“Novaya Zhizn” Church does not agree with the Authorities :: Charter'97 :: News

The Minsk ”Novaya Zhizn” (New Life) Church of the Association of Communities of Christians of the full New Testament in the Republic of Belarus does not agree with interpretation of the situation around this community by the Belarusian embassy in Bulgaria.

Lawyer of the Church Syargei Lukanin reported in his interview with the BelaPAN that at the beginning of this year Bulgarian Protestants gathered 600 signatures under the appeal for protection of the Minsk ”Novaya Zhizn” (New Life) Church’s rights, which was sent to the Belarusian embassy in Sofia. According to him, 13 April a message came to the office of the Belarusian embassy in Bulgaria “On the situation around the ”Novaya Zhizn” (New Life) Church religious community of Christians of the full New Testament”. “The content of the message fully corresponds to the standpoint of the Minsk Executive Committee and other authorities of Belarus regarding our religious community”, S. Lukanin said. He modified the situation as “the most regrettable” and added that the embassy being a department of the foreign political institution of Belarus distributes, according to Lukanin, the information, which is ”far from reality thus defaming the Church before the Bulgarian citizens”.

It is to be mentioned that since 18 October last year Judge of the Higher Economic Court Katsyarina Karatkevich has been considering the claims of the church on acknowledging as illegal the resolution of the Minsk Executive Committee dated 17 August 2005 “On depriving the community of the land and buildings in 72 Kavalyou Street in Minsk; on re-profiling of the cow barn building into the cult one and changing of the designation of the land patch” as well as of making the Minsk executive Committee repay the damage incurred by the church to the amount equal to the state duty paid by the claimant over the last year for appealing the illegal resolution of the authorities (Br 1 million 829 thousand rubles). 22 March the hearing on the Church’s claim was suspended due to the judge’s intention of sending the inquiries to competent bodies.