Even on our doorstep 17/05/2006
Photo World Council of Churches
For the most part, we associate persecution with the countries of the Middle East, Asia and Africa. However, during March, two Christian leaders in the Eastern European country of Belarus faced arrest and imprisonment for holding peaceful religious meetings.
Pastor Georgi Vyazovsky and his small congregation have been meeting at his house every Sunday to worship. Although these services caused no disturbance to neighbours, a local authority official accompanied by policemen entered Pastor Vyazovsky’s house without permission during one Sunday community service. Eventually Pastor Vyazovsky was charged with holding systematic religious meetings in his private home without permission from the local authorities and sentenced on 3 March to ten days of imprisonment.
In that same month, the police raided an interdenominational conference featuring a foreign humanitarian aid worker. Three policemen and one KGB agent locked the delegates inside the building for one hour without explanation. Two pastors were arrested but were later released when lawyer Sergey Shavtsov claimed full responsibility for organising the conference. Following a 20 minute summary trial, Mr Shavtsov was sentenced to ten days’ imprisonment.
Ironically, Mr Shavtsov himself is a human rights lawyer who represents most of the Protestant Church unions in Belarus and has published reports on violations of international law on religious freedom in Belarus.
Belarus is a party to international treaties such as the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees freedom of religious belief and practices. The imprisonment of Pastor Vyazovsky and Mr Shavtsov in the same month is the cause of great concern for the freedom of Christians in Belarus.