BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

05/06/2007

Belarus imprisons minister for leading Communion

By: Ed Beavan.

A PENTECOSTAL minister in Belarus has been imprisoned for three days for leading a Communion service in Minsk, as persecution against Christians intensifies in the former Soviet Republic. Belarus imprisons minister for leading Communion

Pastor Antoni Bokun becomes the third person to be imprisoned for religious activity in post-Soviet Belarus, according to the Forum 18 news service.

The pastor was arrested by two police officers who interrupted the Sunday Communion service at the John the Baptist Pentecostal Church in Minsk.

His sentence follows the deportation order handed down to Polish citizen Jaroslaw Lukasik last week, for taking part in 'illegal religious activity' in the country.

Last Saturday 7,000 Christians attended a religious freedom prayer service outside Grace Pentecostal Church in Minsk, with participants calling for President Aleksandr Lukashenko (pictured) to bring the restrictive 2002 Religion Law into line with the Constitution.

Last week Pastor Bokun was detained overnight and fined 620,000 Belarussian roubles for leading a similar service.

The pastor is due to be released tomorrow after serving his three day sentence.

Source:

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=796