6 August 2007
MOLDOVA: Will new Religion Law end arbitrary legal status denials?

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>

Moldova's new Religion Law, now awaiting promulgation, may end the state's arbitrary denials of registration, and hence legal status, to religious communities it dislikes. These include all Muslims, smaller Orthodox Churches and many Protestant Churches, and has led to two large fines being imposed on Moldova by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. But some have told Forum 18 News Service that they are sceptical. Serghei Ostaf of the Resource Centre for Human Rights told Forum 18 that "I fear there will be problems. Nothing functions in Moldova as it is supposed to. Officials are very creative in finding obstructions, when they don't want to do something." Without legal status, religious communities cannot carry out a wide range of peaceful religious activities. Ostaf fears officials will pressure members of disfavoured religious communities not to sign registration applications. "Leaders of one Muslim community told me their members are already being pressured not to take part in religious activity."

16 May 2007
MOLDOVA: Controversial Religion Law suddenly rushed through Parliament

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>

Religious minorities have told Forum 18 News Service of concerns over provisions that might still be in Moldova's long-promised new Religion Law, which has been suddenly rushed through its final reading in Parliament. No-one will be able to read the Law until it has been promulgated by the President and published in the Official Monitor. But Christian Democrat deputy Stefan Secareanu, who chaired the committee which prepared the draft Law, rejected suggestions that the Law has been adopted without proper consultation. "Let people who want to read the text be patient," he told Forum 18. Religious minorities' concerns, apart from the secrecy of the final text, focus on the ban on "abusive proselytism" and the impossibility of religious communities with fewer than 100 adult members gaining legal status. In sharp contrast, members of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moldova complain that the Law does not restrict freedom of thought, conscience and belief enough.