Police was searching for… food products New Life Church in Belarus

• 24.08.2010, 12:05

On August 24 in the morning near the building of New Life church many policemen and troops gathered.

Dozens of church members, who had assembled near the building, demanded explanation from the military men. It turned out that they were representatives of the Emergency Situations Ministry, tax inspection, a sanitary-epidemiological station and police, Radio Svaboda informs.

All these agencies allegedly obtained information that food are sold in the building of the church. Believers said it was absurd and did not allow any of the representatives of these agencies entering their church.

Members of the church believe that representatives of the authorities are ordered to destroy the building of the church, in order to draw a line under the long conflict between the congregation and the authorities.

Representatives of the New Life Church have failed in a several suits, and now they have to pay huge fines. According to the court decision, believers are to be evicted form the building of the church, and it can happen any time within a month.

On August 14 the decision of the Economic Court of Minsk to collect 249 million rubles of compensation for damaging the environment from New Life church in Minsk came into force.

On July 29 the Economic Court of Minsk found Minsk-based New Life Full Gospel Church responsible for damaging the environment, polluting the territory of the church with oil products.

Commenting on the decision of the court right after it was issued, the lawyer of the church Syarhei Lukanin stated that the church does not admit their guilt as when soil samples were taken, there were no attesting witnesses, interested persons and representatives of the public. “We cannot be sure those were samples of soil near the church, and the level of contamination is high in them,” the lawyer underlined.