BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

13/03/2007

Belarus Charismatic Church Continues its Legal Limbo

By Jeremy Reynalds

BELARUS - New Life charismatic church in Belarus is still a long way off from obtaining its own worship facilities for worship.

Belarus is in Eastern Europe, east of Poland.

Forum 18 News Service blamed the delay on what it called "Belarusian state procrastination." It continues after the church ended a hunger strike in Oct. 2006 when a senior state official strongly indicated that a resolution could be reached through the courts.

"The judge had all the necessary information to make a decision two months ago," the church's lawyer Sergei Lukanin told Forum 18. "There are no objective reasons for this delay."

The Higher Economic Court has postponed its ruling five times since Dec. 22 2006, Forum 18 reported. The next hearing is slated for March 19.

A variety of reasons have been given for the delays. When concluding a 100-minute late Jan. hearing and postponing further consideration until Feb. 20, Judge Yekaterina Karatkevich stressed the need to take further account of "the social significance of the case under review."

While acknowledging in the court's Jan. 23 resolution that she has already examined the case materials and heard representatives of both sides, Forum 18 reported that Karatkevich put the delay down to a need "for more complete and objective scrutiny of the dispute in its essence, examination of additional documentation presented by the parties and acquisition of additional documents."

Forum 18 has seen a copy of the resolution, the news service reported.

Reasons for the Delay

According to Forum 18 Lukanin sees two possible reasons for the Court's "foot-dragging."

Following the late 2006 dispute with Russia over gas prices, Belarus now has less reason to support institutions associated with Russia, such as the Belarusian Orthodox Church - which comes under the Moscow Patriarchate and is a prominent supporter of the restrictive 2002 Religion Law. In addition, Lukanin suggested, increased - if reluctant - recent contact with the European Union means that Belarus "doesn't need another problem in the area of human rights."

On the other hand, a decision in New Life's favor "would inevitably lead to religious policy changes for all non-Orthodox," Lukanin said - something that would represent a huge shift for the Soviet-style state. He told Forum 18 that "the government hasn't yet decided what to do with us."

The second reason for the government's inaction, continued Lukanin, is that "they are hoping that international attention will go away." However, he said that such a prospect is very unlikely, as New Life members have repeatedly stated that they will resume their high-profile hunger strike should the authorities move against the church. Although bulldozers began "maneuvers" near New Life's building last Oct., Forum 18 reported there have been no additional physical activities.

The Hunger Strike

With four thick files of correspondence from municipal officials and 18 months of court cases having failed to secure the church's right to use its own land and building for worship, members and supporters of the New Life Church began their hunger strike on Oct. 5 2006. Forum 18 reported that within just two weeks the church's pastor, Vyacheslav Goncharenko, was invited to see a top-ranking presidential administration official, who hinted that a legal resolution was possible.

On Oct. 26 2006 a senior judge cancelled an Oct. 2005 decision against New Life and called for the church's case to be heard again. Forum 18 reported that on Nov. 4 the Higher Economic Court cancelled every court decision issued against New Life since Oct. 27 2005 and confirmed that it would reconsider the church's case on Nov. 27. The church's protests attracted public support from both Protestant and Catholic Christians.

But since then, Forum 18 reported, no further progress has been made. During a preliminary hearing at the Higher Economic Court on Dec. 7, both church and state stated their respective positions.

According to New Life's website, the Minsk authorities' arguments remain unchanged. Forum 18 reported the church filed an additional request for the court to consider both the legality of Minsk City's Aug. 17 2005 decision curtailing the church's land rights and forcing the sale of its building, and a change of the building's designation to a house of worship and a corresponding change of land use.

At the next hearing on Dec. 22 2006, Forum 18 reported the Court agreed to examine several of New Life's additional demands : a change of the building's designation to a house of worship, a corresponding change of land use and reimbursement of court fees totaling approximately 2,000,000 Belarusian Roubles (900 U.S. dollars).

Deciding that they had no direct bearing upon the case, however, Forum 18 reported that Karatkevich refused to examine two more of the church's demands : to obligate the city authorities to re-register New Life at the address of its worship building or to recognize as illegal the state's refusal to allow worship there. As a result of these extra requests and the illness of an official, she postponed further examination of the case until Jan. 19 2007.

However, at that session, Forum 18 reported both sides presented additional materials to the court, leading Karatkevich to postpone her verdict until Jan. 23. When both sides again stated their positions at the Jan. 23 hearing, Karatkevich then postponed her decision until a Feb. 20 hearing, which Forum 18 reported did not occur.

The cancelled hearing was due to a request from Igor Kasperovich, a Belarusian state official. According to Forum 18, New Life's website reported that Yelena Radchenko, a specialist at Minsk's Municipal Department for Religious and Ethnic Affairs, told the court that the Passport and Visa Service urgently required Kasperovich's passport, without which he would be unable to pass the Higher Economic Court's strict entry pass regime. The hearing was consequently postponed to Feb. 22.

Forum 18 commented that in 2006 the Higher Economic Court allowed foreign journalists to be present on the strength of their Belarusian foreign journalist accreditation, and did not require them to show passports. "So it is odd that Kasperovich, a Belarusian state official, apparently faced more stringent barriers than foreign journalists. On March 2, the church's lawyer Sergei Lukanin confirmed that any form of official identification is still sufficient to enter the courthouse."

On Feb. 22, Forum 18 reported that Kasperovich again asked for the case to be postponed so that he could invite a state property expert, competent to give evidence about whether New Life Church had used its land in line with its official designation. He claimed that this would "help the City Executive Committee construct its line of defense correctly."

This request was granted, and a further hearing has been set for March 19.

History of the Dispute

Arguing that New Life's building is legally a barn or cowshed, Forum 18 reported that Minsk officials have refused to grant the 1000-strong congregation permission to use it for services. The state authorities simultaneously refuse to allow the church to legalize its position by changing the building's designation to that of a house of worship. New Life has been worshiping at the disused barn ever since being barred from renting elsewhere in Sept. 2004.

Forum 18 reported that as church administrator Vasili Yurevich told prosecution officials in Dec. 2004, the congregation was earlier refused requests to rent other public facilities by district administrations throughout Minsk. The church's continued use of its building for services has resulted in multiple large fines, in addition to the authorities' decision to confiscate the building.

A March 2000 analysis of one of New Life's sister congregations by an expert at the State Committee for Religious and Ethnic Affairs concluded, Forum 18 reported, that it is a "neo-mystical religious-political destructive sect" whose growth poses "a significant threat to the individual, society and state."

Tight state controls on property use by religious communities - particularly in the capital, Minsk - have greatly restricted Protestants and Krishna worshipers devotees, Forum 18 reported. Last year they even resulted in the ten-day imprisonment of a Reformed Baptist pastor

For more background information see Forum 18's Belarus religious freedom survey at www.forum18.org/Archive.php ?article_id=888.

Source:

http://www.spcm.org/Journal/spip.php?article7336