Moldova Rushes New Religion Law Through Parliament

Forum18 reported yesterday that a new Religion Law has been rushed through Moldova's Parliament, and that officials say no one will be able to read it until it has been promulgated by the President and published in the Official Monitor. Stefan Secareanu, who chairs the Parliament's Committee for Human Rights and National Minorities, says that the bill is still being edited to reflect all the amendments that were adopted. He says that the bill retains a ban on abusive proselytism, but that using "disinformation" has been removed from the definition of banned practices. The final bill also requires 100 adults members before a religious group will be recognized. Minority religious groups object to this limit, while the Russian Orthodox Church in Moldova thinks the new bill is not restrictive enough.