MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Amendments to Russia’s federal law ‘On freedom of religion and religious groups,’ which prohibit certain individuals from leading or participating in a group of believers, comes into force in Russia on October 3.
The Federal Law No. 68-FZ amends the federal law ‘On freedom of religion and religious groups,’ adopted this spring and signed by President Vladimir Putin in April.
The document prohibits individuals suspected of financing terrorism, whose actions were deemed extremist by a court, to lead religious groups or take part in their activities. A similar ban is in place for foreigners and stateless persons deemed unwanted on the Russian territory.
According to experts interviewed by TASS, the law will, on one hand, protect religious persons and national security, but, on the other hand, may entail problems for law-abiding members of religious organizations.
Alexander Shchipkov, a political scientist and First Deputy Chairman of the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for relations with Society and the Media, believes that the amended law is preventative by nature.
"The law will simply prevent individuals engaged in unlawful activities from managing religious organizations and taking part in them, because they often use a religious organization as a cover-up for their activities. Secondly, they deceive law-abiding believers, who partake in this organization and are unaware that their leaders may be criminals," he said.
"Therefore, on one hand, this law is aimed at ensuring the national security of Russia and on the other - at protecting law-abiding believers from being used for shady or criminal purposes," Shchipkov added.
In turn, Deputy Director of the Institute of Europe and head of the institute’s Center for the studies of problems of Religion and Society, Roman Lunkin, suggested that the implementation of the law may have a negative effect on law-abiding believers.
"Any check of documents in a [religious] group may potentially expose a person [who falls under the amended law], and the entire religious group will be affected. Judging by how the law is written, I think that they [law enforcers] are unlikely to take the side of believers, or leaders of religious groups and communities who were unaware that an <…> untrustworthy person has come to their group," Lunkin told TASS.
Similar amendments are already in place for Russia’s traditional religious organizations.