SAKI, Crimea — Three of 8 Baptists from Saki in western Crimea who refused to pay fines for holding a public religious meeting were sentenced to 20 hours of community service each between October and December 2015. Five fines were imposed by Judge Irina Shevchenko without a formal court hearing.
A fine of about six weeks’ average local wages has been ordered to be automatically deducted from the wages of another Baptist. Items from the homes of four others have been identified for possible seizure. Council of Churches Baptists refuse to pay fines imposed for exercising their freedom of religion or belief.
However, Crimea’s Supreme Court has overturned July 2015 fines imposed on two Jehovah’s Witnesses distributing religious literature. Meanwhile, after the deadline for all religious communities to re-register with the Russian Justice Ministry expired Jan. 1, only about 400 religious organizations have been re-registered. More than 1,100 religious communities that had legal status under Ukrainian law no longer have legal status under Russian law.
(F18)
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