Source:                      www.forum18.org

Date:                           November 21, 2024

 



https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2943
By Victoria Arnold, Forum 18

A Pentecostal pastor has become the first person to be accused of publicly
calling for actions "against state security" for speaking out against
Russia's war in Ukraine from a religious perspective. Nikolay Romanyuk,
senior presbyter of Holy Trinity Church in the Moscow Region town of
Balashikha, gave a sermon in September 2022 in which he explicitly stated
that believers should not go to fight in Ukraine "on the basis of Holy
Scripture".

If convicted, Pastor Romanyuk could face up to 6 years' imprisonment or a
fine of up to 1 million Roubles (7 months' average Moscow wage) (see
below).

Investigators arrested Pastor Romanyuk after early-morning armed raids on
his home and those of several other church members on 18 October 2024. Two
days later, a court ruled that he should be detained for two months. He is
currently being held in Investigation Prison No. 11 in Noginsk, 50 kms (30
miles) east of Moscow (see below).

Because the sermon was livestreamed and then uploaded to the church's
YouTube channel, Pastor Romanyuk is under investigation under Criminal Code
Article 280.4, Part 2, Paragraph V – "Public calls to 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 using mass media or
electronic or information and telecommunications networks, including the
Internet" (see below).

It remains unclear which investigative agencies carried out the raids on
church members' home and initiated the criminal case against Pastor
Romanyuk. Forum 18 sent enquiries to the Federal Investigative Committee,
the Moscow Region Investigative Committee, and the Moscow Region branch of
the Federal Security Service (FSB). Forum 18 asked in what way Romanyuk's
sermon threatened state security, why he had been placed in detention,
whether any criminal or administrative cases had been opened against any
other church members, and why it had been deemed necessary to carry out
armed raids on their homes. Forum 18 has received no response (see below).

While Pastor Romanyuk is the first religious figure to be charged under
Criminal Code Article 280.4, small numbers of Russians who oppose the war
on religious grounds continue to face prosecution under Administrative Code
Article 20.3.3 ("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed
Forces of the Russian Federation"), Criminal Code Article 280.3 ("Public
actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian
Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and
its citizens, [and] maintain international peace and security"), and
Criminal Code Article 207.3 (dissemination of "false information" about the
Armed Forces).

Ilya Vasilyev, founder and director of the Moscow Zen Centre, is due to go
on trial soon on charges of spreading "knowingly false information" about
the Russian Armed Forces "on grounds of hatred or enmity" (Criminal Code
Article 207.3, Part 2, Paragraph D). He is being prosecuted for an
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 – "solely out of
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 (see below).

Vasilyev has been in detention since 22 June 2024, initially in Moscow's
Kapotnya prison, then in Matrosskaya Tishina Investigation Prison (see
below).

At a court hearing on 19 November 2024, where the judge extended Vasilyev's
period in custody by six months, Vasilyev noted the difficulties of
carrying out Buddhist rituals in the detention centre, but said in a
message to supporters that he continues to meditate twice a week (see
below).

On 12 November, a court in Moscow fined Russian Orthodox Christian Aleksey
Sevastyanenko 5 days' average Moscow wage under Article 20.3.3 for accusing
President Vladimir Putin and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of murdering
civilians in Ukraine. During his conversation with his church's pro-war
priest, Sevastyanenko stated: "Thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not covet
thy neighbour's house" (see below).

Forum 18 asked the Moscow Interior Ministry in what way Sevastyanenko's
statements had "discredited" the Russian Armed Forces. Forum 18 received no
response (see below).

Charges and punishments

President Vladimir Putin signed Criminal Code Article 280.4 into law on 14
July 2022. This was one of several new criminal offences
(https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2897) designed to
discourage and punish criticism of the authorities in the wake of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Part 1 punishes "Public calls to 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" with the following possible penalties:

– a fine of 100,000 to 500,000 Roubles;

– 2 to 4 years' imprisonment, with or without deprivation of the right to
hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three
years.

Part 2 covers the same offence when committed "a) by a group of persons by
prior conspiracy; b) by a person using their official position; v) using
mass media or electronic or information and telecommunications networks,
including the Internet; g) for selfish motives or for hire; or d) motivated
by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity,
or motivated by hatred or enmity towards any social group", and carries the
following punishments:

– a fine of 300,000 to 1 million Roubles;

– 3 to 6 years' imprisonment with or without deprivation of the right to
hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up
to 5 years and with or without restriction of freedom for a period of 6
months to 2 years;

On 4 March 2022, specific Criminal Code and Administrative Code penalties
for "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces came into force
(https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2897), alongside criminal
penalties for spreading "false information" about the Armed Forces' actions
(Criminal Code Article 207.3). Some of the punishments were increased on 28
March 2023.

Although the government introduced Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 and
the associated Criminal Code Article 280.3 on 4 March 2022 in order to
punish "discreditation" of the Armed Forces, amendments to the law on 25
March 2022 expanded the definition of this offence to include
"discreditation" of "the execution by state bodies of the Russian
Federation of their powers for the specified purposes", ie. protecting
Russian interests and "maintaining international peace and security".

The government has used a range of tactics to pressure religious leaders
into supporting the renewed invasion of Ukraine
(https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2897). These tactics
include warnings to senior and local religious leaders, and prosecuting and
fining religious believers and clergy who have publicly opposed the war.
Similar warnings and prosecutions have been used against many Russians who
express opposition to the war for any reason.

Since February 2022, courts have on criminal charges jailed two and fined
three (https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2904) for opposing
Russia's war in Ukraine on religious grounds. Another, independent
Christian preacher from the Urals Eduard Charov, is under restrictions at
home awaiting criminal trial
(https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2925) on charges of
repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian armed forces and state bodies.
Investigators have also opened three criminal cases against people who have
left Russia. Many others have received administrative fines.

The government has blocked websites that oppose the war on religious
grounds (https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2897), and those
that report on the impact of the war on people and places of worship in
Ukraine. It has also blocked websites of Ukrainian religious organisations.

Romanyuk: "Activities directed against the security of the Russian
Federation"

On 25 September 2022, at the first Sunday service after President Vladimir
Putin announced the "partial mobilisation" of Russian army reservists,
Pastor Nikolay Nikolayevich Romanyuk (born 15 August 1962) gave a sermon at
the Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church in Balashikha, calling on fellow
believers not to take part in the war in Ukraine. Like other worship
services at the church, the event was livestreamed on the church's YouTube
channel and the recording was subsequently made available on YouTube and
the Russian social network VKontakte.

In October 2024, investigators (it is unclear from which state agency)
opened a case against Romanyuk under Criminal Code Article 280.4, Part 2,
Paragraph V ("Public calls to 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 using mass media or electronic or
information and telecommunications networks, including the Internet").

Investigators arrested Romanyuk – who studied at a Pentecostal seminary
in Kyiv after the collapse of the USSR – on 18 October 2024 after
searches of his home and those of other church members. At a closed hearing
on 20 October, a judge at Balashikha City Court ordered that he should be
kept in custody until 16 December (Romanyuk appealed unsuccessfully against
the detention order on 12 November).

It is unknown whether Romanyuk has yet been formally charged or when his
case is likely to come to trial. The Memorial Human Rights Centre named him
a political prisoner
(https://memopzk.org/figurant/romanyuk-nikolaj-nikolaevich/) on 31 October
2024.

Forum 18 sent enquiries to the Federal Investigative Committee, the Moscow
Region Investigative Committee, and the Moscow Region branch of the FSB
security service, asking in what way Romanyuk's sermon threatened state
security, why he had been placed in detention, whether any criminal or
administrative cases had been opened against any other church members, and
why it had been deemed necessary to carry out armed raids on their homes.
Forum 18 had received no response by the end of the working day in Moscow
of 21 November.

Holy Trinity Church, which is a registered religious organisation, has
several sister communities located in the outskirts of Moscow and Moscow
Region. No other criminal cases appear to have been opened against any
other clergy or church members so far.

Romanyuk: Simultaneous armed raids

Roman Zhukov, another pastor at Holy Trinity Church, described the early
morning house raids on his Telegram channel on 24 October 2024
(https://t.me/zametki_o_zhizni_romana). "The conversation was softer with
some, harsher with others," he noted. He wrote that "special forces
soldiers" arrived at about 6.20 am on 18 October at his family's home, the
Romanyuks', and the home of the Repins, another family from the church.

Officials also conducted searches at the church itself and "in Volokolamsk"
(the church owns land in Volokolamsk District, where it runs children's
camps).

At the home of Ilya and Sergey Romanyuk (who are among Nikolay Romanyuk's
adult sons), the armed men did not carry out a search but "broke in and put
the guys on the floor, where they lay for 12 hours, one and a half of which
they spent in light indoor clothes and barefoot on the ground outside. At
gunpoint".

At the other addresses, the troops "entered with armoured shields, in some
cases breaking the door frames; they made the men lie on the floor with
their hands behind their heads; [and] seized digital devices and documents,
Maksim Repin's bank cards, his mother's pension card, and foreign-travel
passports".

Investigators asked Nikolay Romanyuk "to make some statements on camera",
which he refused to do. Investigators then took him away for questioning at
about 6pm.

"The entire family has gone through great psychological trauma today, but
such searches and arrests in modern Russia are predictable and expected –
to our great regret", Ukrainian pastor Vladimir Franchuk, an acquaintance
of the Romanyuk family, wrote in a blog post
(https://www.raulilehtonen.com/ru/2024/10/20/a%d1%80%d0%b5%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%b0%d0%bd-%d0%bf%d0%b0%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be%d1%80-%d0%be%d0%b1%d1%89%d0%b8%d0%bd%d1%8b-%d1%85%d1%80%d0%b8%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b8%d0%b0%d0%bd-%d0%b2%d0%b5%d1%80%d1%8b/)
on 20 October 2024.

"One of the main accusations against Pastor Nikolay Romanyuk is that he
expressed his disagreement with the bandit-like and cruel war that the
Russian Federation is waging on the territory of Ukraine", Franchuk noted.
"Honourable and just people in Russia (believers and non-believers) suffer
- and will suffer! - for their position as an honest person, which is
deeply and consistently based on Biblical truth and the Christian
worldview."

Romanyuk: "Find me in the Old Testament even a hint that we could somehow
participate.. This is not our war"

The video of Pastor Nikolay Romanyuk's sermon has disappeared from the
church's YouTube channel, but several other YouTube channels uploaded
copies after the prosecution of Romanyuk became known. (Among these is the
channel of Pastor Vyacheslav Boynetsky of the Slavic Christian Church in
Salem, Oregon, who posted the sermon
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiUUJieRJ2o) under the title "For this
sermon they arrested a pastor".)

Much of the 41-minute video is taken up by Pastor Romanyuk's sermon, during
which he says: "When you are offered a hit, when you are offered a bottle
of alcohol or you are given a summons to send you to combat – this is the
same sin, and the same drug, and the same Satan.. Find me in the Old
Testament even a hint that we could somehow participate. And it does not
matter which tsar calls for this – [whether] the Ukrainian tsar, the
American tsar, or our tsar calls for this. I would like this to be a
vaccination, at least in some way. This is not our war."

"It was written in our doctrine that we are pacifists and cannot
participate in this", Romanyuk continues. "It is our right to profess this
on the basis of Holy Scripture. We do not bless those who go there [to
war]. [Those] who are taken by force, we do not bless them, but we pray
that they are rescued from there. There are different legal ways to do
this."

Nikolay Romanyuk is the brother of Vasily Romanyuk, who was pastor of the
Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church when the Moscow city authorities bulldozed
its building (https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1742) as an
"unlawful structure" in 2012, forcing the congregation to split across
different locations. Vasily Romanyuk died in 2015. The church managed to
find a new site and construct a new building in 2016.

Pastor Romanyuk's address in detention is:

142412, g. Noginsk

ul. 1-ya Revsobraniy 17

FKU Sledstvenniy izolyator No. 11 UFSIN Rossii po Moskovskoy oblasti

Vasilyev: Criminal trial of Buddhist leader

The trial of computer programmer and Zen Buddhist Ilya Vladimirovich
Vasilyev (born 9 December 1973) on charges of spreading "false information"
about the Russian Armed Forces is due to begin in Moscow on 3 December
2024. It had earlier been twice postponed. He has been in detention since
22 June 2024, initially in Moscow's Kapotnya prison, then in Matrosskaya
Tishina.

Before his prosecution, Vasilyev had been on the point of taking his vows
as a monk of the Soto Zen school. He has been director of the Moscow Zen
Centre since 2010, and held regular meditation sessions at his home.

Investigators opened the case against Vasilyev on 20 June 2024 under
Criminal Code Article 207.3 ("Public dissemination, under the guise of
credible statements, of knowingly false information about the use of the
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of
the Russian Federation and its citizens [and] maintain international peace
and security, or about the exercise by state bodies of the Russian
Federation of their powers outside the territory of the Russian Federation
for those purposes, as well as [knowingly false information] on the
provision of assistance by volunteer formations, organisations or
individuals in the performance of tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the
Russian Federation or the troops of the National Guard of the Russian
Federation"), Part 2, Paragraph D ("for reasons of political, ideological,
racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or
enmity against any social group").

Criminal Code Article 207.3 Part 2 carries the following possible
punishments: a fine of 3 million to 5 million Roubles; or up to 5 years'
assigned work "with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or
engage in certain activities for up to 5 years"; or 5 to 10 years'
imprisonment "with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or
engage in certain activities for up to 5 years".

According to the Investigative Committee charging decision of 16 October
2024, seen by Forum 18, the case is based on an English-language Facebook
post of 25 December 2022: "Putin rejected Christmas armistice. His rockets
are right now shelling peaceful Ukrainian cities and towns. Only yesterday
16 people died in Kherson, where my father's family lives. Or lived?
Millions of Ukrainians are now without electricity and water supply".

The Paragraph D charge derives from Vasilyev's alleged motivation of
"political hatred" for "the current organs of executive and legislative
power of the Russian Federation".

Vasilyev made the post, and others on VKontakte which led to an earlier
administrative conviction, "solely out of religious conviction", he told
Forum 18 through his lawyer Gevorg Aleksanyan on 20 November. He added that
he is "not a politician and is engaged only in religion".

In a message to supporters, posted on the "Ilya Vasilyev – support group"
channel (https://t.me/dzenvnutrinas/34) on Telegram on 20 November,
Vasilyev wrote: "It is unacceptable to be persecuted for posting on the
internet, but this is happening under the new laws of the Russian
Federation. One day the world will be a better place!"

Vasilyev added: "On a brighter note, I am in Moscow. I continue to meditate
on Monday and Wednesday evenings. One way to support me – meditate with
me on Wednesdays from 18.00 to 18.30 Moscow time. Unite in person and via
video link and our practice will help to manifest the good that already
exists, both in us and in the world!"

Preobrazhensky District Court in Moscow scheduled the first hearing in
Vasilyev's case for the 5 November, then for 19 November, but on both
occasions Judge Valentina Lebedeva postponed it (in the latter case because
Vasilyev was improperly notified of the hearing details). It is now due to
take place on 3 December 2024.

At the 19 November hearing, the judge extended Vasilyev's period of
detention by six months to 24 April 2025 – he has been in detention since
22 June 2024, initially in Moscow's Kapotnya prison, then in Matrosskaya
Tishina. Vasilyev and his lawyer had requested that he be placed under
house arrest instead. They noted that 8 December is the day of Buddha's
enlightenment, which Vasilyev had wanted to mark at home.

Vasilyev: Earlier fine

Ilya Vasilyev appears to have first come to investigative agencies'
attention in early 2023, either because of his religious activities or
because he had "ended up on some list of unreliable Russians", as he
commented to human rights group OVD-Info
(https://ovd.info/2024/10/01/russkaya-inkviziciya) on 1 October 2024. The
FSB security service examined his profile on the VKontakte social network
on 4 February 2023, finding a number of anti-war comments.

Police searched Vasilyev's flat on 11 May 2023, seized his phone, tablet
computer, and laptop, and took him to a police station. There they charged
him under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, Part 1 ("Public actions aimed
at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation").
Moscow's Preobrazhensky District Court fined him 40,000 Roubles (1 week's
average Moscow wage) the same day.

According to the written protocol detailing the charges, police based this
case on three statements in Russian from Vasilyev's VKontakte page (which
he used under the name "Arvi Hacker" ("Arvi Kheker")): "No to war with
Ukraine. Shame on Putin's thugs"; "#notowar"; and "Russian army – out of
Ukraine. Putin – out of the Kremlin! Russia did not choose you as
president."

According to OVD-Info's 1 October 2024 account of his prosecution, after
the administrative hearing, an investigator tried to question Vasilyev
there and then in the court corridor about his activities on Facebook and
Twitter. In response, Vasilyev cited Article 51 of the Constitution
(according to which nobody is obliged to testify against themselves), then
went home and deleted his social media accounts.

Investigators had already found, however, two Facebook posts which formed
the basis of the case they eventually opened on 20 June 2024 (only one of
which they later cited in the indictment). They searched Vasilyev's home
and arrested him the same day.

Investigators sent the Facebook posts for psychological and linguistic
examination by the "Independent Expert" centre, whose "expert analyses"
have been used by the security services in similar cases against people who
have spoken out against the war or otherwise opposed the authorities,
including in the conviction of former Yekaterinburg mayor Yevgeny Roizman
for "repeat discreditation" of the Armed Forces.

According to OVD-Info, Danila Mikheyev, the founder and sole employee of
the "Independent Expert" centre, was apparently fighting in the Russian
army in Ukraine when he supplied the "expert analysis" of the materials in
Vasilyev's case.

(Russia's Justice Ministry has conceded that Mikheyev does not have the
necessary qualifications for linguistic expert analysis. In July 2024, the
Federal Tax Service removed the Independent Expert centre from the Unified
Register of Legal Entities as inactive.)

Vasilyev's address in detention is:

107076 g. Moskva

ul. Matrosskaya Tishina 18

FKU Sledstvenniy izolyator No. 1 UFSIN Rossii po g. Moskve

Moscow: Another "discreditation" case

On 12 November 2024, Moscow's Basmanny District Court fined 54-year-old
Russian Orthodox Christian Aleksey Sevastyanenko 30,000 Roubles (5 days'
average Moscow wage) under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, Part 1
("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the
Russian Federation"). It is unknown whether or not he will appeal.

According to the written verdict, seen by Forum 18, on 10 November in the
grounds of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Life-giving Trinity in
Khokhly, Sevastyanenko "spoke out against the SVO [special military
operation] and accused the President of the Russian Federation and the
Patriarch of murdering the civilian population in Ukraine .. in this way,
[he] committed public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed
Forces of the Russian Federation for the purposes of defending the
interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, [and] supporting
international peace and security".

Sevastyanenko "adheres to an anti-war position", his lawyer commented to
the "Ostorozhno, Moskva" Telegram channel
(https://t.me/ostorozhno_moskva/18401) on 19 November. "That day, in the
courtyard of the church, he raised this issue in the context of religious
commandments". According to Radio Liberty's Russian Service
(https://www.svoboda.org/a/sud-ne-stal-rassmatrivatj-delo-moskvicha-zaderzhannogo-v-hrame/33198237.html),
he told the church's rector, Fr Andrey Tkachyov, that that support for the
war in Ukraine goes against the commandments "Thou shalt not kill" and
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house".

Sevastyanenko believes a fellow parishioner or a member of church staff
then called the police, who detained him for several hours before releasing
him with a summons to appear the next day for charging.

On 11 November, police lodged a case against him under Article 20.3.3, Part
1 at Basmanny District Court. Judge Anna Rasskazova sent it back the same
day, however, as officers had not produced proof of the defendant's
identity and had cited the wrong Administrative Code Article on a document
in the case materials, according to court documents seen by Forum 18.
Police resubmitted the case on 12 November, when the same judge found
Sevastyanenko guilty.

Forum 18 asked the Moscow Interior Ministry on 18 November in what way
Sevastyanenko's statements had "discredited" the Russian Armed Forces.
Forum 18 had received no response by the end of the working day in Moscow
of 21 November.

Fr Andrey Tkachyov is known for his support of Russia's war in Ukraine
(https://www.svoboda.org/a/sluzhiteli-kuljta-stuchali-vsegda-sotsseti-ob-areste-prihozhanina-v-tserkvi/33196934.html).
The Moscow Patriarchate sacked and defrocked his predecessor at the Trinity
Church, Fr Aleksey Uminsky, in January 2024 over his criticism of its
pro-war stance and his refusal to read the "Prayer for Holy Rus" (Patriarch
Kirill added this prayer to the liturgy after the invasion of Ukraine, to
be read after the Gospel).

The Ecumenical Patriarchate later restored Fr Aleksey's priestly status and
he is now serving at a Russian church in Paris (not affiliated with the
Moscow Patriarchate). (END)

More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?country=10)

For background information see Forum 18's Russia religious freedom survey
(https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2897)

Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1351)

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