Belarus Hunger Strike Church Still Faces State Clampdown

The Belarus church which protested against state oppression in a hunger strike last October is still no closer to receiving the promised state approval to use its own building and land for worship.

A surprise ruling from the highest economic court in Belarus last November renewed the hopes of members of New Life charismatic church in Minsk that their church would finally be set free from years of constant harassment by the authorities.

The international community welcomed the ruling from the Higher Economic Court to cancel all previous court decisions against the church and committed to re-examining the case.

But according to Forum 18 News Service, a news service dedicated to revealing persecution in the former USSR, no action has been taken since the ruling. Forum 18 blamed "state procrastination".

The church's lawyer, Sergei Lukanin, told the news agency that "the judge had all the necessary information to make a decision two months ago".

"There are no objective reasons for this delay," he said.

The Higher Economic Court has now postponed its ruling five times since December 2006, with the next hearing due on March 19.

Lukanin said the delay could be due to the gas price dispute with Russia at the end of 2006, which he said gave Belarus less reason to support institutions associated with Russia, including the Belarusian Orthodox Church.

He also suspects that the government is "hoping that international attention will go away".