{"id":45898,"date":"2023-03-07T14:00:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T05:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=45898"},"modified":"2023-03-07T15:44:50","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T06:44:50","slug":"vomk-report-244","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2023\/03\/07\/vomk-report-244\/","title":{"rendered":"RUSSIA: A NEW GENERATION OF PROSECUTORS CLAMPS DOWN ON CHURCHES"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”45916″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Zapotylok Veniamin was ordained a pastor in the Unregistered Baptist denomination in December 2021. His first encounter with the law came just six months later. And it hasn\u2019t ended yet.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all began in June<\/span> [2022]<\/span>,\u201d he <\/span>recalls<\/span>. \u201c<\/span>Two people came to the house of prayer, a representative of the FSB and a deputy prosecutor<\/span>.<\/span> They showed their ID documents. The young brothers who live [in the house of prayer] told them that they could not give any information. Brothers gave officials my phone number. The officials called me and came to my workplace.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Pastor <\/span>Veniamin<\/span>\u2019s predecessor at the <\/span>unregistered<\/span> church in <\/span>Nadym<\/span>, <\/span>an elderly pastor<\/span>,<\/span> was often visited by <\/span>the previous prosecutor, also elderly. <\/span>\u201cO<\/span>ur pastor was explaining that he shouldn’t touch us as there would be a lot of noise. And somehow it all worked out<\/span>,\u201d Pastor <\/span>Veniamin<\/span> remembers<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>And then a new young prosecutor came and got hooked on us.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The youngest daughter of the previous pastor is now Pastor <\/span>Veniamin<\/span>\u2019s wife. Pastor <\/span>Veniamin<\/span> is <\/span>from Chelyabinsk<\/span>, 1800 km to the south<\/span>. <\/span>He says he <\/span>used to come <\/span>to <\/span>Nadym<\/span> often for evangelistic outreaches. Now <\/span>he lives and <\/span>pastors<\/span> there and is the father of <\/span>8 children<\/span> ranging from 19 to 3 years old.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”45919″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The officials called me and came to <\/span>my <\/span>work<\/span>place,\u201d he said. \u201c<\/span>We talked with them about what the IUC<\/span> [International Union of Churches of the Evangelical Christian Fellowship]<\/span> is, who the Baptists are. We spoke in an informal, simple setting. And that turned out to be the start. They drew up a protocol or some other document and then used all this data in court against me.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Soon after the visit to his workplace, Pastor <\/span>Veniamin<\/span> recalls, he <\/span>was summoned to the prosecutor<\/span>\u2019s office in <\/span>Nadym<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>We went there with my brother. We talked at the table<\/span>,\u201d he says<\/span>. <\/span>\u201cThe prosecutor <\/span>began to say<\/span>, \u2018<\/span>You see, you are the only one left unregistered<\/span>. The <\/span>[government] requires from us for religious groups to be registered<\/span>. W<\/span>hy don\u2019t you want to register?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley, Pastor <\/span>Veniamin<\/span>\u2019s experience is becoming more common for ordinary pastors across Russia. \u201cThe new generation of pastors is not louder than their predecessors, but the new generation of prosecutors <\/span>certainly<\/span> is.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Voice of the Martyrs Korea <\/span>highlighted the <\/span>Nadym<\/span> Church case<\/span> last month <\/span>as one of <\/span>six <\/span>court decisions against evangelical Christians and churches in Russia in 2022 that represent<\/span> what Representative Foley calls a \u201c<\/span>rising tax on faithfulness\u201d<\/span>. \u201cAcross the Russian Federation in 2022, basic Christian activities\u2014gathering for worship, distributing Bibles and Christian literature, and personal evangelism\u2014were investigated by Russian police and punished as crimes by Russian courts of law.\u201d She says the <\/span>latest<\/span> ruling against <\/span>Pastor <\/span>Veniamin<\/span> and the <\/span>Nadym<\/span> Church show<\/span>s<\/span> the trend continuing in 2023.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”45899″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor Zapotylok Veniamin with his family.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In Pastor Veniamin\u2019s case, <\/span>during his appearance at the prosecutor\u2019s office <\/span>he refused to sign the prosecutor\u2019s statement insisting that the church be registered.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\u201c<\/span>The materials of the case were based on Christian newspapers with our address, which the prosecutor found somewhere<\/span>,\u201d says Pastor <\/span>Veniamin. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>There is also a [banner] in front of the house of prayer that <\/span>says<\/span>,<\/span> \u2018<\/span>Repent and believe in the gospel. I am the way and the truth and the life<\/span>\u2019<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span> Pastor Veniamin<\/span> says recordings of the worship <\/span>service were also <\/span>used in court as evidence despite the pastor\u2019s insistence that the recordings were unlawful because they were made <\/span>on private territory<\/span> without prior notification and consent<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The <\/span>Nadym<\/span> city prosecutor filed a lawsuit against <\/span>Pastor <\/span>Veniamin<\/span> and demanded that he register the church<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cIn <\/span>the court session<\/span> on <\/span>October 31, 2022, <\/span>Pastor <\/span>Veniam<\/span>in <\/span>explained that he did not create a religious group, and <\/span>that <\/span>worship services were held for the purpose of joint confession of faith, which does not violate the law<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cHe noted that according to the <\/span>law, the <\/span>registration of <\/span>religious associations <\/span>is <\/span>provided as an opportunity, not an obligation<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Despite <\/span>Pastor <\/span>Veniam<\/span>in\u2019s defense, the<\/span> court ruled <\/span>against him and ordered him to send a notification within one month <\/span>to the Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation <\/span>indicating that he had started a church.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Pastor <\/span>Veniam<\/span>in appealed the decision, but <\/span>on<\/span> February 16<\/span> the appeals court upheld the original verdict.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”45900″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”The church in Nadym.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Still, Pastor <\/span>Veniam<\/span>in says he is encouraged that many Christians had sent petitions to the appeals court in support of his position. \u201c<\/span>At the beginning of the session, the judge was reading for 10 minutes different addresses from which the petitions were sent<\/span>,\u201d says Pastor <\/span>Veniam<\/span>in<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>The prosecutor objected that this was not relevant to the case. But the judge decided to attach the petitions to the case.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Pastor <\/span>Veniam<\/span>in has appealed his case to the constitutional court, but he knows that in other similar cases, including one in his native <\/span>Chelyabinsk<\/span>, <\/span>the <\/span>court\u2019s <\/span>decision<\/span>s have <\/span>remained unchanged.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Pastor <\/span>Veniam<\/span>in and other pastors who are being fined were <\/span>not demonstrating in the public square or evangelizing passersby on street corners,\u201d <\/span>says Representative<\/span> Foley. \u201cThe<\/span>y were worshiping in their <\/span>long-time <\/span>homes and <\/span>private <\/span>church buildings.<\/span> It is not the new generation of Russian churches and pastors who are changing, but the new generation of prosecutors and authorities who are clamping down more and more on the most basic forms of evangelical Protestant religious activity.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Individuals interested in learning more about <\/span>V<\/span>oice of the Martyrs Korea<\/span>\u2019s work with evangelical Russian believers can visit <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/<\/span>en\/<\/span>project\/russia-ministry\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”45916″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Zapotylok Veniamin was ordained a pastor in the Unregistered Baptist denomination in December 2021. His first encounter with the law came just six months later. And it …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":45891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45898"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45923,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45898\/revisions\/45923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}