Source: www.forum18.org
Date: December 20, 2024
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
A court in Moscow fined a Russian Anglican Christian three weeks' average
local wage on 18 November under Russia's "gay propaganda" law for sharing
materials from the Vatican and the Scottish Episcopal Church on social
media. Police based the case on three posts which Marina P. made in April
and May 2024: one which linked to the Vatican's Dignitas Infinita
declaration of April 2024, which condemned "unjust discrimination" on the
basis of sexual orientation, another which linked to a Scottish Episcopal
Church essay on equal marriage, and a third which noted the recent
appointment of a priest in a same-sex marriage to a new role in Edinburgh.
Russian LGBT+ information site Parni+ notes that this the first time a
court has imposed such a fine for sharing church documents
(https://parniplus.com/news/va
the first instance of prosecution for religious content of any kind under
Administrative Code Article 6.21 ("Propaganda of non-traditional sexual
relations and (or) preferences or gender reassignment"). Amendments adopted
in late 2022 significantly broadened the scope of this offence, leading the
number of prosecutions to be nine times higher in 2023 than in 2022
(https://parniplus.com/news/ch
Marina P., a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, was also fined 2,000
Roubles under Administrative Code Article 20.3 ("Propaganda or public
display of Nazi paraphernalia or symbols, or paraphernalia or symbols of
extremist organisations, or other paraphernalia or symbols, the propaganda
or public display of which is prohibited by federal laws") for using the
rainbow flag in the same three posts (see below).
The state's communications regulator Roskomnadzor blocked another post on
Marina P.'s VKontakte page in June (see below).
Investigative agencies, police, and prosecutors have long used the vague
definitions of the Extremism Law, the Demonstrations Law, and the Religion
Law itself against religious believers and communities who exercise their
freedom of religion and belief
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
of state-approved activity, even where this exercise neither infringes on
the human rights of others nor involves any political activity (see below).
In recent years, and especially since the Russian full-scale invasion of
Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian government has introduced ever more
restrictive legislation
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
discourage opposition to its policies (particularly the war in Ukraine).
This includes both amendments to existing laws, such as those on "foreign
agents" and "gay propaganda", and new laws, such as those punishing the
so-called "discreditation" of and "false information" about the Armed
Forces (see below).
While not explicitly aimed at religious communities, these laws are
increasingly affecting believers in their exercise of the right to freedom
of religion and belief.
Religious believers have been prosecuted under all these Criminal and
Administrative Code provisions for opposing the war in religious terms or
on religious grounds. The criminal trial in Moscow of Ilya Vasilyev,
founder and director of the Moscow Zen Centre, is due to resume on 15
January 2025. A Moscow court has extended the pre-trial detention of Moscow
Pentecostal pastor Nikolay Romanyuk until 16 February 2025, despite his
having suffered a mini-stroke (see below).
On 9 October 2024, Pentecostal Bishop Albert Ratkin, from Kaluga, became
the first religious leader still in Russia to be fined for violating the
"foreign agents" law. A court in Moscow similarly fined Orthodox Deacon
Andrey Kurayev in June 2024, but he has lived outside Russia since November
2023 (see below).
In August 2022, new legislation broadened the concept of "foreign agent"
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
requirement to be receiving foreign funding and defining almost any
activity as "political" if deemed to contradict Russia's national interests
(as defined by presidential decree) or constitutionally protected values.
Further amendments in December 2022 to the "foreign agent" law, the
Criminal Code, and the Administrative Code introduced harsher penalties for
failing to comply with the requirements and restrictions.
Religious organisations cannot be declared "foreign agents", but the
designation has been used against organisations which promote human rights
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
violation, including that of freedom of religion and belief, as well as
media outlets and journalists who have reported on such violations.
In April 2022, the Justice Ministry began adding people to the "Register of
individuals fulfilling the function of foreign agents", mostly also
journalists as well as politicians and cultural figures. On 27 January
2023, Buddhist leader Telo Tulku Rinpoche (Erdni-Basan Ombadykov) became
the first religious figure to be named a "foreign agent"
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
by at least six others to date (see below).
Ever-widening scope for punishment
Administrative Code Article 6.21 (commonly known as the "gay propaganda"
law) was introduced on 30 June 2013 and was originally aimed at allegedly
"protecting minors from propaganda of homosexualism".
Amendments of 5 December 2022 broadened Article 6.21's scope to "Propaganda
of non-traditional sexual relations and (or) preferences or gender
reassignment" (moving "propaganda" among minors to a separate Part 2). The
possible punishments also greatly increased. On 23 November 2024, the
Article was amended yet again to include "propaganda of refusing to have
children".
Article 6.21's eight Parts cover various permutations of the offence,
including against minors, by a foreign citizen, and using the internet.
This last (Part 3), with which Marina P. was charged, now carries possible
fines of 100,000 to 200,000 Roubles for individuals, 200,000 to 400,000
Roubles for persons in an official position, and 1 million to 4 million
Roubles for legal entities or suspension of activities for up to 90 days.
On 30 November 2023, Russia's Supreme Court upheld the Justice Ministry's
request to have the so-called "international social movement LGBT" banned
as "extremist", thus making anyone considered to be "continuing its
activities" liable to prosecution under Criminal Code Article 282.2, and
rendering the rainbow flag an "extremist" symbol, the display of which can
incur charges under Administrative Article 20.3.
Soon after Russia launched its renewed invasion of Ukraine in February
2022, President Vladimir Putin introduced new offences
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
those opposing the war for any reason, including on religious grounds.
These new offences included Administrative Code Article 20.3.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian
Federation"), Criminal Code Article 280.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
repeated within one year), Criminal Code Article 207.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed
Forces of the Russian Federation"), and Criminal Code Article 280.4
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
implement activities directed against the security of the Russian
Federation, or to obstruct the exercise by government bodies and their
officials of their powers to ensure the security of the Russian
Federation").
Ever-more criminal prosecutions
Religious believers have been prosecuted under all these Criminal and
Administrative Code provisions for opposing the war in religious terms or
on religious grounds.
Most recently, the trial of Ilya Vasilyev, founder and director of the
Moscow Zen Centre, on charges of spreading "knowingly false information"
about the Russian Armed Forces "on grounds of hatred or enmity" (Criminal
Code Article 207.3 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Part 2, Paragraph E) began at Moscow's Preobrazhensky District Court on 12
December after several delays. He is next due to appear in court on 15
January 2025.
Vasilyev is being prosecuted
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
English-language Facebook post about Russian rocket attacks on Ukrainian
cities. He made the post – and others for which he was previously
prosecuted under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
religious conviction", his lawyer told Forum 18. If convicted, Vasilyev
could be imprisoned for 5 to 10 years or be fined 3 million to 5 million
Roubles. On 19 November, the same court extended his pre-trial detention
until 24 April 2025.
In October 2024, Pentecostal pastor Nikolay Romanyuk became the first
person to be accused of publicly calling for actions "against state
security" for speaking out against Russia's war in Ukraine
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
perspective (Criminal Code Article 280.4
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
implement activities directed against the security of the Russian
Federation, or to obstruct the exercise by government bodies and their
officials of their powers to ensure the security of the Russian
Federation", Part 2, Paragraph c "with the use of mass media, or
electronic, or information and telecommunication networks, including the
internet").
Pastor Romanyuk is being prosecuted for a livestreamed sermon in which he
called on fellow believers not to participate in the war in Ukraine.
Pastor Romanyuk has been unwell in detention and was hospitalised for a few
days, according to fellow pastor Roman Zhukov, who is following the case on
his Telegram channel. Pastor Romanyuk was taken ill again at Moscow's
Balashikha District Court during a hearing on restrictive measures on 11
December, and was later found to have suffered a mini-stroke. The court
nevertheless extended his detention until 16 February 2025.
Prosecution for "gay propaganda"
On 18 November 2024, Tver District Court fined Moscow-based Anglican
Christian Marina P. a total of 102,000 Roubles on two administrative
charges for social media posts about Anglican and Catholic views of
homosexuality, which she had made some seven months previously. According
to the Moscow court system website, she has not lodged any appeal. The fine
represents about three weeks' average local wage.
As far as is known to Forum 18, this is the first instance of
administrative prosecution under Russia's "gay propaganda" law for the
sharing of religious materials.
Police drew up protocols against Marina P. under Administrative Code
Article 6.21, Part 3 ("Propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations and
(or) preferences or gender reassignment" using the internet) and
Administrative Code Article 20.3, Part 1 ("Propaganda or public display of
Nazi paraphernalia or symbols, or paraphernalia or symbols similar to Nazi
paraphernalia or symbols to the point of confusion, or paraphernalia or
symbols of extremist organisations, or other paraphernalia or symbols, the
propaganda or public display of which is prohibited by federal laws, if
these actions do not contain elements of a criminally punishable act").
The same judge, Anna Malakhova, considered both charges in consecutive 10-
and 15-minute hearings. She fined Marina P. 100,000 Roubles under Article
6.21 and 2,000 Roubles under Article 20.3 (the latter for use of the
rainbow flag, now deemed to be an "extremist" symbol).
Forum 18 wrote to the Interior Ministry's Moscow Directorate on 17 December
2024 to ask why posting church documents is deemed to be LGBT propaganda,
and why the promotion from a religious perspective of human rights for all
is considered harmful. Forum 18 had received no reply by the afternoon of
the working day in Moscow of 20 December.
The court decisions, seen by Forum 18, do not quote the materials in
question, but give their dates, on each of which Marina P. made only one
post.
In the first of the three posts which formed the basis of the case, Marina
P. responds positively to the appointment as rector of an Edinburgh church
of a priest who had married his same-sex partner as soon as the Scottish
Episcopal Church adopted equal marriage in 2017. "May God bless Fr Oliver
in his new parish," she wrote on 23 April 2024. "I am delighted to be a
member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which champions the rights of all
people, including those in the LGBT community."
On 25 April, Marina P. posted a link to the Declaration
(https://press.vatican.va/cont
of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith "Dignitas Infinita" on Human
Dignity. The Vatican published this document on 8 April 2024, "highlighting
the indispensable nature of the dignity of the human person in Christian
anthropology and illustrating the significance and beneficial implications
of the concept in the social, political, and economic realms", as it states
in its introduction.
"Point 55 of this document expresses condemnation of countries like Russia,
where LGB people are declared extremists and sent to prison", Marina P.
noted. She quoted the paragraph in its entirety: "The Church wishes, first
of all, to reaffirm that every person, regardless of sexual orientation,
ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with respect, while
'any manifestation of unjust discrimination' is to be carefully avoided,
particularly any form of aggression or violence. For this reason, it should
be denounced as contrary to human dignity that, in some places, not a few
people are imprisoned, tortured, and even deprived of life solely because
of their sexual orientation."
On 2 May, Marina P. commented ironically on the "newfangled" "International
LGBT Social Movement" (outlawed as "extremist" in November 2023). She said
that if it exists, it should be campaigning for LGBT rights, "For example,
by publishing and distributing books with research on the possibility of
church marriage for same-sex couples".
Marina P. also posted a link to an essay
(https://www.scotland.anglican
by the Doctrine Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church ("Marriage and
Human Intimacy: Perspectives on same-sex relationships and the life of the
church"), published in 2014, before the Church adopted equal marriage.
According to the court decision in the Article 6.21 case, a police expert
concluded that these posts amounted to "comments containing propaganda of
non-traditional same-sex sexual relations, aimed at forming an attractive
impression of non-traditional same-sex sexual relations".
On 24 June 2024, before police initiated the administrative prosecutions,
the state's communications regulator Roskomnadzor blocked another post on
Marina P.'s VKontakte page, Parni+ noted in its account
(https://parniplus.com/news/va
post, of 23 May, in which Marina P. commented on the anthology
"Homosexuality and Christianity in the 21st Century: A Collection of
Articles from Different Years", appears to have been blocked because it
included a link to the website of Nuntiare et Recreare,
https://nuntiare.org.
Roskomnadzor blocked the website of Nuntiare et Recreare
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
ministry for LGBT+ believers which held meetings in St Petersburg, provides
pastoral care, and collates LGBT-affirmative theological materials on its
website - in July 2023.
Marina P.'s VKontakte page remains accessible, but VKontakte has replaced
this post in Russia with a notice which reads: "Material blocked on the
territory of your country on the basis of Decision No. 2600266, 24 June
2024, of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information
Technology, and Mass Media [Roskomnadzor]".
First "foreign agent" prosecutions
Albert Ratkin, bishop of a Pentecostal church in Kaluga, became the first
religious leader still inside Russia to be found guilty of violating the
"foreign agents" law. Kaluga District Court fined him an as yet unknown
amount on 9 October 2024. Bishop Ratkin appealed unsuccessfully at Kaluga
Regional Court on 20 November.
The Justice Ministry added Bishop Ratkin to its register of "foreign
agents" on 14 June 2024. It stated that he "opposed the special military
operation in Ukraine, [and] disseminated false information about decisions
made by public authorities of the Russian Federation and the policies they
pursued. He took part in the creation of materials jointly with foreign
media, and also disseminated messages from foreign agents to an unlimited
number of people".
It appears, however, that Bishop Ratkin's administrative prosecution
derived from activities dating from before his "foreign agent" designation,
as regional Justice Ministry officials charged him under Administrative
Article 19.34 ("Violation of the procedure for the activities of a foreign
agent"), Part 1 ("Carrying out activities as a foreign agent by a person
not included in the register of foreign agents", if this does not
constitute a criminal offence).
This carries the following possible punishments: for individuals, 30,000 to
50,000 Roubles; for persons in an official position, 100,000 to 300,000
Roubles; for legal entities, 300,000 to 500,000 Roubles.
If an individual is convicted under Administrative Code Article 19.34, Part
1 twice in a year, this can lead to criminal prosecution under Criminal
Code Article 330.1, Part 1 ("Failure to fulfil the obligation to submit
documents required for inclusion in the register of foreign agents,
committed by a person after they have been brought to administrative
responsibility for committing an administrative offence, as provided for in
Article 19.34, Part 1 of the Administrative Code, twice within one year").
Bishop Ratkin regularly posts sermons and interviews on his "View from
Heaven" YouTube channel in which he criticises the Russian authorities and
the war in Ukraine. He has also given a platform to other anti-war
religious leaders, most notably Yuri Sipko, the former head of Russia's
Baptist Union, who is now outside the country.
Pastor Sipko is under investigation under Criminal Code Article 207.3
("Public dissemination, under the guise of credible statements, of
knowingly false information on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian
Federation"). The Federal Security Service (FSB) in Kaluga searched Bishop
Ratkin's home (https://www.forum18.org/archi
August 2023 as part of the investigation of Pastor Sipko, and investigators
have named him as a witness in the case.
Forum 18 wrote to both Kaluga District Court and Kaluga Regional Court on
17 December 2024 seeking clarification of details of the case and asking
why Bishop Ratkin was convicted and his appeal not upheld. Forum 18 had
received no reply by the afternoon of the working day in Kaluga of 20
December.
"I consider that this inclusion [in the registry of foreign agents], like
all the Justice Ministry's actions towards me, is discriminatory in
character on religious grounds", Bishop Ratkin said in a YouTube video
(https://www.youtube.com/watch
Ministry building in Kaluga on 12 September, the day he received the
protocol of the case. "I am persecuted as a peacemaker because in the
gospel it is written 'Blessed are the peacemakers'. This is my activity. I
believe that every priest should do his job as our Lord and Saviour said,
to be a peacemaker. .. It seems to me that this violates my rights as a
believer, this is an insult to my religious feelings."
In an interview with Russian grassroots activism platform Activatica,
posted on his own channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch
30 September, Bishop Ratkin stated that he had asked to view the materials
of the case against him, but officials had refused this. According to his
lawyers, "There is little to look forward to for foreign agents; it is
almost as if the courts operate according to the same plan", he added.
The first religious figure to be charged under Administrative Code Article
19.34 was Orthodox deacon Andrey Kurayev. He left Russia in November 2023,
shortly before the Justice Ministry added him to the registry of "foreign
agents".
Moscow's Tagansky District Court fined him an unknown amount under
Administrative Code Article 19.34, Part 4 on 25 June 2024. Justice Ministry
officials had accused him of not adding the standard "foreign agent"
disclaimer to posts on Telegram.
According to the court decision, seen by Forum 18, Kurayev's lawyer argued
that the channel (which reposted material from Kurayev's LiveJournal blog)
did not belong to him, and that it appeared that a technical issue had
split text and images across separate posts, leaving the latter without a
disclaimer (after Kurayev pointed this out to the channel administrator,
the problem disappeared).
The Justice Ministry drew up a second protocol against him under
Administrative Code Article 19.34, Part 4 in late November, this time
accusing him of not including the disclaimer in posts on the VKontakte
social media site. Again, Kurayev has stated on his blog that the VKontakte
page in question is not his.
Kurayev noted on his blog on 30 November
(https://diak-kuraev.livejourn
he committed the offence – and that the offence was detected – at 37
Shkolnaya Street in Moscow. This is in fact the address of the Central
Federal District branch of Roskomnadzor.
According to the Moscow court system website, this case has not yet reached
court.
Religious leaders, activists in register of foreign agents
Erdni-Basan Ombadykov
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
added 27 January 2023; now living outside Russia;
Pinchas Goldschmidt (https://www.forum18.org/archi
former Chief Rabbi of Moscow – added 30 June 2023; now living outside
Russia;
Andrey Vyacheslavovich Kurayev
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
added 22 December 2023; now living outside Russia;
Sergey Nikolayevich Stepanov
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
journalist – 2 February 2024; now living outside Russia;
Albert Viktorovich Ratkin, Evangelical Protestant pastor – added on 14
June 2024; still living in Russia;
Grigory Mikhnov-Vaytenko, Archbishop of independent Apostolic Orthodox
Church – added on 19 July 2024; still living in Russia;
Nina Aleksandrovna Belyayeva
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
deputy and Baptist – added on 13 September 2024; now living outside
Russia.
(END)
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(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
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