Pastor Thomas Tae Kang was released

After six months of imprisonment, Pastor Thomas Tae Kang was released by a judge

On April 2nd the Zaoksky Regional Court of the Tula Oblast heard the case of US citizen Thomas Tae Kang in an open hearing. The pastor, accused of bribing an official, was released from custody and sentenced to pay a fine.

As reported earlier by Russian Ministries, the Presbyterian pastor, missionary, and former military chaplain was arrested on September 28, 2012 while in the process of building House of Joy, for use as a church building and as a center for needy families. The cause of arrest was him giving three thousand Russian rubles (about $95) to a police officer for the alleged purpose of bribing him to not be so harsh in regards to an emigrant laborer from Uzbekistan who was doing construction work on his house.

Pastors from the Moscow and Tula Oblasts came to the hearing to support their colleague. Also many Christians all over Russia and the world were praying for Pastor Kang leading up to and on the day of the hearing.

In the words of the senior partner of the Slavic Law Center, Anatoly Pchelintsev, who was representing Pastor Kang during the initial investigation, this was the best possible outcome in the situation. “In my opinion,” Pchelintsev said, “my client was, to put it simply, set up. This case shows once again that you can’t give even the slightest cause for provocation.”

Pchelintsev also said that the police of the south-western district of Moscow are investigating the disappearance of 28,000 Russian rubles ($885) and gold jewelry from Pastor Kang’s apartment during a “search” conducted by Tula police.

On the photo Anatoliy Pchelintsev and Pastor Thomas Kang