Source: Associated Press
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, August 17, 2002: Police in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Saturday arrested about a dozen members of a Hindu group who were protesting alleged religious persecution, Russian news agencies reported. The reports said between 10 and 13 members of the Shiva Society were arrested. Belarus authorities could not be reached for comment. In mid-July, 17 Hindus were arrested in a protest against a bill passed by the lower house of parliament prohibiting religious groups with less than 20 years’ presence in Belarus from publishing literature or establishing missions and banning organized prayer by denominations with less than 20 Belarusian citizens as members. The Russian Orthodox Church, which supports the legislation, complains in Belarus and in Russia that other religions are poaching converts among people who historically would have been Orthodox adherents.