40.000 signatures collected for changes in law on religion

About 40.000 signatures have been collected for changes in the law on religion. Syargei Lukanin, spokesman of the campaign of freedom of conscience, said it.

He stressed in his interview to BelaPAN, that these rights are written in laws on freedom of conscience and religious organisations, on stay of foreigners on the territory of Belarus, in administrative, civil and criminal codes, and in the concept of national security of the country. “We think a number of articles about believers in these legal documents should be changed, as they stay in contradiction with the Constitution and regulations of the international agreements ratified by Belarus,” S. Lukanin noted.

According to him, only within two last weeks more than 10.000 signatures have been collected. “After the campaign activists collect 50.000 signatures, we’ll send them to initiative bodies. I mean head of state and the “house of representatives” first of all,” S. Lukanin said.

He noted the increasing interest of the civil society in the problem of freedom of conscience and religion in the country. “On the initiative of former presidential candidate Alyaksandr Milinkevich a round table meeting of political and religious activists was organised. Milinkevich said rights of believers are an integral part of human rights and their violation should be considered at the highest level by the world community,” the spokesman of the campaign said. According to him, the activists of the campaign met with the representatives of the authorities during the panel in Grodna.

“We expect the collecting of signatures to help the leadership of the country to estimate sensibly the current situation and understand the necessity of respect rights of believers. We hope the working groups including representatives of the authorities and the civil society will be formed to work out changes and amendments to the laws,” S. Lukanin concluded.