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A relief to some? Jehovah's Witnesses had 200 of their magazines retained for not importing them properly to Transdniestria

BENDER (Tiraspol Times) - Jehovah's Witnesses said that 200 copies of a magazine were retained in Bender after an individual Jehovah's Witness tried to bring them into Transdniester from Moldova in early October, Forum 18 News Service reported. The Jehovah's Witnesses failed to declare them when crossing the border, and did not adhere to the standard importation procedures for printed material.

" - Officials say that without fiscal registration, we are not authorized to import literature," Anatolii Cravciuc told the news service. "And when people bring in literature individually it can be seized." This has occasionally happened to literature of both religious and non-religious kind when the import procedure has not been followed, and the material doesn't have the proper customs stamps.

Cravciuc added that among other recent cases, about ten magazines were seized from two Jehovah's Witnesses preaching on the street in the village of Krasnogorka on 17 September. No fines were levied.

Jehovah's Witnesses in Transdniestria have won a victory over religious affairs commissioner Pyotr Zalozhkov who insisted that the leader of the Jehovah's Witnesses should first be accredited, in accordance with local laws governing the leadership of religious organizations.

This, said the Supreme Court, was unconstitutional. The highest court in Transdniestria sided with the Jehovah's Witnesses and, in a show of judicial independence, went against the government in this matter.

" - We won at Tiraspol court on 4 July 2007 and, after Zalozhkov lodged an appeal, we also won in the Supreme Court on 16 August," said Anatolii Cravciuc, a member of the local Jehovah's Witnesses. On 2 October 2007, the Supreme Court (full name: "The Constitutional Court of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic") issued an order from the court executor obliging the government to comply with its ruling.

Jehovah's Witnesses expect that the ruling will enable them to perform their work better and increase the number of devout adherents in this part of Eastern Europe.

For Baptists, situation has also improved

Other religious communities are also reporting a more tolerant climate in recent years. A member of the Council of Churches Baptists told Forum 18 on 17 October that threats to demolish their church in Tiraspol which were issued seven years ago have now subsided. According to the spokesman, police occasionally ban young church members from preaching on the streets. To this the government answers that the same is true for non-religious street activities which, if the activity constitutes a mass event, should previously seek a permission from City Hall.

The Baptists also added that in contrast to earlier years, street libraries are now generally able to function with no interruptions of any kind.

Religious tolerance is guaranteed by Transdniestria's constitution, and in recent years there is more openness and tolerance than under Soviet times. Religious Affairs Commissioner Zalozhkov tried to have a new Religion Law introduced in Transdniester in 2004 to replace the 1995 Religion Law, which remains in force. Widely criticised by politicians and religious communities as being too harsh, the planned new law was abandoned and a more open and liberal system remains in place today. (With information from Forum 18)

See also:
» Religious freedom under review, preference for state religion rejected by parliament [1]
» In Pridnestrovie, five times more religions than Moldova [2]