It was reported in early March that communities who exercise freedom of religion or belief in public without Russian state permission may find their members facing five-figure rouble fines if they do not inform the local authorities in advance.
Café Bible study
It is possible that changes to the Religion Law may have a positive effect on cases currently before the courts, such as that of a Sochi Protestant leader fined for holding prayers and a Bible study in a rented café. The FSB security service was behind that case, sending officials to attend the meeting.
However, a new Criminal Code Article 212.1 may have a chilling effect on exercising freedom of religion or belief in public. The Sochi Bible study group has ceased to meet, fearing prosecution under this Article.
Political protest
However, Aleksandr Verkhovsky of the SOVA Centre for Information and Analysis thinks the authorities may seek to avoid prosecuting religious or belief communities under this article. ‘Political protesters will go first’, he thought.
