Belarus Brings Criminal Charges Against Church For Outdoor Worship

The Red Church in Minsk. Photo published under a Creative Commons license.

At a meeting in Belarusian Parliament and in two letters, officials warned New Life Pentecostal Church that continuing to meet for worship in the car park of their seized church in Minsk could lead to administrative or criminal prosecution, which carries a maximum punishment of four years' imprisonment.

The church vows to continue its worship.

"The authorities may initiate criminal charges as they told us at the Council of the Republic meeting," Pastor Vyacheslav Goncharenko told Forum 18. "This is possible, given that they have gone as far as throwing us out of the building without compensation and imposing debts."

City and state religious affairs officials refused to discuss the threats. The church has held services outdoors each Sunday in snow, rain and sunshine in the more than half a year since officials evicted the congregation from its building in February.

This was followed by a July letter from the administration of Minsk's Moscow District warning Goncharenko that the church's worship meetings are illegal. An August letter from the City Executive Committee reminded him of administrative and criminal punishments for organizing and participating in illegal meetings.

Regardless, the church will continue to meet for worship every Sunday. "This is risky," Goncharenko admitted to Forum 18, "but we keep praying as everything can change. We know this from experience."

Goncharenko took the official letters seriously. "The authorities may initiate criminal charges as they told us at the Council of the Republic meeting," he remarked. "This is possible, given that they have gone as far as throwing us out of the building without compensation and imposing debts."

The New Life Church community says it is not going to give up its seized building and will struggle for its rights. Goncharenko said that the church will continue to negotiate with the authorities.

The head of the Ideology, Religion and Ethnic Affairs Department of the Minsk City Executive Committee, Anna Koronevskaya, refused to comment on the situation with New Life Church. Nor would she answer why officials are threatening the church and whether they intend to shut it down. "The church leaders have all the information, and I am not allowed to give comments on the phone," she told Forum 18.

Andrei Aryaev, head of the Religion Department of the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs, also refused to discuss the situation of New Life Church. "I am not authorized to give any comments,” he said. “This issue is being addressed and addressed actively."

Police and court bailiffs forcibly evicted New Life Church from its building in February, using an angle grinder to cut the door lock to gain entry.

For more than 15 years, members of New Life Church have been in confrontation with the authorities who claim its building. The church bought a former cowshed on the western edge of Minsk in 2002 and converted it into its place of worship, turning it into a spacious, modern structure. The authorities consistently refused to change its legal designation as a cowshed.

Also facing large demands for money is the Catholic Church of Saints Simon and Helena, known locally as the Red Church due to its brickwork, in central Minsk. The amount demanded by the building agency of Minsk City Executive Committee more than doubled between December 2019 and May 2021. The government has refused to hand back the building to church ownership.

Amendments to the 1997 Mass Events Law, which came into force in June, now require organizers of large events to get permission from local administrations before they start to advertise them. Holding such events without permission is punishable.

"Though there is no direct reference to religious organizations, it could in practice be interpreted more widely, meaning that it may also affect religious organizations," said a Minsk-based human rights lawyer.

Among more than 50 nongovernmental organizations dissolved in July was Vedanta Veda, a Hare Krishna-linked cultural organization in Mogilev; human rights group Human Constanta, which defended a Russian Jehovah's Witness seeing sanctuary in Belarus and two charities established by Protestants.

Meeting in Parliament reaffirms earlier demands

In July, officials summoned Goncharenko to a meeting at the Council of the Republic, the upper house of Parliament, to discuss the situation with New Life Church. Leading the meeting was Viktor Liskovich, chair of its Permanent Commission for Education, Science, Culture and Social Development. Also present was one official each from the Minsk City Executive Committee, the Moscow District Administration and the office of the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs.

Officials warned Goncharenko that the church was breaking the law and that prosecution could follow. They reaffirmed their insistence that the church must pay the tax demands from the Moscow District's Housing Repairs and Utilities Association. Officials made no mention of any compensation for the seized building.

In the report on the meeting published on the church's website the following day, Goncharenko noted that the atmosphere of the meeting was "not straightforward." He highlighted that the officials talked dismissively about the church, describing members’ earlier hunger strikes in defense of their place of worship as "unacceptable."

"None of them mentioned the huge amount of work the church has done for the city," Goncharenko said.

Warning letters

Later in July, Valentin Konoplyov, a deputy head of Minsk's Moscow District Administration, warned the church in a letter seen by Forum 18 against holding what he called "unauthorized meetings." He noted that the church had never sought permission for its outdoor meetings.

An August letter, signed by deputy head of Minsk City Executive Committee Artyom Tsuran and seen by Forum 18 reminded Goncharenko that he and church members are liable for punishment for holding such meetings without state approval.

Tsuran said they could be prosecuted for violating Article 24.23, Part 2 of the administrative code: "Violation of the procedure for organizing or conducting a mass event or demonstration." This carries a punishment of a fine, community service or a short jail term.

In the case of systematic violation, Tsuran reminded Goncharenko that he and church members could face prosecution under Article 342, Part 1 of the criminal code: "Organising group actions grossly violating public order and accompanied by clear failure to submit to legal demands of officials." This carries a maximum punishment of four years' imprisonment.

Noise complaints

The July and August letters to New Life Church refer to alleged complaints from residents living near the church car park where the congregation holds open-air worship services for an hour each Sunday.

"Complaints have been lodged from residents of Minsk's Moscow District about public religious events held in the open area at the address Kovaleva 72 with the use of loudspeakers," the August letter read.

Asked whether the church had received any complaints, Goncharenko said that only once had they received an email about loud music.

"We turned the loudspeakers down immediately after the complaint," he told Forum 18.

Goncharenko added that the worship meetings were adjusted to the convenience of the district residents, "starting at midday when everyone is awake and lasting for an hour."

"We don't know if people lodge complaints with the administration, but there are a lot of people who express their sympathy," the pastor commented.

The city authorities refused to discuss with Forum 18 whether local residents had indeed complained about any inconveniences caused by New Life Church's hour-long Sunday meetings for worship in the church car park.

Alternative venues — too expensive, too distant and too small

In the August letter, Tsuran offered the New Life Church two possible premises to rent for meetings for worship. Both Houses of Culture are located in southeastern Minsk, while the community is currently based in the southwestern part of the city.

Goncharenko complained that the meeting places officials are offering are not suitable for the church, as they are located too far from where most church members live.

"One of them is too expensive, and the other is too small to accommodate all of our members," he explained to Forum 18. "Our church lives on donations which may not be regular, so paying rent compared to owning a building is not secure."

Demand for land tax

Echoing the demand made at the July meeting, Tsuran's August letter demands that the New Life Church pay the land tax for the whole period while the church used its building, in the amount of 458,918.22 rubles ($180,000). Unless the church pays this sum, the authorities will not allow it to build a new place of worship.

Under the Presidential Decree on Tax Exemption of Religious Organizations, the New Life Church is not subject to land and property taxes. However, this privilege does not extend to the Housing Repairs and Utilities Association, to which the city administration handed the church's land in 2005 and its building in 2009. The association shifted the burden of taxation to the church, sending eviction demands to the economic courts.

Goncharenko described the sum of money demanded from the church as "huge." He insisted that the church does not intend to pay this sum, referring to the presidential decree exempting religious organizations from tax.

"They think we are rich, but were it so, we wouldn't have bought a cowshed for our worship meetings in the first place," he said.

The chief accountant of the Housing Repairs and Utilities Association of Minsk's Moscow District, Irina Osipova, refused to answer any questions and referred Forum 18 to the association's head, Maksim Tishuk. He too refused absolutely to answer any questions by phone.

Other communities face state-imposed debts

Despite the 2005 presidential decree exempting registered religious organizations from tax, the state lets out historical religious buildings it owns to religious organizations and requires them to pay for the land and buildings they use.

The Red Church in central Minsk also belongs to the City Executive Committee, which claimed in December 2019 that the parish owed its building agency, Minsk Property, more than 160,000 rubles ($65,000) for restoration work and tax. It also demanded just under 13,000 rubles ($5,300) per month as rent.

The parish did not pay the debt, hoping to resolve the issue by negotiation. However, by May of this year, the debt Minsk Property was demanding from the parish had risen to 350,000 rubles ($140,000), as noted by Euroradio.fm. By then, the parish had collected two cardboard boxes containing 20,000 signatures on a petition to the presidential administration calling for the building to be handed over to church ownership.

Increased state control of "mass events"

Due to political opposition protests, the government has tightened control over any activities involving large numbers of people, which also affects public religious events.

In June, amendments to the 1997 Mass Events Law came into force. Mass events can now be organized only after obtaining permission from the local authorities, who are entitled to determine the place and to change the nature of a proposed mass event. Broadcasting a live event without authorization is also prohibited.

Organizers and ordinary people are not allowed to call publicly for, announce in the media or on the internet or distribute leaflets or other materials before officials authorize a mass event. If a leader of an organization does so, the organization itself is obliged to announce its disapproval of these actions in the media. Otherwise, it will be punished in accordance with the law.

The government also punishes financing, rendering services and compensation of expenses related to a mass event that violates the law. These requirements may restrict the public exercise of freedom of religion or belief.

In January 2019, the Council of Ministers adopted Decree No. 49, "On the procedure of payment for public security provided by Police, for healthcare services, for cleaning venue after the public event," which requires payment in advance for police, healthcare and cleaning services. The decree sets the price list depending on the number of participants.

The authorities selectively use the decree depending on their attitude toward the religious community. In 2019, Greek Catholics had to cancel their regular pilgrimage from Vitebsk to Polotsk over the "unaffordable" fee, while Catholic Corpus Christi processions were held without the authorities leveling any charges.

Events canceled — or postponed?

Officials often use the coronavirus pandemic as a reason for canceling large religious events. However, restrictions appear to be imposed selectively. This year, the traditional organized pilgrimage on foot to the Catholic shrine at Budslav, north of Minsk, was canceled, though services were held at the shrine in July. Lay people were invited to come individually.

However, an Orthodox five-day cross procession from Mogilev to Mstislavl in eastern Belarus was planned to begin in September.

The traditional international religious music festival Mahutny Bozha, or Mighty God, which has been held in Mogilev since 1993 — every two years since 2011 — should have been held in 2021. The festival was last held in 2019.

Asked why the Mahutny Bozha festival had been canceled in 2021, the head of the Culture Department of Mogilev City Executive Committee, Marina Klepchukova, said, "Of course, it is not canceled — just postponed until next year because of the pandemic."

Asked why the Slavic Bazaar international arts festival in Vitebsk had not been canceled or postponed, Klepchukova pointed out that it was more for Belarusian people and recommended Forum 18 ask the Vitebsk authorities. Catholic journalist Maksim Hacak regards this as an excuse.

"The pandemic is not an obstacle to holding official events," he said. "It stands in the way only of opposition and unofficial activities."

The Mahutny Bozha festival's title is closely associated with the hymn Mahutny Bozha, which since August 2020 has often been sung by protestors against the government's election falsification and violence. The Lukashenko regime has tried to suppress the singing of the hymn. Police raided Minsk's Catholic cathedral after the congregation sang the hymn at the end of Mass on July 3.

Organizations dissolved

In July, the government ordered the dissolution of more than 50 nongovernmental organizations, allegedly on the grounds of foreign financing.

Vedanta Veda was a private educational society connected to the Hare Krishna community in Mogilev that gave lectures to those interested in Veda culture and philosophy. It was registered in March 2011. The local administration initiated its dissolution on July 14. Dmitry Ivashkov, a Vedanta Veda leader, complained that he received a dissolution order accusing him of illegal business activities.

"The real reasons are unknown to me, and the response from the prosecutor's office to my inquiry did not clear up this issue," he told Forum 18.

Also dissolved was Human Constanta, a human rights advocacy center in Minsk founded in 2016. The executive committee initiated its dissolution on July 22. Human Constanta had defended the rights of a Jehovah's Witness who had sought protection in Belarus from criminal prosecution in his native Russia to punish him for exercising freedom of religion or belief.

Among other dissolved and therefore banned organizations were two established by Protestants: The Family and Children Support Center in Bobruisk, which included volunteers from various Christian communities, addressed family rights issues and helped families with many children. It was registered in February 2014, and the local administration initiated its dissolution on July 13.

Also dissolved was AIDS Care Education Training, an educational center based in Orsha and supported by volunteers from local Protestant churches. It was registered in July 2007, and the local administration initiated its dissolution on July 7.

This piece originally appeared at Forum 18.