A court in Belarus has dissolved the religious association of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
This was reported by the Vitebsk Spring resource.
The court considered an application by the Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs, who petitioned for the dissolution of the association on the grounds that it had failed to undergo re-registration. The decision was made on the basis of written documents, as the official representatives of the parties asked the court to consider the case in their absence.
The court granted the petition of the Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs and ordered the association’s dissolution.
According to Christian Vision, the association was registered in Vitebsk on January 8, 2001. It was headed, as bishop, by Kastus Mardvintsev, an independent journalist, civic activist, and member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists. He had faced administrative prosecution and, according to available information, is currently outside Belarus. Mardvintsev explained that the church had not renounced its legal status, but its congregations had been unable to meet the new requirements concerning the number of founders, the availability of legal addresses, and the disclosure of believers’ personal data.
“Previously, the authorities effectively ignored Mardvintsev’s structure. Pastor Vladimir Tatarnikov was invited as the Lutheran representative to official interfaith events. Therefore, the dissolution of the association can be viewed not only as a consequence of the introduction of new requirements, but also in the broader context of the persecution of dissidents. At the same time, other Lutheran congregations that were not part of Mardvintsev’s structure continue to exist in Belarus,” Christian Vision reports.
We previously reported that 11 Catholic priests in Belarus had been forced to leave their parishes because they had not received approval from the office of the Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs to continue their religious activities, while some had received such permission only for a minimal period.
As LF reported, three Catholic priests who are Polish citizens and had served in Belarus for many years were forced to leave the country. The authorities refused to extend their permits for further ministry. All three served in the Vitebsk Diocese.
As LF reported, two Polish Catholic priests who had served for many years in the Brest Region were forced to leave Belarus.
As LF reported, of the 16 Greek Catholic, or Uniate, parishes previously registered in Belarus, four failed to undergo mandatory re-registration. These were congregations in Brest, Baranavichy, Ivatsevichy, all in the Brest Region, and Orsha.
We previously reported that authorities in the Brest Region dissolved all parishes of the Greek Catholic Church. The court ruling cited an alleged “threat to national interests.”
As LF reported, Catholic priest Anatoly Parakhnevich, pastor of the parish in Olkovichi in the Vileyka District, was detained. Earlier, state propaganda media had mentioned the priest in a negative context following his participation in a reception marking Constitution Day of Poland, held at the Ukrainian Embassy in Minsk, attempting to portray it as something suspicious.
It was subsequently reported that Anatoly Parakhnevich had suffered a heart attack. The 65-year-old clergyman remains in a pre-trial detention center in serious condition. According to Belarusian believers, Parakhnevich is accused of “treason against the state.” There is no information about the specific grounds for the charge. It is believed that the priest is being held in a KGB detention facility.
As LF reported, in Belarus, property belonging to Catholic priest Heinrich Okolotovich is being seized and sold by order of the KGB. The clergyman was convicted of “treason against the state” and released two years later following a request by the Vatican.
Earlier, a Catholic priest and two Evangelical presbyters were detained in Belarus.
