MOSCOW, SEPT. 13, 2002 (Zenit.org).- A Swedish Protestant is the latest in a growing number of clerical deportees from Russia, as the authorities step up their campaign against foreign religious workers.
The deportation of Leo Martensson, who had worked in Russia as a missionary for nine years, was ordered Tuesday and his visa was canceled, according to the Keston Institute. The institute monitors religious liberty in former Soviet-bloc countries.
«This was an illegal decision - there is no basis for it,» Martensson's lawyer, Aleksandr Antipyonok, told Keston. The move came on the day that a Polish-born Catholic priest was barred re-entry into the country.
Martensson was also fined 500 rubles. His wife and daughter are still in Russia.
ZENIT - The World Seen from Rome
13. september 2002