Minsk, Sep. 27, 2007 (Forum 18/CWNews.com) - At an unprecedented meeting with religious leaders in Minsk, the vice-premier of Belarus has rejected pleas for any change in the country's 2002 law governing religion, the Forum 18 news service reports.
Aleksandr Kosinets told the religious representatives that his government would not be swayed by a petition drive asking for changes in the restrictive provisions of the law.
"It's clear that the state doesn't want to lose control over the religious life of the people," said Yakov Basin, the chairman of the Religious Association of Progressive Jewish Communities, who was present at the 4-hour meeting.
According to Basin, Kosinets categorically defended the 2002 law. "The Protestants suggested amendments, but he said that this is the law we have and it must be applied, it's final," he reported.
[For a more detailed report see the Forum 18 web site.]