Almost thirty years ago, Peter Edge published The Missionary's Position After Kokkinakis v Greece: in Ossewaarde, the ECtHR returned to the matter...
Background
In Ossewaarde v Russia [2023] ECHR 225, Mr and Mrs Ossewaarde were US citizens living in Oryol, Russia, on a permanent residence permit. They were Baptists, and since moving to Oryol in 2005 they had regularly invited people to their home for prayer and Bible reading [1-5]. In 2016, the police interrupted a service at their home after they had been sent a letter of complaint by a Ms B complaining about "foreign religious cultists" who had pasted evangelical tracts on the notice board at the entrance of her apartment building [6&7]. Mr Ossewaarde was charged with conducting illegal missionary work as a non-Russian national under Article 5.26(5) of the Code of Administrative Offence [8] and fined 40,000 roubles – about 650 euros [9&10]. He appealed, arguing that he had been exercising his right to freedom of religion in his individual capacity, that he had not been a member of any religious association in Russia and that he could not, therefore, have conducted "missionary work" within the meaning of the Religions Act, which defines it as an activity of a religious association. His appeals against his conviction were rejected [10-12].
The Religions Act (Law no. 125-FZ of 26 September 1997) guarantees freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, including the right to worship any religion, individually or in community with others, to perform services or worship, other religious rites and ceremonies, to teach religion and provide religious education, freely to choose and change, have and spread religious and other beliefs and act in accordance with them, including by means of establishing religious associations – and that is extended equally to resident foreign nationals [13&14].
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