RUSSIA: MORE BUREAUCRATIC CHECKS WITH INCREASINGLY STRINGENT REQUIREMENTS

By Andrey Dementiev,
Member of the Vladivostok ECB Good News Church
07.07.14 

A large fine of 150,000 rubles (about $4,400) has been levied on the Evangelical Christians - Baptists (ECB) Good News Church in Vladivostok, Russia. The presbyter of the church has been fined another 6,000 rubles. The fine was imposed by the State Fire Control Service following a May 23rd inspection of the house of worship. The Vladivostok First of May prosecutors also attended the fire safety inspection on the pretext of verifying there was no church literature with extremist content (a similar verification was carried out last year by the prosecutor's office). In fact, it was agents from the prosecutor's office who led the inspection.

According to the documents received from Gaspodnadzor [State Fire Safety Inspection] which were drawn up 10 days after the inspection, the church was guilty of the following violations:

– failure to appoint a person responsible for fire safety and ensure he or she has gone through the corresponding fire safety instruction;
– failure to provide instruction on fire safety measures;
– failure to provide fire safety training to church staff;
– no logbook for recording the presence and status of fire extinguishers (in fact, there was such a logbook);
– no signs with phone numbers for the fire department (in fact, there were signs of this nature);
– the evacuation plan in the event of a fire that was posted in the house of worship did not meet GOST [state] standards.

Based on the Gospodnadzor inspection, proceedings over an administrative offense have also been opened.

The amount of the fine was determined, as stated in the documents, "with consideration of repentance of the entity guilty of the administrative offense.”

For our small church that operates on a budget comprised entirely of voluntary contributions from the faithful, 150,000 rubles is a large sum. We were given 70 days to pay the fine (after the presbyter submitted a written statement this deadline was extended by another 60 days). If we do not meet this deadline, they are threatening to double the amount, or else to arrest the presbyter for 15 days on administrative charges. When the presbyter suggested that the officials immediately place him under arrest in exchange for exempting the church from the fine, they refused to take him up on his offer. Most likely, we have no option but to call for a special collection of donations to pay off the fine. Incidentally, in his decision to initiate an administrative case, the prosecutor said that this was "in the interests of the congregation."

As noted by A.V. Isakov, the presbyter of the church, in recent years the number of all kinds of inspections by various government agencies has dramatically increased.

Thus, subsequent to one of these checks (conducted last year – also by the prosecutor's office) we, under the threat of the cancellation of our church registration, were forced to make a number of changes to the Charter of the church. The most significant amendment to the Charter was the exclusion from it of any reference to the fact that the Church is guided by the Holy Scriptures (the Bible). The Charter had said that the church operates on the basis of Scripture and the applicable law, but prosecutors felt that we must act "in the same legal sphere" as the prosecutor's office, for which the Bible is not a document of entitlement.

First, the council of brothers for the church, and then the general membership assembly took up the issue of the prosecutor's requirements. After prayer and reflection, we decided that, since the Charter of the church is only a formal document “for the outside world,” we can make such concessions while continuing the internal life of the church built on the basis of the Holy Scripture. 

"I know from my communications with other churches that they, too, are undergoing all sorts of inspections," noted A.V. Isakov. "The profusion of these checks jeopardizes the legal existence of the churches. The huge fines exceed the financial abilities of the church's members. In this situation, the churches have no other recourse but to "go underground,"  opting out of state registration. When the houses of worship are set up as the private property of individual church members, the very same prosecutors or fire safety inspectors show up with yet another inspection that is practically impossible to pass – in accordance with applicable law."

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Under Stalin's repressions and the "godless Five-Year Plans" of the 1930s, most ministers (elders, deacons, preachers, missionaries, regents, choir directors) of the Churches of Evangelical Christians and Baptists were either imprisoned or were executed, and almost all the churches were stripped of their registration.

After changes in the state policy on religion during the Great Patriotic War [WWII] some of the churches again renewed their registration.

Then, during "Khrushchev's persecution of religion," many of the previously registered churches were deregistered, and religious life largely went underground. At this time the Council of ECB Churches was formed – an illegal alliance of churches that were deprived of registration. The Council of Churches essentially ignored the Soviet discriminatory legislation on "religious cults," in the network of underground printing houses across the country they printed Bibles and other Christian literature, and also established an illegal supply of religious literature from abroad. During this period, hundreds of believers from the Council of Churches were imprisoned for illegal religious activities.

The height of "Khrushchev's persecution" was at the beginning of the 1960s. Winter. A divine service at the Vladivostok ECB church in the ruins of the house of worship on Selenga St., demolished at the order of the city administration. The church prepares for Communion.

Under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev, the attitude toward the faithful somewhat softened: churches not only willingly were registered, they even began to compel registration on those who did not want it. This is because believers in registered churches were forced to compromise with discriminatory legislation, and the authorities found it much easier to control them.

In the post-perestroika era, discriminatory legislative provisions were repealed, and churches wishing to register could easily do so.

In recent times, the situation has been declining. Various checks and closures of established churches, as well as rehabilitation centers for drug addicts and alcoholics have all become more frequent. Churches have de facto been deprived of their ability to organize Sunday schools and camps (since the average community is not able to execute all the required documents).

Andrey Dementiev,
Member of the Vladivostok ECB Good News Church.