Jehovah's Witnesses In Russia Sue Over Blocking of Bible Imports

Interfax yesterday reported on a lawsuit filed in a Russian court by  the Administrative Center for Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia against customs authorities in the town of Vyborg.  According to the lawsuit filed in the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region Arbitration Court, Customs has refused to allow into the country a shipment of Bibles from German Jehovah's Witnesses because they were not accompanied by documents certifying compliance with the Federal Law on Counteracting Extremist Activity. The shipment included the Synodal edition of the Bible (translated by the Russian Orthodox Church) and the Study Bible published by the Russian Bible Society.  According to a Nov. 30, 2015 report from Forum 18:

A new Russian legal amendment bans some sacred texts - "the Bible, the Koran, the Tanakh and the Kanjur, their contents, and quotations from them" - from being banned as "extremist". But about 4,000 Jehovah's Witness Bibles are among millions of their publications still held up at Russian customs as they may contain "extremism"....

Russia Not Sympathetic To "Pastafarian" Driver's License Applicant

In Russia, the Moscow Department of the State Inspectorate of Traffic Safety has taken issue with one of its examination divisions which issued a driver's license to a man claiming to be a "Pastafarian."  According to Interfax, the Department says it will cancel the license which carries a photo of the man wearing a knitted pasta strainer on his head, and it will take disciplinary measures against the employees who issued the license. Rules apparently ban headwear in license photos.

Russian Court Says Scientology Does Not Qualify As A Religious Organization

In Russia, the Moscow City Court yesterday in affirming a lower court decision backed the Ministry of Justice's efforts to close down the Church of Scientology.  According to AFP, the court ruled that since the Church has registered its name as a trademark in the United States, it cannot call itself a religious organization. The Church says it will appeal to Russia's Supreme Court.

Russian Appeals Court Reverses Extremist Labeling of Qur'an Excerpts

In the Russian Far East yesterday, the Sakhalin Regional Court overturned the controversial ruling of a lower court that had labeled as "extremist material" excerpts from the Qur'an that were found in the book "Prayer To God."  RT reports that the ruling of the lower court, the Yuzhno-Sakhalinst City Court, had caused outrage in the Muslim community. Meanwhile the State Duma is moving to rush through a bill proposed by President Putin that would prevent the any portions of the  holy scriptures of Russia's four established religions-- Christianity's Bible, Judaism's Tanach, Islam's Qur'an and Buddhism's Kangyur-- from being included on Russia's Federal List of Extremist Materials,.

New Study Examines Power of Orthodox Churches In Former Soviet Republics

The London-based Foreign Policy Centre last week (Oct. 28) released a 79-page report (full text) titled Traditional Religion and Political Power: Examining the Role of the Church in Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Moldova. Here is an excerpt from the report's Executive Summary:

In all four states the churches are looking to entrench their role in society and are testing the limits of their influence given that they are the most trusted institutions in each country. To varying extents they have all used a ‘traditional values’ agenda, focused primarily and most successfully on opposition to LGBTI rights, to bolster their support. The Russian Church and state have also been trying to promote this traditional values agenda as part of their ethos of ‘the Russian World’ with which they have been looking to influence the churches and societies of their ‘near abroad’. The Russian social agenda tallies with that of the orthodox communities in these four countries, though this does not always translate into geo-political support for Russia as some of the churches are keen to assert their independence. Having been pushed to the margins of society in Soviet times, the Orthodox churches have taken the opportunity to place themselves at the centre of national and political life in Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Moldova, a position they are unlikely to relinquish in the near future.

Eurasianet reports on the study.

Court Issues Interim $43.7M Judgment Against Russia In Fight Over Return of Jewish Library

In Agadus Chasidei Chabad of United States v. Russian Federation, (D DC,Sept. 10, 2015), the D.C. federal district court entered an interim judgment for accrued sanctions totaling $43.7 million against the Russian Federation, the Russian Ministry of Culture and Mass Communication, and the Russian State Military Archive.  It went on to hold that plaintiffs may petition the clerk every 90 days for an additional judgment until defendants comply with a 2010 order of the court.

The sanctions grow out of a ten-year effort by Chabad to regain possession of two expropriated collections of religious books held by the Russian government. After losing its jurisdictional arguments, the Russian government refused to participate in the litigation and in 2010 a default judgment was entered against it. The court then imposed civil sanctions of $50,000 per day until defendants comply with the court's order. (See prior posting.)  The United States government argued against the court granting the current interim judgment, claiming that this will further damage U.S. foreign policy interests including efforts to reach a settlement with defendants on plaintiffs' behalf. The court disagreed saying generally:

Given the United States' current sanctions against Russia and Russian interests based upon various geopolitical events, the Court is unpersuaded by such a vague concern in this case.

The court also pointed out that this is not an enforcement action. Enforcement issues will arise only when plaintiff identifies property in the United States to attach.

Reporting on the decision, the Legal Times quotes plaintiffs' lawyer who says this decision will permit plaintiffs to register a judgment in other states and look for assets to attach. He said Chabad will not go after Russian art or cultural objects on loan to U.S. museums. Meanwhile, as previously reported, in a split with Chabad in the U.S., the Russian branch of Chabad supports the Russian government's compromise arrangement which involves digitizing one of the collections and moving it to Moscow's new Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center.

Russian Culture Ministry Takes Over Crimean Historic Religious Site

AP reports that Russia's President Vladimir Putin today placed an important archaeological site in the Crimea under control of the Russian Culture Ministry.  The site, the ancient city of Chersonesus, is near Sevastopol, the main port city in the Crimea which Russia annexed from Ukraine last year. Chersonesus is important as the place where the Kievan Rus ruler, Prince Vladimir, was baptized in 988 before bringing Christianity to the region.  Putin's move comes after the Governor of Sevastopol was widely criticized for his decision last month to appoint a Russian Orthodox priest as director of the Chersonesus museum.  The priest was seen as lacking the education and experience for the position, and Sevastopol's governor was mocked on Russian social media for his explanation that "religion has always dealt with science."

50 Islamic Texts Finally Removed From Russia's Federal List of Extremist Materials

Forum 18 reported yesterday on the difficulty of getting Russian authorities to remove books from the Federal List of Extremist Materials, once they have been placed on the list. In mid-July, Russia's Justice Ministry did delete 50 of the 68 Islamic texts banned by a local court in 2012.  Even after successful appeals, it took authorities at least four months to remove the titles. According to the report:

... 11 of the 50 works are already banned in different editions. Of ten other religious texts removed from the Federal List after difficult and protracted efforts, seven (Muslim and Falun Gong) were soon re-banned. Three Jehovah's Witness brochures removed from the List in 2014 and 2015 have not been re-banned. 

Russia's Constitutional Court: Russian Constitution Supreme Over European Human Rights Court Orders

RT reports on a decision handed down Tuesday by Russia's Constitutional Court holding that decisions of the European Court of Human Rights do not take precedence over the Russian Constitution. The decision came in a suit filed by a group of State Duma deputies, representing all four parliamentary caucuses. They challenged Russian laws that appear to require Russian courts and state agencies to carry out all orders of the European Court. In its decision, Russian court said in part:

The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as well as legal positions of the ECHR that are based on it cannot cancel the priority of the Constitution. All decisions of the ECHR must be executed only with consideration to the Russian Constitution’s supremacy. As an exception, Russia can refuse to fulfill the imposed obligations when such a refusal is the only way to prevent the violation of the basic law.

It is expected that the decision may be used as a basis for challenging a European Court decision last year that ordered Russia to pay $2.5 billion in compensation for dissolving the Yukos Oil Co.

Russia Increases Fines For Organizations Disseminating "Extremist" Materials

Forum 18 reported Friday that amendments to Russia's Code of Administrative Offenses, Sec. 20.29, that became effective May 6 have sharply increased the fines imposed on "juridical persons" for mass dissemination of extremist materials on the Federal List.  Juridical persons include commercial, publishing, media and registered religious organisations. Fines for legal entities under the section previously were 50,000 to 100,000 roubles. The amendments increase the fines to 100,000 to 1 million roubles. Sanctions for individuals and other sanctions applicable to organizations did not change. This section of the Administrative Code has often been used in connection with materials confiscated from Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses. According to Forum 18: "The Federal List now runs to over 2,500 items, often does not include full bibliographical details, and is irregularly updated, making it difficult for anyone to keep abreast of recent bans..."

Russian Supreme Court Upholds Hijab Ban

According to World Bulletin, Russia's Supreme Court yesterday upheld the ban imposed by Russia's Mordovia region on the wearing of the hijab in schools. The appeal to Russia's top court was brought by the Muslim Tatar community in Mordovia.  The ban also applies to religious symbols, as well as to piercings, mini-skirts, jeans and bright-colored hair.

Crimea Related Sanctions Lead To Issues For Russian Jews

After the United States and Western European nations imposed sanctions on Russia over of its annexation of Crimea and its support for rebels in eastern Ukraine, Russia imposed counter-sanctions barring import of European agricultural products.  To make up for the lost European produce, agricultural imports from Israel to Russia have increased dramatically.  According to yesterday's Jerusalem Post, this has created problems for religious Jews in Russia who want to comply with strict interpretations of religious law barring consumption of produce grown in Israel during the Biblical sabbatical year (which is this year). Russia's Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations met in Moscow this week to discuss the matter.

Conviction of Pussy Riot Band Member Upheld By Russia's Constitutional Court

Russia's Constitutional Court yesterday issued a decision rejecting a challenge by a member of the Pussy Riot punk rock band to her 2012 conviction for disorderly conduct (hooliganism). The conviction came after a protest performance at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. (See prior posting.)  Interfax reports band member  Nadezhda Tolokonnikova argued to the Constitutional Court that  Russian Criminal Code Article 213 unconstitutionally restricts her freedom of expression, classifies violations of religious rules a violation of public order, and criminalizes actions based only on the perception of a majority of the public. The Constitutional Court concluded however that the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations calls for it to respect the internal rules of religious denominations. It also said:

If some actions are demonstratively insulting in nature and are devoid of any aesthetic or artistic value, they go beyond the limits of the lawful use of freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution,

Tolokonnikova was released from prison last year in an amnesty. (See prior posting.)

Russian Constitutional Court Upholds Ban on Promoting Homosexuality To Minors, Interpreting It Narrowly

Interfax reported last week that Russia's Constitutional Court has upheld the constitutionality of Article 6.21 of the Russian Code of Administrative Violations that bans promoting homosexuality among minors, but said it must be interpreted narrowly.  The Sept. 23 decision (full text in Russian), which was issued without a public hearing, came in a suit filed by gay rights activists who had been fined under the law. According to Interfax:

the Constitutional Court decided that the legislator's purpose was to establish a balance between personal autonomy and the public interest with regard for the traditional ideas of marriage, family and motherhood in Russian society, in which many religious people are represented.

Constitutional Court Judge Nikolay Bondar commented on the decision, saying:

The Russian Constitutional Court has found that the contested provision does not contradict the Constitution. It also gave a constitutional law interpretation, which shows all law enforcers that a broad interpretation of the ban is unacceptable and it is compulsory for everyone, including courts.... 

Secondly, the court ruled that this provision is not aimed at banning or officially condemning non-traditional sexual relations. Thirdly, this article does not prevent impartial public debate of the legal status of sexual minorities, including by holding public events according to the procedures established by law. However, minors should not be involved in the relevant events, no matter whether it's rallies or debates, and the disseminated information should not be targeted at them.

(See prior related posting.)

European Court Holds Russia Violated Rights of Jehovah's Witnesses

In Krupko v. Russia, (ECHR, June 26, 2014), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber Judgment held that Russia violated the European Convention on Human Rights Art. 5 (right to liberty and security) and Art. 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) when in 2006 police disrupted a Jehovah's Witness religious meeting and arrested some of the participants. The court awarded 36,000 Euros as damages and costs. The court issued a press release on the case. RAPSI reports on the decision.

European Court Faults Russia For Dissolving Pentecostal Church

In Biblical Centre of the Chuvash Republic v. Russia, (ECHR 1st Section, June 12, 2014), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber Judgment held that Russia violated Art. 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) interpreted in light of Art. 11 (freedom of assembly and association) when it ordered dissolution of a Pentecostal religious organization.  In a press release, the Court summarized the facts:

The applicant is a Russian religious organisation, the Biblical Centre of the Evangelical (Pentecostal) Christians of the Chuvash Republic. Belonging to the Pentecostal movement of the Christian faith, it was registered as a religious organisation in November 1991, founding a Biblical college and Sunday school in 1996. However, following inspections of the Biblical Centre in April and May 2007, the domestic courts ruled against the applicant organisation in two sets of administrative proceedings for allowing the Centre to conduct educational activities without authorisation and for violating sanitary rules and hygienic requirements. On that basis, the Supreme Court upheld the prosecuting authorities’ claim to dissolve the applicant organisation in August 2007 and, following the dismissal of the organisation’s appeal in October 2007, it was dissolved with immediate effect.

In its decision, the Court held:

the domestic authorities have not shown that the dissolution, which undermined the very substance of the applicant organisation’s rights to freedom of religion and association, was the only option for the fulfilment of the aims they pursued.

An ACLJ press release reports on the decision.

Neo-Pagan Religion Gets Formal Recognition In Siberian Republic

The Moscow Times reported yesterday that after 18 years of trying, the neo-pagan faith Aar Aiyy has finally received formal recognition as a "religious organization" in the Siberian Russian Republic of Sakha. Russia's Law On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations sets out the procedure for obtaining recognition.  Under Russian law, religious organizations have greater rights than unrecognized religious groups.

Russian Court Imposes Sanctions On Library of Congress For Failure To Return 7 Religious Books On Loan

Last year, a D.C. federal district court held the Russian government and three of its agencies in civil contempt for not complying with a 2010 default judgement ordering them to return two expropriated collections of valuable Jewish religious books and manuscripts to Chasidei Chabad of United States.  The court  imposed civil sanctions of $50,000 per day until defendants comply with the court's order. (See prior posting.) In response, the Russian government filed suit in a Russian court to force the U.S. Library of Congress to return seven books from one of the two collections that were loaned to it. (See prior posting.) Now, according to The Forward, a Moscow arbitration court ruled yesterday that the Library of Congress must pay $50,000 in fines for every day the seven books are not returned. Russia claims that the books were loaned to the Library of Congress in 1991 for 60 days, but have never been sent back to Russia.

Investigative Report Looks At Chabad Collections In Russia That Have Been Subject of Extensive US Litigation

The Forward today has a long and interesting report from Russia on the two expropriated collections of valuable Jewish religious books and manuscripts (the Schneerson Library and the Archive) that have been the subject of extensive litigation in the United States. The American Chabad organization, Agudas Chasidei Chabad, has obtained U.S. judgments ordering the collections returned to it in the United States. (See prior posting.) One of the collections, the Schneersohn Library, which was nationalized by the Bolsheviks after the 1917 Russian Revolution and has been in the Russian State Library in Moscow, is now being digitized and moved to Moscow's new Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, a $50 million institution controlled by the Russian branch of Chabad. This implements a proposed compromise that Russian President Vladimir Putin previously suggested. Forward's investigative reporter visited the room at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center which is housing the collection as it is moved there, and reports on the ease of access to it. Boruch Gorin who heads the Jewish Museum favors this arrangement and sees the possibility that if it were accepted, eventually the other collection, the Archive, which consists of documents plundered by the Nazis and taken back by the Red Army in World War II, could be sent to the United States. He says that the uncompromising strategy of Chasidei Chabad threatens that possibility.

Orthodox Patriarch Warns Russian Parliament About Same-Sex Marriage

According to ITAR-TASS News Agency, on Tuesday Patriarch Krill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, spoke at the Federation Council (the upper house of Russia's parliament) to warn against the legalization of same-sex marriage and to lament marital infidelity. He said that if a person is unfaithful to his family, he may be unfaithful to his homeland.  After Krill's presentation, the Federation Council and religious leaders adopted a joint statement which reads in part: "Preservation of marriage as a union between a man and a woman based on love and mutual understanding and birth of beloved children are a precondition for survival of humankind."