Amid months-long protests that recently turned violent in Ukraine, observers are warning that hastily-imposed anti-dissent laws inadvertently threaten religious liberty and the future of Christian ministries in the Eastern European nation.
The unrest began in November when protestors began demanding the president's resignation over accusations of corruption and a decision to strengthen ties with neighboring Russia rather than agreeing to a modernizing trade deal with the European Union.
In what is being called a crucial historical time for Ukraine, President Viktor Yanukovych agreed to some concessions in talks with opposition leaders Jan. 24. One of those concessions reportedly is to change the harsh anti-protest legislation, the Associated Press said.
The package of legislation suppressing political dissent was rammed through Parliament in mid-January by Yanukovych supporters, but the president agreed to revisit the action in an upcoming special legislative session.
As it is, the legislation categorizes protesting against the government as "slander," punishable with a 15-year prison term, and it calls organizations that receive funding from outside Ukraine "foreign agents," penalizing them with a tax, according to Mission Network News.
Michael Cherenkoff of the Kiev-based Russian Ministries likened the new laws to Stalin's Soviet Union of 1937. Many of the Christian ministries operating in Ukraine previously operated in Russia but left because of religious freedom concerns, Mission Network News reported.
"It's much like Russia's laws but much worse," Cherenkoff told Mission Network News. Keep reading
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