The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief
9 December 2013
BELARUS: KGB releases priest, but house arrest and treason investigation continue
The 3 December transfer to house arrest of Fr Vladislav Lazar after six months in Minsk's KGB detention centre was "a complete surprise", Fr Yury Sanko of the Catholic Bishops' Conference told Forum 18 News Service from the Belarusian capital Minsk. But the criminal investigation on treason charges – which Fr Lazar rejects – continues. His bishop, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of the Minsk-Mogilev diocese, has been interrogated by the KGB as a witness in the case "because when a priest is arrested on the basis of such charges, the archbishop is responsible for the priest", fellow priest Fr Yury Barok told Forum 18. The archbishop "is having very unpleasant moments", he added. The KGB refused to put Forum 18 through to Konstantin Bychek, the KGB investigator leading the criminal investigation, and KGB spokesperson Artur Strekh refused to tell Forum 18 how far the investigation has reached and if any trial is imminent. The charges carry a punishment of 7 to 15 years' imprisonment.
15 October 2013
BELARUS: Why is Catholic priest still detained by KGB secret police?
Four and a half months after Belarus' KGB secret police arrested Catholic priest Fr Vladislav Lazar on 31 May, it is still unclear why he was arrested or what specific acts he is accused of having committed, Forum 18 News Service notes. Fr Lazar is being held in a KGB detention centre under conditions which have been described as designed to crush the spirit. He has – against international human rights law - been denied visits from his family, friends and fellow-clergy, including Papal Nuncio Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti. Fr Lazar has been charged with treason, which carries a punishment of between seven and 15 years in jail, but the authorities have refused to reveal details of their allegations. Curiously, the charges were first revealed by the Catholic Church three and half months after the arrest, not by the authorities. The KGB secret police has bullied Fr Lazar's family, but campaigns for him continue. Pope Francis has also expressed his concern, and many in Belarus are convinced the priest is innocent. "The case is falling apart and everyone understands that the charges sound funny", journalist and family friend Lyubov Lunyova told Forum 18.
9 September 2013
BELARUS: Imprisoned Catholic priest "Polish spy" or religious freedom victim?
Belarusian officials have given no information about why the KGB secret police arrested Catholic priest Fr Vladislav Lazar on 31 May, Forum 18 News Service notes. He is being held in the KGB detention centre in the capital Minsk. Prison staff refused to allow a Bible, prayer book and rosary to be handed in for him. "We recently arrested one traitor who served in the special services [KGB] and who was connected with foreign states through representatives of the Catholic Church, and not only passed on information, but because of his activity people who work abroad suffered," President Aleksandr Lukashenko announced in July, giving no details. "Maybe tomorrow I'll disappear like this and my family will worry and have no information about my whereabouts," fellow Catholic priest Fr Yuri Barok told Forum 18.
2 July 2013
BELARUS: Praying in homeless shelter a crime
A young Catholic layman, who turned his home in a western Belarus village into a shelter for homeless people with a prayer room, is being accused of leading an unregistered religious organisation, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Aleksei Shchedrov – who says he has helped about 100 local people since December 2011 – is being investigated on criminal charges under Article 193-1, and faces a maximum possible sentence of two years' imprisonment. The criminal investigation against 28-year-old Shchedrov followed police raids on the shelter in February and April. "I am a Christian and I started to help those who are in need," he insisted to Forum 18 from the village of Aleksandrovka, Grodno Region. "I give them food, a bed, a bath and clothes and I pray together with them. But this is no religious organisation, just charity." A priest used to visit the shelter, but stopped after the authorities pressured the Bishop of Grodno into ordering the visits to stop. Police refused to discuss the case with Forum 18.
14 June 2013
BELARUS: Raids and fines restart, eviction again suspended for now
Raids and fines against Baptists in Belarus who meet for worship without state permission have re-started, Forum 18 News Service notes. After separate raids on Sunday meetings for worship at both congregations of the Council of Churches Baptists in the south-eastern town of Gomel, three local leaders have been fined. Pastor Nikolai Varushin was fined about one month's average local wages, and Pastor Pyotr Yashchenko and Valentin Shchedrenok were fined much smaller amounts. These are the first such raids and fines in almost a year. Police told Forum 18 that one of the raids had been initiated by the KGB secret police, with the aim of "revealing criminal groups of the unregistered Baptists". "We [the police] deal with family quarrels and street fights, and are not interested in religion," the police officer told Forum 18. "In this mission we only lent assistance." And New Life Full Gospel Church in the capital Minsk has once again received an eviction order, which was today (14 June) rapidly suspended – but not cancelled.
25 February 2013
TURKMENISTAN: Government changes Islamic leadership again
Turkmenistan's government has changed the entire leadership of the country's officially permitted Muslim administration, Forum 18 News Service notes. Turkmenistan has not announced whether the new Chief Mufti and regional imams also have the usual second role as officials of the Gengesh (Council) for Religious Affairs, whose task is to restrict freedom of religion and belief. However, a regional Gengesh official confirmed to Forum 18 that this was happening in their region. The latest appointments came as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, complained of the difficulties of recovering Soviet-confiscated Orthodox churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church is hoping promises of being allowed to resume its activity among Turkmenistan's ethnic Armenian minority will eventually be fulfilled. And Turkmen students studying in Ukraine have been pressured not to attend non-Muslim religious communities. "The idea that we had instructions from our Foreign Ministry is stupidity," an official of Turkmenistan's Embassy in Ukraine told Forum 18.
30 January 2013
BELARUS: Religious freedom survey, January 2013
Belarus continues to keep religious communities within an invisible ghetto of regulation, Forum 18 News Service has found. The state closely controls people meeting together to exercise their religious freedom, forcing many religious communities to keep out of sight. Officials are hostile towards followers of faiths they see as a threat, particularly the Protestantism of many of the regime's political opponents. However, Forum 18 also notes that Belarus has been more reluctant to crack down on freedom of religion and belief in recent years, for fear that this might increase political opposition. Other issues include: strict controls on foreign citizens, including Catholic priests, who conduct religious activity; a Soviet-era network of KGB secret police and religious affairs officials; lack of provision for conscientious objection to military service; and obstruction of the religious freedom of prisoners, including prisoners of conscience and death-row prisoners.
10 January 2013
BELARUS: Alternative Service Law "earliest by summer 2014"?
Belarus has prepared a "working version" of a proposed Alternative Service Law, Vera Chaushnik of the National Centre for Legislation and Legal Research has told Forum 18 News Service. "If all goes well and according to the plan", the Law will be adopted "at the earliest by summer 2014", she said. Asked whether the draft Law will be published before it reaches Parliament to allow public debate, Chaushnik said this was possible. "But not every draft Law is published for public discussion." Jehovah's Witness Dmitry Smyk, who has been convicted and punished for conscientious objection to military service, cautiously welcomed the news. He told Forum 18 that he hoped the issue would be resolved through legislation. Civil society group For Alternative Civilian Service stated that "this raises the hope that the gap in the law, which since 1994 has been an obstacle to realising individuals' constitutional rights, will be removed". Military conscription is used to silence political opposition. Currently conscripted Youth Front activist Pavel Sergei was last Sunday [6 January] prevented by military commanders from attending church.
5 December 2012
BELARUS: Last minute reprieve for charismatic church
The eviction of the New Life Pentecostal Church from its building in the Belarusian capital Minsk – due this morning (5 December) – has been called off. All was quiet as the deadline passed this morning, New Life's administrator Vitaly Antonchikov told Forum 18 News Service. "There will be no eviction," court executor Olga Shcherbovich, assured Forum 18 yesterday afternoon, 4 December. "There was a document, there was action; the document was withdrawn, the action stopped." The Church meets in a former cow barn it bought and renovated, but the authorities have never legalised its use and have been trying to evict the Church for a decade. "This isn't the end, of course – the eviction is cancelled, but legally our land and building still belong to the authorities," Antonchikov told Forum 18.
28 November 2012
BELARUS: One week left for charismatic church?
Members of Minsk's New Life Pentecostal Church – who have been campaigning for a decade to hold on to their building - have been ordered to hand over the keys of their church to officials next Wednesday (5 December). The eviction order – seen by Forum 18 News Service - orders the local housing authority to provide "vehicles, manpower and everything necessary to evict the debtor" in case of forced eviction. Court executor Olga Shcherbovich of Minsk's Higher Economic Court, who signed the order, refused to discuss it with Forum 18. "We are treating this very seriously," church member and lawyer Sergei Lukanin told Forum 18. "There will be round-the-clock prayer in our building and special evening prayer meetings to ask the Lord to defend our building and to guide our response to the authorities."
27 June 2012
BELARUS: Non-existent offences prosecuted
Belarus has removed from its Code of Administrative Offences punishment for religious events held without state permission. But officials still sometimes raid and prosecute such meetings – even in private homes. Jehovah's Witness Kirill Dashkovsky told Forum 18 News Service that in his recent case a judge refused to hear arguments that his "offence" no longer exists. If adopted, a new Housing Code might make home worship freer – but it would still need state permission.
15 May 2012
BELARUS: No religious burials for executed prisoners
Relatives of executed death row prisoners in Belarus remain unable to recover their bodies for burial, Forum 18 News Service notes. In the latest case the mother of Vladislav Kovalev, executed on 15 March, tried to claim her son's body for burial. Lyubov Kovaleva told Forum 18 News Service that "it is important to give Vladislav - like other people - a Christian burial". Death row prisoners are not told until the last minute the date and time of their execution, so they also do not have the chance to receive a visit from a priest. Nor are families of executed prisoners told when and where they are buried. Political prisoners' rights to freedom of religion or belief also continue to be violated, with denials of access to literature such as the Bible and visits by clergy. Correspondence by family and friends with political prisoners has also been blocked. Conscientious objectors to compulsory military service also continue to be punished. Jehovah's Witness Artem Strelchenko has been threatened that, if he does not report for military service, "a complex of measures for the legal evaluation of the given fact" will be undertaken.