Forum 18: Russia (Direct Post)

RUSSIA: METHODIST CHURCH DISSOLVED FOR MINOR BUREAUCRATIC SLIP
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1098

A regional court in Russia has dissolved a functioning Methodist congregation because it did not file a report about its annual activities on time, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Deprived of legal personality status, the church may now only gather for worship at premises provided by its existing members and give them religious instruction. Methodist Pastor Vladimir Pakhomov told Forum 18 News Service that the Belgorod branch of the Federal Registration Service "even told me there was no point in attending court, as the church would be closed in any case." The court did not - contrary to a Constitutional Court decision - attempt to find out whether the church operates or not. "They could close us and others down in exactly the same way - many registered communities don't submit this information in time as they see it as a formality," a local Baptist pastor commented. The Methodists did not submit their report on time due to the near impossibility of Protestants finding a suitable legal address in Belgorod Region. "We sent them letters, two official warnings," a local official told Forum 18. "When we got no response we had no choice but to take them to court."

Forum 18: Belarus (Direct Post)

BELARUS: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PETITION DELIVERED, BUT PROTESTANT FINES CONTINUE
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1097

Belarus seems to be increasing its use of technical building regulations to harass Protestant churches, Forum 18 News Service notes. The fire safetyd emands for which one church was fined would have involved moving walls, Pastor Mikhail Kabushko, a Pentecostal in Brest Region, told Forum 18. "Every time they check, there is something new. Even if we were to fulfil everything now, there's no guarantee they won't come up with something more." Separately, the pastor of a Minsk-based charismatic church, who also thinks health and safety demands are being used to oppress Protestants, faces prosecution for refusing to admit state inspectors onto church property. Officials have avoided answering Forum 18's questions. A 50,000-signature, 3,442-page long petition from across Belarus calling for a change to the Religion Law has been submitted to the Constitutional Court, Parliament and Presidential Administration. The Constitutional Court has replied that appeals should be submitted via President Aleksandr Lukashenko, Parliament or other authorised state bodies. These state bodies now have a month to reply to the petition.

Nebraska Court rules in favor of street preacher

A man who wanted to share his faith by street preaching had been harassed by police under a city ordinance, and finally gave up.

A recent court decision on his behalf cut down the ordinance he was being harassed under and upheld his right to witness.

Read here.

Open Doors: Egypt

In a serious blow to religious freedom in Egypt, a court in Cairo has ruled that Egyptians who convert from Islam to Christianity do not have the right to change their religious affiliation on their public records.

According to sha'ria (Islamic law), Islam is the most perfect faith, and it is therefore against Islamic law to return to an older "less perfect" faith.

Read more here.

GFA: India

Gospel for Asia reports that a legal case before the Supreme Court of India affecting the rights of Dalits (India's untouchable caste) has again been delayed. The case is intended to close a loophole that states that Dalits who convert from Hinduism are no longer eligible for assistance they have received from the government, on the grounds that the caste system is part of Hinduism, and if a Dalit converts, they are no longer covered by the caste system.