The Persecution Times » Belarus
Belarusian Christian fined for organizing Bible study
By Michael Ireland Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service GRODNO, BELARUS (ANS) — A Belarusian Christian has been fined the equivalent of nine months minimum wage salary for attempting to organize an informal Bible study and discussion group. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports that on June 9 2008, the Grodno Regional Court declared Valentin Borovik guilty of violating Article 14 of the Belarusian Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religion (LFCR) and Article 9.9 of the Administrative Violations Code and fined him 315,000 rubles (approximately £75 or about $150. In its report CSW says that a somewhat convoluted legal strategy was used to prosecute Boravik. He was originally accused of violating Article 14 of the LFCR, which stipulates that in order to establish a new religious organization there must be a minimum of twenty members … Read entire article »
Filed under: Assist News Service, Belarus, Christian, Persecution
Record Fine for Baptists in Belarus for Talking About Religion
BELARUS (ANS) — Belarus has imposed a fine of more than two months average wages on a Baptist who organized choral singing and talked about religious issues outside Ushachi public market. Belarus is located in Eastern Europe, east of Poland. A story by Geraldine Fagan writing for Forum 18 News Service reported that after a plain clothes policeman told a group of Baptists from outside the area to stop, Vladimir Burshtyn replied that they were not disturbing public order. He cited religious freedom guarantees in Belarus’ Constitution, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The fine is, to Forum 18′s knowledge, the highest yet imposed on Baptists for unregistered religious activity. Higher fines have been levied against members of other communities. Forum 18 said that Olga Karchevskaya, an official who witnessed the incident, defended … Read entire article »
Filed under: Assist News Service, Belarus, Christian, Persecution
