Belarusian authorities appear to be increasing their use of technical building regulations to harass Protestant churches, Forum 18 News Service notes. "Orthodox churches are full of wood and use open flame during services, yet we're supposed to be the most dangerous in terms of fire risks!" a Pentecostal pastor in Brest Region fined for fire safety violations pointed out to Forum 18 in late February. The pastor of a Minsk-based charismatic congregation, who also thinks health and safety demands are a pretext for oppressing Protestants, now faces prosecution for refusing to admit state inspectors onto church property.Baranovichi [Baranavichy] Emergencies Department in January fined Pastor Mikhail Kabushko and Administrator Oleg Loiko of New Life Pentecostal Church a total of 490,000 Belarusian Roubles (1,180 Norwegian Kroner, 150 Euros or 228 US Dollars) – the equivalent of almost three weeks' average wages. While the pair have paid the fines, Pastor Kabushko believes the unrealistic nature of the fire safety demands means they are a less obvious way of putting pressure on the church. Built in 2000, the interior of the congregation's 525 square metre [5,650 square feet] building has a bare floor and walls, he pointed out to Forum 18: "There isn't anything to burn!"
The Baranovichi congregation – 300 adults and approximately 200 children - was first fined for fire safety violations a year ago. Significant funds have already gone into putting right much of what the state authorities then demanded, Pastor Kabushko told Forum 18. "But we can't do everything – we're not a commercial organisation." The demands for which the church was fined for failing to implement would have involved moving walls, he said. "It would be easier to build something new."
Pastor Kabushko rejects the whole approach of trying to keep up with the fire safety demands, however. "That path is a blind alley. Every time they check, there is something new. Even if we were to fulfill everything now, there's no guarantee they won't come up with something more."...
(By the way, the accompanying illustration is The Average Bureaucrat, painted in 1930 by Salvador Dali. Via Fotos.org)
