Forum 18's newest article on Russia begins this way:
The powers of the Russian Justice Ministry's Expert Council for
Conducting State Religious-Studies Analysis were considerably widened
in February 2009, allowing it to investigate the activity, doctrines,
leadership decisions, literature and worship of any registered
religious organisation and recommend action to the Ministry. The
subsequent appointment of renowned "anti-cultists" and controversial
scholars of Islam to the Council – and the choice of prominent
"anti-cultist" Aleksandr Dvorkin as its chair - have led a wide range
of religious representatives to liken the Council to a new
"inquisition", Forum 18 News Service notes. If the Council is given
free rein, it is likely to recommend harsh measures against certain
religious organisations. At the Council's first meeting, Dvorkin named
the Russian Bible Society as a possible target for investigation, but
its acting director told Forum 18 no action has followed. Forum 18
asked the Justice Ministry how many commissions it is likely to give
the Council each year, whether the Ministry will automatically accept
its conclusions and, if not, who will decide. However, the Ministry has
so far failed to respond.
Even if a a new "inquisition" does not become a reality, however, prayer for Christian publishers in Russia is still advisable, as Time Magazine and Yahoo News report that the country's economy is expected to suffer the effects of the recession for a long time to come:
Although [Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev did not give a new estimate for the GDP decline in 2009, he said this year's budget deficit
will be at least 7% of GDP - "and that's an optimistic forecast." On
Friday, government figures for the first quarter showed the economy
shrank at an annual rate of 9.5%, a radical revision after officials
forecast in February that Russia's GDP would decline by only 2.2% this
year. The International Monetary Fund has predicted that Russia's GDP
could drop as much as 6% this year. "In 2009, unfortunately, we expect
a sharper fall in the GDP than we had thought," Medvedev said.
Inflation in Russia is expected to be around 13%
this year.
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