Russian Baptist pastor penalized over anti-Muslim statements

MOSCOW (MNTV) — A Baptist pastor from the Russian city of Ryazan has been fined after a court found him guilty of making statements that incited religious hatred against Muslims.

The Soviet District Court of Ryazan imposed a fine of 10,000 rubles ($138) on Mikhail Dobrov, a pastor with the Ryazan Church of Evangelical Christians-Baptists “Grace,” after finding him guilty under Article 20.3.1 of Russia’s Code of Administrative Offenses, which prohibits actions aimed at inciting hatred or enmity.

The case stemmed from remarks Dobrov made during a Sunday church service on Jan. 18. A video recording of the sermon was later published on the church’s RuTube channel.

According to the court, expert analysis determined that Dobrov made negative statements about Muslims, attributing violent actions against Christians to followers of Islam and claiming that they sought to destroy Christianity.

The experts also cited remarks in which the pastor asserted the superiority of Christianity over Islam.

During the same sermon, Dobrov expressed concern about the conversion of closed churches in Germany into other facilities, including hotels, and complained that “Muslims have begun to gather there,” according to court findings.

The court concluded that the statements constituted incitement of religious hatred and imposed an administrative penalty.

The ruling comes amid continued enforcement of Russia’s laws against extremist speech and incitement. Earlier, a court in the Ural region fined a resident for social media posts found to have incited hatred.

Russia recognizes Islam as one of the country’s traditional religions and is home to one of Europe’s largest Muslim populations.