{"id":193253,"date":"2026-06-25T11:45:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T08:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/193253\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T11:45:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T08:45:49","slug":"religious-affairs-commissioner-to-be-directly-accountable-to-lukasenka","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/193253\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious affairs commissioner to be directly accountable to \u0141uka\u0161enka"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>June 25, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> The House of Representatives has approved at first reading a bill that would make the religious affairs commissioner directly accountable to Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka rather than the Council of Ministers, the lower house&#8217;s press office reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bill was drafted at \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s instruction and would amend Article 11 of the law on freedom of conscience and religious associations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alaksandar Rumak, a former deputy labor minister, has held the post since late 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two years ago, \u0141uka\u0161enka expanded the grounds for dissolving religious organizations and banned religious associations from expressing political positions that diverge from the official line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At least 93 Christian clergy members, including 37 Catholic, 31 Protestant, 20 Orthodox and five Greek Catholic priests, faced some form of politically motivated persecution in Belarus between late 2020 and May 2026, according to the Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/krest-minsk-28-03-catholic.by-viktar-vedzien-1128-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/krest-minsk-28-03-catholic.by-viktar-vedzien-1128-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/krest-minsk-28-03-catholic.by-viktar-vedzien-1128-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/krest-minsk-28-03-catholic.by-viktar-vedzien-1128-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/krest-minsk-28-03-catholic.by-viktar-vedzien-1128-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/krest-minsk-28-03-catholic.by-viktar-vedzien-1128.jpg 1129w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                            <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Society<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics, Society<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Belarus to expel five Catholic priests, one monk \u2013 report<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">May 20, Pozirk. Belarusian authorities refused to extend permits for five Catholic priests and one monk of the Minsk\u2013Mahilo\u016d Archdiocese, all Polish citizens, to continue their ministry in Belarus, Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija reports. All of them had served in the Minsk &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/188288\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>June 25, Pozirk. The House of Representatives has approved at first reading a bill that would make the religious affairs commissioner directly accountable to Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka rather than the Council of Ministers, the lower house&#8217;s press office reported. The bill was drafted at \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s instruction and would amend Article 11 of the law on freedom [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":63993,"template":"","rubric":[16,15],"class_list":["post-193253","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Religious affairs commissioner to be directly accountable to \u0141uka\u0161enka | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"June 25, Pozirk. The House of Representatives has approved at first reading a bill that would make the religious affairs commissioner directly accountable\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/193253\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Religious affairs commissioner to be directly accountable to \u0141uka\u0161enka | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"June 25, Pozirk. 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