wfn.org | Time is Running Out For Some Religious Groups in Russia, Says

[BeckettJ@gc.adventist.org]

Adventist Leader

ANN Bulletin
Adventist News Network
Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters
December 5, 2000
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Time is Running Out For Some Religious Groups in Russia, Says Adventist
Leader
Moscow, Russia ... [ANN]

Religious groups and organizations in Russia that are not legally registered
and re?registered before December 31 this year will be "deprived of their
legal  status" under the terms of a statutory amendment signed by Russian
President Vladimir Putin.

The provision amends Russia's restrictive 1997 Religion Law, which
established mandatory re?registration for all religious groups and
organizations. 
An estimated 8,000 of the 17,000 religious organizations in Russia have not
yet re?registered.  Many congregations have charged that their
re?registration  attempts have been tied up in unnecessary red tape by local
authorities.

"Despite the fact that the re?registration law does not effect the Adventist
Church, we have expressed our concern about some of the articles that do not
correspond with the Russian Constitution, which protects religious freedom,"
says Victor  Krushenitsky,  public affairs and religious liberty director
for  the Seventh?day Adventist Church in the Euro?Asia region.  He points
out that Article 27 of the Religion Law restricts legal status to religious
groups that  have less than 15 years existence in Russia and that have no
"centralized structures."  Such groups, if they fail re-registration, will
be deprived of their  legal status by the court, but they will be able to
worship in their buildings."

"We believe that religious freedom is a basic right that should be
guaranteed by the state, not something that is contingent on whether a group
of believers  can comply with difficult registration laws," says
Krushenitsky.  [Bettina Krause]
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