Belarus Fined Christian For Bible Study Group

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest

MINSK/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife) — A Christian in Belarus has been fined the equivalent of nine months minimum wage salary for attempting to organise an informal Bible study and discussion group, Christian rights investigators said Wednesday, July 23.

Advoacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) told BosNewsLife that 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 some $150.

Under the country’s legislation a new religious organisation have a minimum of twenty members over the age of eighteen to be allowed to operate. “He was then fined under Article 9.9 for holding a religious meeting with less than twenty members,” CSW said.

CONTROVERSIAL CONVICTION

The July 9 conviction came despite Boravik’s statement that he had no intention of establishing a new religious group but “was merely organising a meeting with other Christians to read the Bible and discuss religious questions,” a right which is protected under the Belarusian Constitution, CSW said.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said the case “exemplifies the difficulties faced by Christians in Belarus. Mr. Borovik wanted nothing more than to meet together with fellow believers to study and discuss his faith, a right that most of us in Western Europe take for granted.”

He decsribed the ruling as “a travesty that these types of violations are still taking place in Europe.” He said the “Belarusian government must be pushed to respect its own laws and international commitments and to allow Belarusians to meet together and practise their faith freely.”

The United States has described Belarus as “Europe’s last dictatorship” under the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko, charges the government denies.

Copyright 2008 BosNewsLife. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without our prior written consent.

Lift this up in Prayer

17

people are currently praying.

Latest Worthy News

Fair Use Notice:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Books by George Whitten

Identity in Messiah Revealed https://identityinmessiah.com

A devotional journey calling believers out of self-doubt and into confident, Kingdom-rooted identity in the Messiah.

Get it on Amazon

The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed https://biblicalfallfeasts.com

An in-depth look at the Biblical fall feasts and their prophetic significance for believers today.

Get it on Amazon