Case Summary

Under Russian law, communities with the status of a “religious group” cannot own property. Many therefore have no option but to meet in residential buildings.

When authorities sealed areas of Bak’s property shut in July 2019, they formally accused the baptist community of unlawfully using a residential property for worship. In addition, they said the building had not been secured in accordance with Russian anti-terror laws. The first lawsuit demanded a ban on religious activities in the building. At the first level, the court ruled in favour of the Baptist community, but the authorities won the following appeals. While these appeals were pending, an agent of the Federal Security Service – successor to the infamous KGB – together with police and local government officials raided the building during a festive religious service. After the refusal of his appeal at the Supreme Court in Russia, Pastor Bak took his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

A year later, with the case pending at the European Court, the Russian authorities applied to the local court to order pastor Bak’s property to be demolished. This came after two additional visits by the authorities to ensure the property remained closed. These inspections found no violations by the community but they nonetheless claimed that the house was not a residential building. Initially, the request to demolish was put on hold by the local court for formal reasons, though the lawsuit is expected to continue as harassment of the pastor Bak’s community persists.