During the election campaign in Smolensk, materials discrediting Baptists were distributed

During the campaign for the election of the mayor of Smolensk, the newspaper "Special issue of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists (ECB) for Smolensk" was distributed, which said that the Union supported one of the candidates - Sergei Maslakov.

The newspaper contains the following statements: "We must move away from pure Orthodoxy, thanks to Maslakov our Baptist faith will be strengthened ...", "It is very good if the Baptists are represented in government and we will receive funds from the local budget ..." faith has seriously discredited itself, only Baptists can be responsible for the fate of the country ... ". The candidate himself from the pages of the newspaper declares: "The Orthodox call us a sect, but the Baptists are not like that, despite all the scandals around the Baptists related to pedophilia, polygamy, etc. ... Let the Baptists live in peace the way they want."

The issue also contains an interview with the head of the RSECB, Yuri Sipko, who says that Russian Baptists "need financial assistance from the West."

The senior pastor of the Association of Churches of the ECB in the Smolensk region, Viktor Ignatenkov, in an interview with the Slavic Legal Center said that this special issue is fake, and candidate Maslakov has nothing to do with the Baptists. According to Ignatenko, the appearance of this newspaper is the result of the use of "dirty" political technologies and the desire to stage a provocation against the Baptists.

The editor-in-chief of the "Religion and Law" magazine, lawyer Anatoly Pchelintsev, did not rule out that such technology could be used in federal elections as well.

V. Ignatenkov appealed to the prosecutor's office with a request to conduct an investigation into the appearance of fabricated material.

Another candidate, Valery Razuvaev, who is running for United Russia, actively uses Orthodox themes in his campaign materials. For example, on one of the posters, he is depicted together with the Smolensk vicar, Bishop Vyazemsky Ignatius (Punin) . A leaflet distributed in support of this candidate explains that Orthodoxy is the "correct faith" and provides the text of the Creed.

According to the results of the March 1 vote, self-nominated Eduard Kachanovsky became the mayor of Smolensk. Supported by the Orthodox diocese, V. Razuvaev took third place. S. Maslakov, on behalf of whom the Protestant newspaper was distributed, was removed from the elections.

Sources

• During the election campaign for the post of mayor of Smolensk, political technologists played the Baptist card // Slavic Legal Center. 2009. February 13.
• The participation of the vicar of the Smolensk diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church MP, Bishop Ignatius, in the election campaign provoked criticism from the leaders of other Christian churches // There. 25 February.
• "Orthodox" candidate, supported by Bishop Ignatius Vyazemsky, lost in the election of the mayor of Smolensk // There. March, 3rd.