Army may survive, following a ruling by Russia’s Constitutional Court. The Keston News Service (KNS), which monitors religious persecution, said the Court ruled that "a religious organization registered prior to the adoption of the country’s 1997 law on religion may not be liquidated" purely for failing to re-register by that legislation’s deadline of 31 December 2000.
The disputed provision of the 1997 law currently threatens the existence of the Moscow branch of the Salvation Army, which failed to re-register by the end of 2000, KNS said. Although the church attempted to re-register on February 18 1999, its application was rejected by Moscow’s Municipal Department of Justice.
UNIFORMS
Russian Government officials have in the past criticized the Salvation Army for wearing uniforms, and described it as a para-military organization. The organization has strongly denied the accusations, and the uniforms are known to identify what its ‘soldiers’ describe as a "spiritual battle" for the Lord.
In Moscow the Salvation Army has been involved in several social projects, that also includes helping the growing number of homeless people in post-Communist Russia. The Salvation Army’s lawyer, Vladimir Ryakhovsky described the Constitutional Court ruling as "very positive."
"JUSTICE"
He told KNS it meant that a religious organization could "not be liquidated only if it no longer existed or was found to be in violation of Article 14 of the 1997 law" (which strongly forbids causing harm to the health of its members or inciting religious hatred).
"It gives us hope that there is justice," said the Public Relations officer for the Moscow branch of the Salvation Army, Galina Drozdov.
