a cowshed.
The regime has repeatedly tried to evict the Church
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
allow the church to legalise its position by changing the building's
designation to a place of worship, or to use it for meetings for worship.
Serious attempts to evict the Church came in June 2013
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
On 7 December 2020 the Enforcement Department of Minsk Executive Committee
[the city administration] issued an eviction order requiring New Life
Church to vacate its building by 31 December 2020. The Enforcement
Department threatened to use force if New Life did not obey.
The Enforcement Department claimed it was executing an order of the Higher
Economic Court in January 2009
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
attempt to enforce this order took place in August 2009
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
On 17 February 2021, police and court bailiffs forcibly evicted New Life
Church (https://www.forum18.org/archi
bailiffs, police, and Housing Repairs and Utilities Association officials
took part in the eviction. Bailiffs used an angle grinder to cut the door
lock to gain entry.
Minsk: Warning, liquidation threats
Following the February 2021 eviction from its building
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Frunze District of Minsk has continued to hold worship services for about
one hour each Sunday outdoors in the church car park, whatever the weather.
The church held its most recent Sunday service on 4 September, behind
rather than in front of the church building. Like all its outdoor services,
the Church live-streamed it on YouTube.
In an official letter on 1 August, seen by Forum 18, Artyom Tsuran, a
Deputy Chair of Minsk City Executive Committee, warned the Church that it
had broken the law (https://www.forum18.org/archi
holding Sunday services in the church car park on 26 June and 24 July
without official permission. It warned that if the "violation" is repeated
within a year, the Plenipotentiary's Office could go to court to liquidate
the Church, with a possible ban on its activity as the court considers the
suit.
The Bishop of the Full Gospel Churches Union Leonid Voronenko initiated a
meeting on 16 August with the regime's senior religious affairs official,
Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs Aleksandr Rumak.
Officials summoned the Church's Pastor, Vyacheslav Goncharenko, for a
"preventive conversation" with the Head of Frunze District Administration
Sergei Shkrudnev on 17 August.
Pastor Goncharenko admitted to Forum 18 that after these meetings the
situation had not improved as he was summoned separately for further
meetings, again with Shkudnev at Frunze District Administration on 23
August, and on 30 August with the Head of Frunze District Police
Lieutenant-Colonel Aleksandr Polulekh. Both officials again warned Pastor
Goncharenko against holding meetings at the car park and threatened to
initiate the procedure to liquidate New Life Church through the court.
Liquidating the Church as a religious organisation would make any exercise
of freedom of religion or belief by the Church illegal
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
On 22 January, amendments to the Criminal Code came into force which
restored almost unchanged Article 193-1
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
removed in July 2019 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
The restored Article once more punishes "organisation of or participation
in activity by an unregistered political party, foundation, civil or
religious organisation" with a fine or imprisonment for up to two years.
"They tried to persuade me to take the legal way and rent another
building," Pastor Goncharenko told Forum 18 on 31 August of the meetings
with Shkudnev and Polulekh. "They explained that residents complain about
our meetings and the authorities have to react."
On 24 August, Full Gospel Bishop Voronenko initiated a meeting at Minsk
City Executive Committee with Tsuran to explain the Church's position and
try to find a solution. The official thanked the Bishop for the initiative
but reproached New Life Church for not seeking dialogue with the
authorities, Pastor Goncharenko reported on the New Life Church Telegram
channel the same day.
The Church has always been in contact with the authorities, Pastor
Goncharenko insisted to Forum 18. "For them dialogue is when we write
letters and beg them, while none of the letters are answered positively,"
the pastor complained. He maintained that holding Sunday services is simply
a part of the social and humanitarian activities the church is involved in.
Minsk: "Your question is posed incorrectly"
Forum 18 was unable to find out why the authorities will not allow New Life
Church to use its own building again, offer another building or offer
compensation.
Asked why New Life Church's situation cannot be resolved given that
officials themselves had evicted the community from its building, the Head
of the Ideology Department of Minsk City Executive Committee, Olga
Chemodanova, refused to comment. "Your question is posed incorrectly, send
me the list of questions officially and I will answer them," she told Forum
18 on 6 September.
The secretary refused to put Forum 18 through to the Head of Frunze
District Administration Shkudnev. "He is busy at the meeting," she told
Forum 18 on 6 September. She referred questions to the Ideology Department,
but the phone went unanswered there each time Forum 18 called on 6 and 7
September.
Forum 18 tried to find out whether New Life Church's meetings had evoked
complaints in the neighbourhood. However, the duty officer at Frunze
District Police could not give any comments on 6 September and refused to
transfer the call to his superior Lieutenant-Colonel Polulekh.
Pastor Goncharenko pointed out that a couple of times police officers came
to them during the service asking to reduce the volume of the loudspeakers
due to complaints from nearby residents. "We are always ready to respond to
requests to keep the neighbouring residents comfortable," he told Forum 18.
He noted that the police officers were always polite and respectful.
Minsk: "Emotionally we are attached to this place"
Pastor Goncharenko maintained that if the city needed their building they
should be compensated by land or another building. "We have nowhere to go
and emotionally we are attached to this place," he lamented to Forum 18.
"The location is convenient for church members."
He also mentioned that the authorities are ready to allot a land plot only
after paying the land tax for the whole period while the Church used its
building (https://www.forum18.org/archi
amount of 458,918.22 Belarusian Roubles (1,600,000 Norwegian Kroner,
155,000 Euros or 180,000 US Dollars). "We are not an industrial factory for
whom this amount would also seem enormous, we do not produce anything. Our
donations will not be enough to cover this land tax", Pastor Goncharenko
commented to Forum 18.
Asked whether he is afraid of the church liquidation as threatened, Pastor
Goncharenko told Forum 18: "I think that our situation is not without God's
miracle, as so many times the authorities came and threatened us, but our
church is still functioning."
New Life Church intends to write to the authorities asking them to return
their church building, or at least to allow the Church to hold Sunday
services in the car park, Pastor Goncharenko told Forum 18. He added that
in over 20 years' service there, "so many miracles" had taken place that it
could be considered "a place of pilgrimage". He pointed out that under
Article 25 of the 2002 Religion Law, state permission is not required for
meetings for worship held at a place of pilgrimage.
Gomel: Baptism fines, further warning
On 27 July, Gomel District Court fined the Pastor of Gomel's Living Faith
Church Dmitri Podlobko 20 base units
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Roubles (two weeks' average wage) under Administrative Code Article 24.23
("Violation of the procedure for organising or conducting a mass event or
demonstration") for holding baptisms in his garden on 9 July without the
authorities' permission.
Following the fine, police summoned Pastor Podlobko on 24 August and issued
him with a second official warning, threatening him with possible criminal
prosecution if he repeats the "offence". He will also have to meet the
local police officer each month for the next year for a "preventive"
conversation.
Pastor Podlobko complained that officers did not hand over any document.
They simply read the warning to him and asked for his signature confirming
that he was informed. "Probably I could have asked for a copy to be handed
to me, but under the circumstances I did not do so," he told Forum 18 from
Gomel on 26 August.
According to Article 37 of the 2002 Religion Law "if a violation is not
eliminated within six months or is repeated within a year, the registration
authority is entitled to file in court the request to liquidate the
religious organisation. At the same time the registration authority has the
right to take a decision to suspend the religious organisation's activities
until the court's resolution."
Baptism by full body immersion is a key event for many Protestant
congregations. If a church does not have its own baptistery, it will often
hold the ceremony in a lake or river. The state considers any such public
baptisms illegal unless it has given specific permission.
In mid-August, a court in Gomel similarly punished two members of another
local Protestant community for holding public baptisms in early July
without seeking state permission. Each was fined 640 Belarusian Roubles
(two weeks' average wage) under Administrative Code Article 24.23
("Violation of the procedure for organising or conducting a mass event or
demonstration").
"For more than 20 years of my service, such permission was never sought," a
member of the community told Forum 18 on 29 August. "But since the Bible
teaches us to submit to any authority, we'll ask permission to hold
baptisms in a public place next time."
Asked why police had taken action against communities holding baptisms
locally, Head of Gomel District Police Captain Vasili Kravtsov absolutely
refused to comment. "If you want to talk to me, come and see me in person,"
he told Forum 18 from Gomel on 7 September.
Forum 18 also called the Ideology Department of Gomel City Executive
Committee on 7 September. Instead of putting it through to the relevant
official, the secretary put the call on hold for more than five minutes.
Protestant Churches in other regions of Belarus are known to have conducted
baptisms in summer 2022 in rivers or lakes. In one case in early September,
a Church publicly baptised nearly 30 church members. Forum 18 is not aware
that police intervened during or after any of these baptisms or that any
individuals were fined away from Gomel. (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Belarus
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For more background, see Forum 18's Belarus religious freedom survey
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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