In Taganrog, the leader of the Mormon community was fined for “illegal” missionary work

Leader of Mormon community in Taganrog fined for that unknown people stole a sign with the name of the organization from the community building, and believers immediately replaced it with a sheet of paper with all the necessary information.

On May 31, 2018, the Magistrate's Court of the judicial district No. 4 of Taganrog judicial district of the Rostov region fined the chairman of the "Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints in the city of Taganrog" by Sergei Ts., finding him guilty of Part 4 Art. 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (carrying out missionary activities in violation of requirements of the legislation on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and religious associations).

The “offence” is that on April 1, 2018, the building community meetings were without a plate indicating the full name of the organization: the sign that hung on the building until that day was stolen by someone. Discovering the theft believers immediately hung a piece of paper at the entrance with the name of the religious organization, and the next day the theft was reported to the police. It should be noted, that on April 1, the day the theft was discovered, the community meetings in the building were not was.

The case under Part 3 of Art. 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (implementation of religious organization of activities without indicating its official full names) was initiated after the appeal of the former police officer S., who was called as a witness. According to him, he accidentally passed past the building and noticed the absence of a sign, about which he considered it necessary to report law enforcement agencies.

The court ignored the fact that community meetings on April 1 were not was, as well as the fact that the head of the community did not remove the sign on his own and took action when he discovered her absence. However, the court agreed with the arguments protection that Sergei Ts. cannot be brought under Part 3 of Art. 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, because in In this case, the subject of the offense must be a legal entity.

Therefore, the court reclassified the accusation to Part 4 of Art. 5.26 Code of Administrative Offenses and appointed the head of the community the minimum possible punishment - a fine of in the amount of 5 thousand rubles.

Sources

• Simkin L., There is a hunt for fines // Independent newspaper. 2018. June 20.
• Inc. inf.