A US missionary fined for holding Bible studies in his Russian home is taking the country to court.
Religious liberty organisation ADF International is supporting Donald Ossewaarde, who has lived in Russia for 14 years, in taking his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
Ossewaarde is challenging the law, which criminalises religious meetings outside of state-registered venues.
Bible study
He has exhausted legal challenges in Russia and has been ordered to pay a fine of around $600.
ADF International said Ossewaarde’s conviction is a “hugely concerning development for religious freedom across Russia”.
In August last year, three police officers came to Ossewaarde’s home while Donald and his wife Ruth were hosting a Bible study.
‘Last resort’
He was charged with conducting illegal missionary activities, under a “counter-terrorism” law that was introduced in 2016.
The missionary says a European court ruling, while officially binding, may still be ignored. He is now set to return to the USA.
Laurence Wilkinson, a lawyer working on the case, said: “An appeal to the European Court of Human Rights represents a last resort in challenging a law that appears to violate the fundamental right of religious freedom in Russia.”
UK churches
“While the new legislation aims to prevent terrorist activity, it has had a devastating effect on religious activities that cannot be considered dangerous in any sense, as Donald Ossewaarde’s case and many others prove”, he added.
In the UK, it has been proposed that churches could be inspected by Ofsted under the Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy.
The strategy says that out-of-school institutions teaching children for more than 6 hours in any week would have to register, so that they can be inspected.
Many churches could be caught because children can attend multiple events in one week – such as holiday Bible clubs.
‘Don’t close my Sunday School!’
A consultation on the issue prompted 18,000 responses – forcing the Government to “tread carefully”.