A local mafia boss may face criminal charges after leading two attacks on a Protestant church in the town of Kuznetsk, Russia (Penza region), according to a May 30, 2008 report by the Slavic Law Center. The civil trial of "Oleg S"--identified in the report as a "criminal authority"--on charges of "minor hooliganism" ended with a referral to the prosecutor's office for possible criminal charges. The facts of the case, confirmed by several witnesses who testified, point to crimes that are anything but "minor."

According to the report, the defendant gathered a group of young men on April 2 and burst into the "Living Word" church, where they assaulted Pastor Dmitry Shugurov while screaming "You all need to be killed!" They also threatened the pastor's wife with a pistol and warned him that they would hurt his children if he reported the attack to the police. They also warned him to stop proselytizing local youths, making it clear that the assault was motivated by religious hatred.

On April 22, Pastor Shugurov reported the attack to police at the urging of his bishop. Within two hours, Mr. S and his young thugs were back, disrupting a prayer service. Pastor Shugurov told the Slavic Center that the attacks came in the wake of television reports demonizing "sects" and naming his church specifically, along with Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Similar incidents then took place in other parts of the Penza region--men came to the "Good News" church in Serdobsk and threatened to kill the parishioners for being "sect" members. The men also came to the home of the pastor, Vera Gavrilina, but she locked her door and refused to let them in. She sent a complaint to the prosecutor's office, but it is not clear what, if any, reaction followed. On April 29, local Protestant leaders sent a letter to the vice-governor asking for help in ending the violence and requesting that Protestants be included in the region's inter-religious council, from which they were expelled in the fall of 2007. Not mentioned in the report is the fact that the local parliament is considering a highly restrictive bill on missionary activity.

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