Two pastors in Russia were recently fined for holding a worship service in public.
The ministers stand accused of not acquiring permission to hold an open religious demonstration. However, under Russian law, permission from government authorities is not needed in cases of religious services. Todd Nettleton, a spokesman with Voice of the Martyrs, wonders if this situation is the beginning of an unfavorable sequence. "It' hard to know if this is part of a pattern [or] if this is an isolated incident," he speculates. "It's one of those things where you watch what happens... and then you see [if] there [is] more coming. We do know the Russian government has exercised a little more control or a little more oversight over the church in recent months." The pastors were fined the equivalent of about 75 U.S. dollars, and they have yet to decide if they will appeal the charge.
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