10 thousand signatures in protection of right of freedom of conscience :: Charter'97 :: News

16 May the expanded meeting of representatives of religious and public organizations who have participated in the campaign for protection of the right of freedom of conscience was held.

Preliminary outcomes of the action were summed up there. It was mentioned that the campaign has been launched in 30 cities and settlements of Belarus and according to the preliminary calculations over10 thousand signatures had been collected. To the best of the coordination center of the campaign’s knowledge many churches of Belarus and some activist, representatives of the public, joint the action on their own initiative.

Lawyer Dina Shavtsova shared the information on the round-table meeting, which had been organized in Sofia by the European Evangelical Alliance. Around 30 representatives of the rights’ defending organizations from England, Bulgaria, Holland, Sweden and other countries took part in the event. This year the attention of the rights’ defenders was concentrated mainly on the religious situation in Belarus and Turkey.

“If Belarusian believers do not start protecting their rights even the “abroad” won’t help us. It is high time for us to interrupt our state of serene ignorance. If we continue keeping silence, they will simply drive us to the underground and the underground church will appear in Belarus. To sign the appeal is not a heroic deed. It is an ordinary manifestation of your civil standpoint. Collection of signatures is a small step on the way of struggling for your rights”, pastor of the Minsk Church of Jesus Christ Baris Charnaglaz remarked in his speech.

According to one of the campaign organizers, cochairman of the organizing committee of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Aleksei Shein, the campaign on protection of rights of freedom of conscience is a unique event because Belarusian Christians came out in favor of one of the basic civil rights.