Russia: Reprieve for Methodist Sunday school – but for who else?
In a crucial development for religious organisations, Russia’s Supreme Court on 10 June ruled that a Smolensk Regional Court decision dissolving a local Methodist church was “unlawful and without foundation”. The Regional Court had dissolved the church for running a Sunday school without an education licence. Had the Supreme Court not overturned the earlier decision, “every religious organisation in Russia would have to be shut down for operating such schools,” the church’s lawyer, Vladimir Ryakhovsky told Forum 18 News Service.