Russia Mostly Unofficial Church of Scientology of St Petersburg and Others V
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Table of Contents The Altai Republic Supreme Court upheld the verdict made against the former imam of Kosh-Agach Kaliningrad and Moscow struggles for places of worship Jehovah's Witnesses win appeal in Rostov Supreme Court declares Jehovah's Witnesses website extremist Bans on more literature, website and video Appeal to Rostov Regional Court—Will the Court exonerate or imprison Jehovah’s Witnesses? Sova Center: Documented cases of abuse of the law against extremism in October "Extremism" charges for possessing Muslim books, Jehovah's Witness community ban confirmed Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia mostly unofficial Church of Scientology of St Petersburg and Others v. Russia Witnesses appeal to the Russian Federation Supreme Court over liquidation of their legal entity in Samara Russian parliament gets closer to changes in religion law Debate over dress restrictions in Russian universities Further fines for religious literature "We still cry when we remember the burned books" Misuse of the anti-extremist law against religious groups in July 2014 Suspended prison terms and fines and criminal records for meeting for worship European Court repeats calls for Religion Law change Trial of Jehovah's Witnesses winds down Jehovah's Witnesses on trial in Taganrog The European Court of Human Rights again condemns Russia for its failure to respect freedom of religion Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslims face up to six years' imprisonment Obstructions to building places of worship Biblical Centre of the Chuvash Republic v. Russia (no. 33203/08) Freedom of conscience in Russia: Restrictions and challenges in 2013 Auction to end Old Believer church restitution hopes? Russia: "They'll punish you .. whether or not you committed a crime" Mormons in Russia deny violations of the law by American Mormons in Rubtsvosk Russia: European Court request enough to protect Uzbek asylum seeker? Division over Hizb ut-Tahrir Russia:"Tired of the unjust treatment of the books, ourselves, and our loved ones" Freedom of conscience arranged in favor of world religions Russia makes pointed concession to Europe St Petersburg church liquidated, Rostov and Chelyabinsk drug and alcohol rehabilitation targeted European Court looks into Russia’s treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses relying on European court Criminal charges against Jehovah's Witnesses Two fines, two more sentences imminent, court-ordered book destructions Pentecostal church banned for classroom furniture Russian Pentecostal church shut down Jehovah's Witnesses' tracts taken off extremist list History of inclusion of Jehovah’s Witnesses brochures in federal list of extremist material and their subsequent exclusion Still no mosque for Sochi, Protestants struggle to keep church Summary of persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in February Parliament threatens complication of legal environment for religion Imams from Novosibirsk turn to ECHR "We do not believe in the justice of our court" Russian Orthodox Church looking for Christians among Muslim migrants In Krasnoyarsk, new prosecutions for studying Nursi literature Suspects of church arson in Tatarstan indicted Religion rules in Russia: Why does freedom of religion and belief continue to cause conflict in post-Soviet Russia? Two "extremism" bans overturned - but bans, fines continue Ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses website overturned by appellate court Religion, schools and the right to choose Wahhabis oppose New Year celebration in Tatarstan The Altai Republic Supreme Court upheld the verdict made against the former imam of Kosh-Agach Sova-Center (30.12.2014) - On December 9, 2014 the Altai Republic Supreme Court Presidium upheld the verdict of the Ongudaisky region Magistrate Court regarding the former imam, Sergian Svatov, of the Kosh-Agach village. He received a 100 thousand rubles (about 1.300 euros) fine for "organizing activities of a banned extremist religious group". Svatov, as well Ali Bugusynov, an imam of the Tashanta Haidar village, were both accused of being followers of the "Tablighi Jamaat" movement and of teaching its ideology among their local followers. Bugusynov's case was dropped and Svatov denies any involvement with "Tablighi Jamaat". In Kazan the court condemned Muslims who took part in the rally with "Hizb ut- Tahrir" flags Sova-Center (18.12.2014) - The Vahitovskij district Court of Kazan condemned three members of a rally against discrimination towards Muslims who held "Hizb ut-Tahrir" flags. Azat Hasanov (36 years old) was found guilty of incitement to hatred and organization of extreme activities. Sentenced to 6.5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony. Ildar Shaikhutdinov (38 years old). Incitement to hatred and participation in an extremist organization. Sentenced to 5.5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony. Ilmir Imaev (62 years). Incitement to hatred and participation in an extremist organization. Sentenced to 3.5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony. The fourth member of the same case was Lenar Galimov, now on the wanted list. On the court's website, it is said that he too was sentenced today. Source: http://www.sova-center.ru/religion/news/extremism/counter- extremism/2014/12/d30885/ Muslims of Cheboksary ask Putin to protect Muslims of Mordovia Sova-Center (30.12.2014) - Cheboksary representatives of the Muslim community "Hope" appealed to Putin with a request to take personal control of the situation regarding the ban of Muslim scarves in schools in some regions of Mordovia. Since the Mordovian government had decided to forbid any religious clothing in schools, many Muslims started complaining about conflicts between pupils and college students with their teachers and professors. Cheboksary representatives of the Muslim community believe that this decision violates several provisions of the Constitution, in particular "Freedom of conscience and religious associations". "Up until now, there have been no legal federal laws prohibiting the scarfs. For some it's a religious symbol, for others it's a tradition. However, because of the ignorance of some officials, such incidents happen all over the country. One gets the impression that some officials deliberately conduct full-scale, continual attacks to discredit Islam in Russia ", said the head of "Hope", Galeev Rashid. Cheboksary Muslims thus ask the president to take the issue under his personal control, "to protect the violated rights and freedom of Russian Muslims" and to provide a legal assessment of the situation. Source:http://www.sova-center.ru/religion/news/community-media/right- protection/2014/12/d30976 Translation – Adaptation by Human Rights Without Frontiers Kaliningrad and Moscow struggles for places of worship Forum 18 (16.12.2014) - Disputes over religious property remain unresolved in many parts of the Russian Federation, Forum 18 News Service notes, often leaving religious communities with no dedicated place of worship and having to rent unsuitable or expensive premises if they can find any. In the capital Moscow the Society of Krishna Consciousness, for example, has lost two arbitration court cases over a unilaterally terminated land lease and the denial of building permission for a temple. The community is now appealing further and is prepared if necessary to take its case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg. In Russia's Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad, the Muslim community has exhausted all domestic legal avenues in its efforts to complete their nearly-built mosque, and have already appealed to the ECtHR. Kaliningrad's Jewish community, ordered in June to halt the reconstruction of their synagogue destroyed in 1938 by the Nazis, is challenging the city administration's denial of a building permit in the Regional Arbitration Court. In contrast, the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church has had its work on a Kaliningrad church legalised after the work was complete. The acquisition and retention of places of worship has long been difficult for many religious communities. For example, a Moscow Patriarchate parish was forced out of a pre-1917 hospital church in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk (see F18News 23 October 2007 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1038). A recent trend is localised public opposition to the state-financed construction of new Moscow Patriarchate churches (see Forum 18's general Russia religious freedom survey http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1722). If communities, including Orthodox churches of different jurisdictions, seek to reclaim historical religious property, the process is rarely simple and has long been controversial (see eg. F18News 2 March 2009 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1263). The 2010 Law on the Transfer of Religious Property to Religious Organisations has proved to be no guarantee that the restitution process will be easy or unchallenged, or indeed that religious property confiscated during the Soviet period will be returned at all (see F18News 31 May 2014 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1961). Kaliningrad mosque The Muslims of Kaliningrad have appealed to the ECtHR against the court decision which ruled their unfinished mosque illegal and deprived them of ownership rights, according to their lawyer Dagir Khasavov. "In Russia no hope remains of correcting this illegal judicial act", he told Forum 18 from Moscow on 21 November. The Muslim community has made repeated efforts since 1993 to acquire land to build a mosque. The mosque lies within