Belarus Holding Off Further Action Against Unregistered Religious Groups

Forum 18 reports today that Belarus has held off on taking action against the New Life Church and the Minsk Society for Krishna Consciousness (MSKC) after previously issuing warnings to them that they would be liquidated. Their re-registration has been denied because they do not have government approval to use the buildings in which they are meeting to worship. MSKC is not holding worship services out of fear of the large fines that would be imposed if they did. Baptist groups have also been denied re-registration when they refused to accept limits on the geographical region in which they could operate. This situation echos similar issues in other former Soviet Republics described in prior postings on Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan , and Azerbaijan