THE PROTEST OF A NUMBER OF AMERICAN CONGRESSMEN AGAINST THE ADOPTION OF THE RUSSIAN BILL ON FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE IS GROSS INTERFERENCE INTO THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF RUSSIA SAYS REPRESENTATIVE OF STATE DUMA COMMITTEE FOR THE AFFAIRS OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS

MOSCOW, JULY 18, RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT YULIA PANYUSHKINA. Vladimir Medvedev, member of the Duma Committee for the Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations, has described the recent statement by American congressmen concerning the bill on freedom of conscience and religious associations which the State Duma adopted and the Federation Council approved, as "gross interference in Russia's domestic affairs." In the opinion of the American congressmen, the given document which is called upon to regulate, on a legal basis, the activity of foreign preachers and the establishment of new religious communities, "imposes unprecedentedly strict restrictions upon the activity of religious organizations in the Russian Federation and for that reason constitutes an encroachment on human rights."

Medvedev believes that this campaign is actually an attempt at breaking up from the inside the Orthodox and Muslim churches on the territory of Russia by introducing all kinds of pseudo-religions into Russian society.

The spokesman for the Duma committee for the affairs of religious organizations specially stressed in an interview with parliamentary pressmen that the bill "which has aroused such a racket in the West was adopted by the constitutional majority of the Duma, with more than 300 deputies voting in its favour." Medvedev said that such laws exist in all civilized countries. "For example, in Israel," he noted, "there is a clear order that regulates the activity of religions -- both traditional and non-traditional for that country. There the restrictions are by far tougher than those in our law."

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Johnson's Russia List

#1065

20 July 1997

djohnson@cdi.org