Russian President Vladimir Putin has created a "police state" and imposed new laws to progressively erode religious freedom, according to an annual report compiled by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Putin has signed a law imposing administrative fines, amounting to more than the average annual salary, on individuals who participate in unauthorized public gatherings that violate "public order," including religious services, the commission reported.
USCIRF, a nine-member bipartisan commission Congress created in 1998 to inform the federal government of religious freedom overseas, released the report, "Russia: Unruly State of Law," on Jan. 8
"The Kremlin has not just passed a set of bad new laws in 2012, it has changed the Russian political system," the commission wrote. "Overall, religious freedom conditions in Russia continue to deteriorate. Chronic serious problems highlighted in previous [commission] reports remain, including the application of the religion law and the use of the anti-extremism law against peaceful religious groups and individuals." Read more
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