ECLJ Leads Political Effort for Religious Freedom in Belarus at the European Parliament
27 May 2007
(Brussels)—European Centre for Law and Justice Representatives Roger Kiska and Gregor Puppinck, working with Belarusian political opposition leader Alaksandr Milinkevich and Belarusian Christian Democracy Party Co-chairman Pavel Seviarynets, today organized and led the largest ever Belarusian religious freedoms initiative towards the European Parliament. The European Union has labeled Belarus as the last true communist dictatorship in Europe.
ECLJ, drafted and coordinated a legal petition joined by several leaders of opposition political parties, human rights organizations and the Sacharov Prize winning Belarusian Association of Independent Journalists, coupled with 50, 400 Belarusian signatures, and deposited it in a private meeting between petition representatives and European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettreing, as well as other top EU officials. President Poettering met with ECLJ representatives moments prior to his meeting with former Russian Premiere Michael Gorbacev.
The petition was welcomed enthusiastically by the European Parliament in formal events including a press conference. Later in the day, ECLJ, along with Dr. Milinkevich and Mr. Seviarynets briefed the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Belarus about the ongoing religious freedoms violations plaguing Belarus. During the briefing, ECLJ noted the strong similarities between the current political opposition in Belarus, which has strong Christian roots, to the Christian based movements which helped bring an end to Communism in Eastern Europe in 1989. E.U. officials were confident that this issue would be brought to the Parliamentary plenary in the very near future and were sincere in pledging to continue collaborating closely on the ongoing religious freedom's initiative between the Parliamentary Committees, the President's office and the ECLJ.
Currently in Belarus, it is a crime for private prayer to occur between two or more people without a permit, which would include among family. Furthermore, it is becoming commonplace that religious leaders and average church goers face harassment and even prison sentences for taking place in Christian activities such as Bible studies which would be commonplace in most any other part of the world. Belarus also has legally banned foreign missionary and religious charitable organizations from the country. ECLJ will continue to keep you updated on this developing story.
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