VZCZCXRO1894
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #1597/01 1690750
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 180750Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3859
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MOSCOW 001597 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL KIRF SOCI RS
SUBJECT: JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, SCIENTOLOGISTS UNDER 
CONTINUED PRESSURE 
 
REF: A. MOSCOW 1205 
     ¶B. MOSCOW 546 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary.  The campaign against the Jehovah's 
Witnesses (JW) in Russia, instigated by General Prosecutor 
Yuriy Chayka in early 2009, continued in May and June.  While 
a judge dismissed one case against the JW branch in Tolyatti 
on insufficient grounds, the situation in Samara Oblast, 
Sverdlovsk Oblast, and the Republic of Altai worsened.  A 
judgment against JW literature in Gorno-Altaisk, scheduled 
for July, could result in a ban against JW literature through 
Russia.  Officials in Omsk Oblast also filed a criminal case 
against the local Church of Scientology's humanitarian 
center, showing that multiple religious groups remained under 
the microscope.  Religious leaders outside of the mainstream 
continued to criticize the restructuring of the Ministry of 
Justice's expert commission, stocked with self-described 
sectology experts, but refrained from suggesting Russian 
Orthodox or Kremlin complicity in changing its role.  End 
Summary. 
 
Jehovah's Witnesses: One Step Forward, Three Steps Back 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  The campaign against the Jehovah's Witnesses in 
Russia continued in May and June, with the few positive 
developments vastly overshadowed by repressive government 
actions (reftels).  On May 13 and 27, Samara Regional Court 
Judge Tamara Roschina presided over hearings concerning two 
lawsuits initiated to liquidate the JW's local religious 
organizations (LRO) in Samara and Tolyatti.  The Samara 
Region Prosecutor claimed that, under Article 14.1 of the 
Federal Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious 
Associations, religious organizations may be liquidated by a 
court decision in the case of "frequent and gross 
infringement" of the norms of the Constitution or federal 
laws, and under Article 14.2 for "encouraging the refusal on 
religious grounds of medical help to persons in 
life-endangering conditions and for inciting citizens to 
refuse fulfillment of the civic obligations."  JW attorneys 
countered that any decisions made by its congregants were 
personal decisions outside of the influence of the LRO. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  In Tolyatti, the prosecutor claimed that the JW LRO 
played a negative role in the breakup of two families, and 
encouraged a congregation member to not perform alternative 
civilian service (ACS) at a weapons-manufacturing facility. 
Roschina ruled that the LRO played no part in these incidents 
and dismissed the case in Tolyatti on May 29.  JW attorneys 
attributed the ruling, in part, to Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin's 
April 16 letter to Russian Federation General Prosecutor 
Yuriy Chayka, which expressed concern for the current 
scrutiny of the JW in Russia.  During the hearing, three JW 
congregation members testified that their decision to perform 
ACS instead of military service, a right guaranteed by the 
constitution, was a personal choice and not the result of 
Tolyatti LRO pressure.  During the Tolyatti proceedings, one 
of the prosecution's key witnesses Nagim Ryazapov 
unexpectedly filed a motion calling JW a "fascist" 
organization, and asked to participate as a third party 
instead of as a witness.  Roschina refused Ryazapov's motions 
and appeared frustrated with his antics, ultimately helping 
JW's case, according to JW attorney Marc Hansen. 
¶4. (SBU)  The fate of the Jehovah's Witnesses LRO in Samara, 
charged with encouraging its congregants to refuse medical 
aid (blood transfusions) and for refusing military service in 
accordance with their religions beliefs, remained uncertain 
as of June 18.  The Samara Regional Prosecutor, according to 
Hansen, had previously arranged for an expert study with 
Samara State University.  JW attorneys successfully appealed 
this arrangement, arguing that an expert study conducted by a 
state institution under the Samara Regional Prosecutor's 
authority would color its objectivity.  Roschina granted the 
JW attorneys' motion for the expert study to be conducted by 
the Ministry of Justice's Federal Center for Court Expert 
Studies in Moscow, a review board for court materials (Note: 
This is not the Ministry of Justice Commission run by 
Alexander Dvorkin).  Prior to the hearings, LRO 
representatives discussed the cases with Samara Regional 
Ombudsman Irina Skupova, who sent her deputy Lyudmila Temnova 
to the courtroom.  Hansen noted that two local television 
reporters and four Russian Orthodox Church members attended 
the hearings. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  On May 24, 2009, in Sverdlovsk Oblast, FSB and 
police officials allegedly broke up a Jehovah's Witness 
congregation (over 50 people present) at a building rented 
for a worship service.  Officers informed all in attendance 
that they were being detained, then photographed them and 
wrote down their passport information.  Sverdlovsk law 
 
MOSCOW 00001597  002 OF 003 
 
 
enforcement officials allegedly refused JW requests for 
access to an attorney, failed to inform them of their rights, 
and did not issue any protocols confirming the reasons for 
their detention.  They then escorted all who did not have 
identification documents with them to the police station. 
These proceedings were filmed by correspondents for the local 
ATV television network. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  JW leaders in Sverdlovsk Oblast later filed 
complaints with the local police, especially regarding two 
related incidents.  On May 24, police detained and questioned 
a 15 year-old boy (his parents, not present at the worship 
service, are congregation members) and placed him into a 
children's home against his will.  As of June 18, he was 
still in government custody, despite appeals from the child's 
parents and applications to the management of the children's 
home.  On May 31, JW congregation member Ms. Aleksandr 
Matsyugina suffered a miscarriage after being "badly shaken" 
from the May 24 police raid and a subsequent May 27 
interrogation, during which police threatened to put her in a 
detoxification cell. 
 
¶7. (SBU)  In June 2009, authorities in Gorno-Altaisk, 
Republic of Altai, presented two new obstacles to freedom of 
worship for Jehovah's Witnesses.  On June 3, in accordance 
with a Gorno-Altaisk City Court order based on the 
prosecutor's recommendation, researchers from Kemerovo State 
University submitted an expert study on the religious 
foundations of JW literature.  Hansen told us on June 8 that 
the expert study concluded that over twenty of the 
confession's publications, previously targeted by the 
Gorno-Altaisk prosecutor's office, incited hatred of other 
religions.  JW representatives filed an interlocutory appeal 
against the expert study's conclusions which will be heard on 
July 1.  The Gorno-Altaisk City Prosecutor also initiated a 
separate criminal investigation of JW's LRO on June 5, and 
after obtaining a court order, police raided the homes of 
several congregation members, including Chairman of the LRO 
Aleksandr Kalistratov.  Police subsequently raided the LRO's 
place of worship, but did not interrupt the worship service 
which had just ended. 
 
Scientologists Suffering in Omsk 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU)  On June 16, the Omsk Regional Prosecutor filed a 
criminal case against the Omsk Church of Scientology's L. Ron 
Hubbard Humanitarian Center for "applying the methods of 
dianetics" which brought on health and psychiatric problems, 
led to suicidal behavior, caused negative spiritual changes, 
and destroyed the physical structure of Russian citizens. 
Attorneys representing the Scientologists claimed that the 
investigation and criminal case constituted violations of 
Russian law and one's constitutional rights.  Scientology 
members told www.kasparov.ru correspondents on June 16 that 
the only foundation for such accusations laid in the 
"conclusions of a few anonymous experts" who have determined 
that the teachings of The Church of Scientology (COS) lead to 
violent actions.  COS continues to face registration problems 
in Moscow, despite a 2007 European Court of Human Rights 
(ECHR) ruling that Moscow authorities had violated the 
Scientologists religious freedom rights (Note: The Ministry 
of Justice last denied the Moscow COS's registration in late 
2008).  Moscow COS Director Natalya Alekseyeva told us on 
June 18 that officials in Barnaul, Vladivostok, Chelny, and 
Samara are attempting to liquidate local branches, while 
those in Novosibirsk, Penza, Yekaterinburg, and Surgut City 
filed charges of "extremism" against the COS.  She reported 
that cases in Penza and Yekaterinburg were dismissed as 
groundless while a judgment in the others remained pending. 
 
Non-Mainstream Religious Groups Blast Expert Commission 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶9. (SBU)  Non-mainstream religious groups, concerned about 
undue government repression, united in criticism of the 
Ministry of Justice's Commission for the Implementation of 
State Expertise on Religious Science (Commission).  According 
to a June 2 report by Forum 18 journalist and religious 
analyst Geraldine Fagan,  the Union of Old Believers 
theologians, calling for the Commission's abolition, stated 
that its establishment was "a direct threat to the 
constitutional rights of the citizens of Russia" and a 
"dangerous catalyst for inter-confessional strife."  Head of 
the Baptist Union Yuriy Sipko said that the creation of the 
Commission "only underscores the helplessness of our state 
authorities who, instead of following constitutional 
principles of freedom -- including religious freedom -- 
constantly feel the urge to curb these freedoms." 
Pentecostal Bishop Sergey Ryakhovskiy called for the 
 
MOSCOW 00001597  003 OF 003 
 
 
resignation of Justice Minister Konovalov, named by 
Commission Vice-Chairman Roman Silantyev as the man 
responsible for the Commission's creation.  Seventh Day 
Adventist Vice Chair of the Euro-Atlantic Division Viktor 
Vitko joined Slavic Law Center's Roman Lunkin's call for the 
removal of all council members.  According to Forum 18's June 
2 report, Moscow State University Chairman of Religious 
Philosophy and Religious Studies Igor Yablokov vowed on April 
3 to not attend future council meetings as the assembled 
experts "did not bear even the remotest resemblance to a 
meeting of scholars" (Note:  Yablokov is the only person out 
of 24 previous council members that was retained by Justice 
Minister Konovalov). 
 
¶10. (SBU)  Although many religious groups continued to lament 
the widespread powers given to the Ministry of Justice 
Commission, Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) Head of the 
Department for Relations between Church and Society Vsevolod 
Chaplin unsurprisingly expressed his approval in a May 12 
press conference.  According to Forum 18, Chaplin claimed 
that the Commission now contained "specialists at a serious 
level, active, well-known in society."  Fagan told us on June 
17 that journalists, religious leaders, and scholars have 
refrained from implicating Patriarch Kirill or Chaplin as the 
architects of the Commission because "there is not any proof 
at this point" and the ROC probably preferred to distance 
itself from Dvorkin.  She did concede that the only reason 
for the Commission's overhaul was to close any loopholes in 
the GOR's efforts to oust non-mainstream religious groups. 
She also suggested that Konovalov's reputedly close ties to 
Medvedev, as well as their mutual Orthodox leanings, could 
mean that the Kremlin played an active role in selecting the 
Commission's members. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (SBU)  Representatives of the Jehovah's Witnesses are not 
convinced that Kirill's ascension to power, followed by a 
coordinated campaign against the JW, are simply a 
coincidence.  Some argue that Kirill's open criticism of 
non-traditional religious groups in the 1990's could be 
resurfacing, only this time with the necessary tools to rid 
Russia's traditional religions of unwanted competitors.  As 
the ROC deepens its involvement in Russian society, hoping to 
perpetuate a spiritual rebirth and solidify its role as the 
central institution to stamp out social ills, it could also 
look to improve its market share at the expense of Protestant 
and other non-mainstream groups that found success in 
post-Soviet Russia.  Should it be successful, the ROC could 
be in a position to speak for over 75 percent of Russia's 
citizens as the country faces daunting future demographic and 
moral crises. 
BEYRLE