New Life church to be evicted again

The Minsk Protestant community New Life has again faced attempts to seize its premises.

The information was received from church lawyer Syarhei Lukanin. “We have received a summons today signed by officer of court Shcharbovich. The supreme economic court plans to evict us forcefully at 11 a.m. on December 5,” he said.

According to the lawyer, the reason for the eviction is that the land is reportedly being used improperly, Belsat TV says.

The leaders of the church community are discussing their further actions. “We take it very seriously. We are calling the church council to decide what we should do. But I can say definitely that we are not going to leave the church building,” Syarhei Lukanin said.

The New Life church has been struggling for its building since 2005. The Belarusian authorities prohibited the church to use the land plot for religious purposes. The church saw over 30 court proceedings. The supreme economic court delivered the final decision in 2009: the church must vacate the premises. Until now, the New Life church has been defending the building successfully due to hunger strike and a wide response in the Belarusian and international community.