religion law," two Catholic Christians are expecting massive fines and possible prison terms.
The Keston News Service (KNS), which monitors religious persecution, said Tuesday, November 19, that Igor Zakrevsky and Sergei Peskin were briefly detained after making a protest in the center of the Belarusian capital Minsk earlier this month.
"We wrote to parliament protesting against the law and collected petitions, but that didn’t help," Zakrevsky was quoted at saying. "We decided to take to the streets to express our opposition," he said.
During their demonstration on November 8, Zakrevsky and Peskin were seen wearing slogans that included "the authorities want to control our souls". They walked around the central streets, then stood by the statue of Lenin opposite the parliament building, where they were taken into custody by local police, KNS reported.
KNS has also established that members of the former secret service KGB played a role in the arrests, amid reports that the organization is once again interested in religion developments in both Belarus and its larger neighbor Russia.
PRISON OR FINES
In a legal move that some compare with the Soviet era, Zakrevsky said he expects him and his fellow Catholic to be sent to prison for up to 15 days or be fined between 150 and 300 times the minimum monthly wage. KNS said that the maximum fine is equivalent to $1,790.
The harsh treatment was expected because the two lay Catholics were already charged for earlier street protests under Article 167 part 2 of the administrative code, which punishes "unsanctioned meetings", KNS reported.
The two are due to be tried by the court of Minsk’s Moscow district within two months, Zakrevsky told Keston. Pentecostal churches have also reported persecution and several Christian home meetings have reportedly been raided by local police.
The religion law, which became official Saturday, November 16, bans unregistered religious activity. It also forbids foreign citizens from leading religious organizations, a move expected to lead to the expulsion of missionary workers and several Catholic priests.
FULL GOSPEL
In addition the law restricts religious education to faiths that have ten registered communities, including one that existed for at least twenty years.
The Full Gospel Union, which unites 64 pentecostal congregations, said recently it will not obey the religion law and continue to preach the Gospel as the "authorities have exceeded the powers given by God."
Several countries, including the European Union and the United States, as well as international human rights groups have protested against the religion law of Belarus, at a time when the former Soviet republic seems increasingly isolated.
Last week the Czech Government said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, would not be welcome at an upcoming NATO summit in Prague, mainly because of his autocratic style and poor record on human rights.
