Contact: Kevin Fahey, Institute on Religion and Public Policy, 202-835-8760, Fahey@religionandpolicy.org

WASHINGTON, May 17 /Standard Newswire/ -- The controversial and long-debated Religion Law considered in the Parliament of Moldova has suddenly been passed into law a week ahead of its scheduled consideration.

The law, years in the making, has drawn much opposition from minority religious organizations within Moldova, as well as the international human rights community. The final version was passed by a 73-28 vote in Parliament on May 11. While supporters of the legislation claim some alterations have been made to previous versions, the text of the new law will not be made public until it is promulgated by President Vladimir Voronin.

Previous drafts of the law had set a minimum membership required to register with the government at 100 persons. Without this legal status religious communities have no standing in court and face harassment from police and government agencies. While the 100 person threshold reported has remained in the version passed May 11, it is unclear whether the law stipulates who must constitute the 100 members. One Protestant leader told reporters there has been no clarification if the requirement pertains to the overall denomination in Moldova or each individual congregation.

Other specifications favoring registered groups were delineated in previously considered drafts. Registered communities also have the exclusive privilege to create, publish or import materials or objects pertaining to their faith. Additionally, these communities could only be led by citizens of Moldova.

One improvement put forth by Stefan Secareanu, Chair of Parliament's Committee for Human Rights and National Minorities, regards an alteration to one of the law's more controversial sections addressing "abusive proselytism". Secareanu states the newest version no longer includes "disinformation" in the list of illegal methods of proselytism. With this change administered to the formerly submitted definition, "abusive proselytism" is described as the following:

action of changing the religious beliefs of a person or a group of persons through means of violence, abuse of authority, blackmail, threats, constraints, religious hatred, psychological manipulation or subliminal techniques.

The Institute on Religion and Public Policy has actively opposed this Religion Law since its earliest days. In a letter dated February 6, 2007, to Mr. Marian Lupu, Chairman of the Parliament, Institute President Joseph K. Grieboski, and William C. Walsh, Chair of the Institute's Expert Committee on Legislation and Implementation, described the legislation as "a serious setback for religious freedom in Moldova," and urged the Chairman to "promote and uphold religious freedom rather than discriminate against minority religious groups". The letter also detailed the various international and regional standards, such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the United Nations, that the law would contravene.