Translated material
In Yakutia, the Center for Countering Extremism began checking Evangelical Christian churches
On March 30, 2011 it became known that the Center for countering extremism, the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is holding mass inspections of churches affiliated with the Association of Churches of Evangelical Christians republics.
During March, the leaders of these churches received requests were sent from the republican Ministry of Internal Affairs with a request to provide information about sources of funding, place of residence and personal characteristics of the pastor, places of worship, the number of parishioners and their distribution religious literature, the number of children attending Sunday schools. Except In addition, the request contains the question of “have there been cases of evasion from passing military service for religious reasons.
On March 11, the Association sent a letter to the Republican Ministry of Internal Affairs, where the received request was regarded as a violation of the constitutional rights of citizens. This letter was forwarded to the acting head of the criminal police Evgeny Alyoshin, to which the Center for Combating Extremism is subordinate.
On March 18, Director of the Institute of Religion and Law Roman Lunkin sent to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) a letter demanding service check with an assessment of the actions of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“The very fact of drawing up such a request on behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic Sakha (Yakutia) and its contents can be considered as gross interference in activity of religious associations. Against the backdrop of growing international tensions and the emergence of inter-religious conflicts, such actions employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs only increase tension in society, provoke tension against the authorities and religious associations and impede prevention of extremism, which, in fact, should be dealt with by the Center for countering extremism in the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Meanwhile, ignorance legislation on religion and pressure on leaders of law-abiding registered churches, on the contrary, exacerbated the situation. It is also striking that the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs do not give any justifications for their actions and requests to believers presented. No grounds for inquiries in Protestant congregations and no could ,” the letter says.
Recall that similar requests addressed to the Muslim organizations in Voronezh were declared illegal .
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