Veniamin Brukh, a bishop in the Full Gospel Church, is believed to be the 22nd foreigner barred from Belarus for religious activity since 2004. Previous cases involved both Protestants and Catholics.
Bishop Brukh, arrived at Minsk Airport from the United States on the evening of 15 October, when he was reportedly confronted with a deportation document issued by the Belarusian Border Police. A stamp placed in Brukh’s passport stated "Entry Denied", the bishop was quoted as saying. "It doesn’t even say to what country."
"After several hours under guard in a cramped, filthy room in the airport, Brukh was deported in the early hours of 16 October…At his own request, he flew to Vienna and on to Riga," Forum 18 added.
IMPORTING ITEMS
Bishop Brukh lived in Minsk Region between 2005 and late 2007, working with a company he co-founded importing items such as children’s playground facilities and wheelchairs. He earlier started the 500-strong Jesus Christ Church in 1991, which has been under KGB secret police surveillance, Forum 18 said. He also participated in a late 2006 high-profile hunger strike to prevent the closure of the evangelical New Life Church’s worship building in Minsk.
Authorities attempted to take over the building, a former cow barn, saying it was inadequate for worshipping services, church representatives told BosNewsLife earlier. Bishop Brukh said in published remarks that he was punished for his activities, adding that the late 2006 introduction of the joint Belarus-Russian Federation migration card "made it easier" for authorities to track his movements.
On challenging this decision in court, Brukh won the right to stay a further six months in Belarus, he told Forum 18, but moved to the United States in 2001 to pursue theological study.
STRINGENT CONTROL
"Even if the state’s highest religious affairs official decides that religious work by a foreigner is necessary, stringent controls still apply to that person’s activities," said Forum 18.
Officials, including a KGB secret police spokesman, have refused to discuss the deportation of Bishop Brukh, reportedly saying only that, "The person who is supposed to know knows. I’m not supposed to know."
Christians claim the KGB secret police has stepped up surveillance of their activities, especially since 2004, when officers arrived at a Baptist church in Ratomka of Minsk Region to fine two Americans for replacing a local pastor and having invitations to Belarus from an unrelated organisation.
Officers allegedly took both of them and the piano player, a Belarusian, for questioning. In another reported incident, Priest Antoni Kochko, a Polish citizen, was told by man and woman in plain clothes that he violated Belarusian legislation for leading a single Mass without state permission in Minsk’s SS Simeon and Helen Catholic Church in September 2006. More recently, “Orthodox believers have also complained of KGB intimidation at worship services,” Forum 18 said.
EU REACTION
It was unclear whether news of more pressure on Christians would impact relations between the European Union and Belarus.
Last week, the EU lifted a ban on President Alexander Lukashenko and other Belarusian government officials travelling to its member states. EU ministers have decided to suspend the travel restrictions for six months, after Minsk released several political prisoners and refused to support Russia in its recognition of breakaway regions in Georgia.
However, diplomats said the suspension would not apply to those involved in the disappearance of political prisoners. Bank deposits of Belarusian officials will also remain frozen.
EU ministers also plan to boost relations with another former Soviet republic, Uzbekistan, where Christians and political dissidents have also reported persecution. Most sanctions against the country’s authoritarian government were lifted, much to the disappointment of the Netherlands, Radio Netherlands Worldwide reported. (With reporting by BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos and from Belarus).
