Russian court rules in favor of Salvation Army

MOSCOW — The Constitutional Court of Russia has ruled in favor of the Salvation Army and against Russia’s restrictive religion laws.

Feb. 28, lawyers representing the Salvation Army announced that the court had ruled against the liquidation of the Army’s Moscow branch. In its ruling, the court decided that religion organizations registered with the government prior to 1997 could not be liquidated simply for failing to re-register by Dec. 31, 2000.

Keston News Agency reports that Russia’s controversial religion law, passed in 1997, requires all religion organizations to apply for legal status from the government by this date.