ICC Note: Russia passed an anti-missionary amendment in 2016 to stop both foreign and domestic religious persons from spreading their beliefs. Anyone caught speaking, passing out religious literature, or any other type of missionary activity can be heavily fined. Several victims have challenged the law due to vague wording and erratic implementation by Russian authorities. Russia’s Constitutional Court has issued a partial clarification on the amendment which could benefit some imprisoned religious minorities.

05/18/2018 Russia (Forum 18) – As both Russian and foreign citizens continue to be prosecuted for unlawful “missionary activity”, victims have lodged a number of legal challenges to the July 2016 “anti-missionary” amendment to the Religion Law and its associated Administrative Code Article 5.26, Parts 4 (“Russians conducting missionary activity”), and 5 (“Foreigners conducting missionary activity”).

A Baptist pastor appealed to Russia’s Constitutional Court seeking to question the assumptions inherent in the July 2016 amendment and the vague language in which it was written (see Forum 18’s general Russia religious freedom survey http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2246). The Court refused in March 2018 to consider his appeal, but issued a partial clarification of the amendment. This said that giving information about religious events would constitute an “offence” only if it was aimed at attracting people who are not already members of a religious organisation (see below).

Some have cautiously welcomed the Constitutional Court’s interpretation, hoping it will reduce the number of prosecutions. “Thanks to this definition, we hope to change radically the approach of the courts to missionary work,” Pentecostal Union lawyer Vladimir Ozolin told Forum 18 (see below).

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