Administrative Commission Fines Pastor

On 11 December the administrative commission of Kobryn District Executive Committee fined the pastor of the Gospel Church Mikalay Radkevich for unauthorized liturgy.

The ruling of the administrative commission read that Mikalay Radkevich “held assemblies without the authorization of the district executive committee. The fact was registered on 23 November 2003”. As a result, the commission fined Mikalay Radkevich 50 000 rubles (about $25) for violation of Article No. 193 of the Code of Administrative Violations. According to Mikalay Radkevich, the church is not registered, although it was found in 1952 and has about 300 believers. The pastor is sure that the Constitution doesn’t oblige believers to register for saying services and thinks that this pressurization is a result of the new Law “About freedom of conscience and religious organizations”.