{"id":47744,"date":"2023-08-22T14:00:31","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T05:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=47744"},"modified":"2023-08-22T13:44:46","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T04:44:46","slug":"vomk-report-267","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2023\/08\/22\/vomk-report-267\/","title":{"rendered":"BELARUS: RESTRICTIONS ON ORDINARY RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY SPREAD"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47739″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”A man in his 70s was fined the equivalent of two weeks\u2019 wages by authorities in Belarus for sharing the gospel at a local park in May. According to persecution ministry Voice of the Martyrs Korea, the guilty verdict delivered by the judge of the Drogichinsky district court against Vladimir Burshtyn of the Malorita Church is an example of the growing criminalization of ordinary religious activities by Belarus authorities. ” 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

\u201cMr. <\/span>Burshtyn<\/span> was part of a group of believers from his church that went to a park in the <\/span>Drogichinsky district <\/span>on May 27 for what was basically pretty small-scale street evangelism<\/span> on the occasion of Ascension Day<\/span>,\u201d says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley<\/span>. \u201cThe group was <\/span>playing music and <\/span>singing songs <\/span>while <\/span>handing out Christian materials<\/span>. Suddenly t<\/span>wo police cars drove up<\/span>, <\/span>took <\/span>Mr. <\/span>Burshtyn by the arms<\/span>, put him into <\/span>one of <\/span>the police car<\/span>s<\/span>, and took him <\/span>to <\/span>the police station for questioning.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, Mr. <\/span>Burshtyn <\/span>was released but then summoned to appear at the police station on June 1 for further questioning. \u201cAs the day went on, they told his family he was having dinner and some rest, when actually he had been handcuffed and taken <\/span>away <\/span>to a <\/span>temporary detention facility<\/span>,<\/span> where he was held overnight,<\/span>\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201cIn the morning they <\/span>led him into court in <\/span>handcuff<\/span>s.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47738″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Witnesses say church and family members were barred from entering the courtroom, according to Representative Foley.\u00a0<\/span> \u201c<\/span>After about an hour and a half<\/span> in the courtroom, Mr. <\/span>Burshtyn<\/span> was taken out via <\/span>a<\/span> service door to <\/span>an <\/span>isolation ward, and all those who <\/span>asked <\/span>were told that the trial <\/span>had been <\/span>postponed <\/span>and moved,\u201d says Representative Foley.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]She says t<\/span>he trial reconvened in a police building<\/span> later that day<\/span>, and the judge quickly found Mr<\/span>.<\/span> Burshtyn <\/span>guilty of holding a mass event without permission. \u201cThe court actually notified him by mail that he was fined <\/span>555 Belarusian rubles<\/span> (<\/span>about 290,000 KRW), the equivalent of about two weeks\u2019 wages,\u201d says Representative Foley.<\/span> \u201cBut he did not receive the notification until after the date for possible appeal had passed.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that o<\/span>n July 27<\/span> authorities again <\/span>summoned <\/span>Mr<\/span>.<\/span> Burshtyn and warned that<\/span> he would face <\/span>criminal <\/span>liability if he continued to preach in the future.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Despite all of the difficulties, Mr. <\/span>Burshtyn<\/span> continues to be in good spirits, according to Representative Foley. \u201cWhen he spent the night in prison, he sang,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen he pleaded not guilty, he simply insisted that preaching the gospel was not a crime. When he left the police station after the trial, he was met by family and friends standing outside, who cheered and encouraged him.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47735″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Vladimir Burshtyn is brought into court in handcuffs by police on June 2. (Photo courtesy of the Baptist Council of Churches via Forum18.)” 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]According to Representative Foley, her organization is seeking to draw global attention to Mr. Burshtyn\u2019s case precisely because it is so ordinary. \u201cR<\/span>eports by <\/span>the UN and human rights watchdog groups <\/span>highlight the high<\/span>–<\/span>profile cases of religious discrimination involving government<\/span>s<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cBut far more common\u2014and in our opinion, far more concerning\u2014are the <\/span>growing <\/span>number of much less well-known cases where ordinary Christians who are doing ordinary Christian activities end up fined or imprisoned by ordinary police and judges applying ordinary laws to stop them.<\/span> That is exactly what has happened to Mr. Burshtyn.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says authorities in Belarus and other countries that restrict religious activities often claim that the restrictions are not against religion but against individuals who they say ignore safety rules designed to protect the public. \u201cThey will say things like that Mr. Burshtyn should have gotten a permit ahead of time so that if there were medical emergencies at his event, <\/span>then <\/span>the authorities would have been ready to handle them,\u201d says Representative Foley.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]But she says that the actions by authorities show that their main concern is not public safety but instead restricting religion. \u201cA concern for public safety does not explain why a <\/span>70-year-old<\/span> street evangelist would be handcuffed, led away to a secret location, given a secret trial, and fined without possibility of appeal,\u201d says Representative Foley.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47736″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Report # 7 from the Intercession department of Unregistered Baptists, issued on the case of Vladimir Burshtyn on August, 2, 2023. ” 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]Representative Foley says her organization is expecting that more believers in Belarus will face situations like Mr. Burshtyn\u2019s in the future. \u201cOn June 2<\/span>\u2014t<\/span>he day Mr. Burshtyn was found guilty<\/span>\u2014<\/span>a <\/span>draft<\/span> copy of <\/span>new <\/span>legislation on religion was made public on the government\u2019s website,\u201d says Representative Foley. She says that legislation will likely result in less legal protections for ordinary Christian activity and a growing likelihood that Mr. Burshtyn won\u2019t be the last Belarusian led away in handcuffs for sharing the gospel.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Still, Representative Foley <\/span>says she is encouraged by the faithful witness of Belarusian Christians. <\/span>\u201cWe invited a Belarusian pastor to speak in Korea about the situation in Belarus several years ago, and he told us that <\/span>the best <\/span>situation <\/span>for church growth is <\/span>\u2018<\/span>something between freedom and persecution, the time of oppression.<\/span>\u2019 The time of oppression is now upon the Belarusian church<\/span>, and even its <\/span>70-year-old<\/span> men in handcuffs are boldly testifying for the gospel <\/span>without fear <\/span>in the prisons and courts of that nation. Church growth can\u2019t be far behind.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/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 believers <\/span>in the countries of the former Soviet Union <\/span>can visit <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/<\/span>en\/<\/span><\/span>project\/russia-ministry\/<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>.\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=”47739″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”A man in his 70s was fined the equivalent of two weeks\u2019 wages by authorities in Belarus for sharing the gospel at a local park in May. …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":47740,"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-47744","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":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47744","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=47744"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47746,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47744\/revisions\/47746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}