A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 27 - Tuesday, July 6th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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St. Filaret's Orthodox institute rebuffed by courtREVIEW OF SUIT BY "PRESENTATION" BROTHERHOOD AGAINST GOVERNMENT OF MOSCOW LASTS TEN MINUTES Mir religii, 1 July 2004 - The arbitration court of Moscow turned down yesterday the suit of the "Presentation" regional public organization to find illegal a resolution of the Moscow city government that was adopted with numerous mistakes, which concerned the dangerous conditions and complete reconstruction of the building where the premises of the Presentation brotherhood and the St. Filaret's Orthodox Christian Institute, created by Orthodox priest Georgy Kochetkov, are located. In the case the defendant presented practically no evidence of its position, the Information Service reports. Thus, the danger of eviction of the St. Filaret's Institute from the premises it occupies has become ever more acute. It is clear that if in the future the requirements of the law regarding the procedure for recognizing the dangerous conditions of a building are ignored, then the ending of the academic process in which hundreds of people have been engaged will be unavoidable. The alarm of the teachers, employees, and students of the institute as well as of all friends of the institute, the Presentation brotherhood, and Orthodox Transfiguration Community of Brotherhoods is intensified because an order already has been received to vacate a part of the academic area occupied by the institute. At the same time no suggestions regarding an adequate substitution on the part of the authorities of the city and investors have been received. In the near future the Presentation organization intends to request a review of the decision of the court of the first instance jointly with residents of the building. (tr. by PDS)
COURT REJECTS
ATTEMPT OF "PRESENTATION" BROTHERHOOD AND ST.
FILARET'S INSTITUTE TO DEFEND ITS RIGHT TO
ACADEMIC PREMISES
Portal-credo.ru, 01 July 2004 - The first hearing on a suit by the "Presentation" regional public organization against the government of Moscow was held on 30 June in the arbitration court of Moscow. As "Presentation" organization president Dmitry Gasak, who represents the brotherhood of the same name, told "Blagovest-info," as a result of the session which lasted no more than fifteen minutes, the court issued a decision to turn down the suit whose goal had been to recognize as illegal an order of the government of Moscow, which was adopted with numerous errors, concerning the dangerous condition and complete reconstruction of the building at 29 Pokrovka St. In this building are located the premises of the "Presentation" educational and charitable brotherhood and the St. Filaret's Orthodox Christian Institute (SFI) Dmitry Gasak explained that in January of the current year the government of Moscow adopted a resolution concerning recognition of the building as dangerous and the resettlement of residents and other owners of the premises. When that action was taken the necessary inspection of the building was not conducted, which would be the only way to determine its real condition. At the judicial session the "Presentation" organization presented all the necessary documents, but the side of the defendant, represented by an attorney of the State Legal Administration of the Central Administrative District, did not even consider an argument in rebuttal to be necessary. "Our petition to sue was written on five pages, and their answer took up a half page and insisted on recognizing the building as dangerous, without presenting the necessary technical conclusion concerning the dangerous condition," Dmitry Gasak said. Representatives of the "Presentation" organization intend to file an appeal against the decision of the court, but, as "Blagovest-info's" informant said, "one should not count on getting a decision within the legal space." The period for resettlement, which was set by the government of Moscow as September to December 2004, causes special concern. "In effect, the new academic year for the institute is in great doubt, if not worse," Dmitry Gasak complained and recalled that entrance exams for the institution of higher education will be conducted from 1 to 14 September and classes are to begin in the middle of September. As the president of the organization said, no specific premises have been offered by the government of Moscow in exchange.
The SFI, which
was founded in 1988, has been located on the first
floor of an apartment building at 29 Pokrovka
Street for almost ten years, in premises which are
the property of the "Presentation" organization.
The web site of SFI notes that the academic
institution, which was founded in 1988, in the
opinion of many scholars and cultural figures, is
a "unique territory of lively dialogue between
ecclesiastical and secular scholarship." (tr. by
PDS)
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
At the beginning of 1995 the "Presentation" brotherhood acquired its own premises for the St. Filaret's Institute for the first time in the building at No. 29 Pokrovka Street, with the help of Russian and foreign friends. Before this, SFI had been located in the territory of the former Presentation monastery, but when it was decided to get rid of the monastery the institute was literally thrown out onto the street and no premises were offered to it in exchange. These first premises on Pokrovka were a former communal apartment of 120 square meters, which was quickly fixed up so that it would be possible to begin work. In the course of the subsequent eight years we have gradually acquired three other such apartments, gathering resources for them far and wide. Our rector, the priest Georgy Kochetkov, turned to all of his Transfiguration brotherhood and to all our friends, requesting help, since the institute was in extremely tight circumstances. At the same time we expanded our educational and enlightening activity to incorporate approximately 1,000 persons annually. More and more people turned to us for help from various cities and from abroad. It was necessary to look for premises for classes throughout Moscow, which, of course, seriously hindered the work of both teachers and students. In the end we managed to acquire four neighboring apartments on the first floor and to conclude an agreement with city authorities for renting the basement, thereby consolidating all classroom activity in one spot. By April 2004 we just finished years-long repair and received new state and church licenses specifically for these premises. But back in March of this year we accidentally found out that on 19 January (on the feast of Epiphany according to our calendar) a resolution of the Moscow government came out, which recognized our building as dangerous and, consequently, ordered eviction and reconstruction. Seventy percent of our large building (around 12,000 square meters) belongs to private owners. As a rule these are well-to-do people who obtained and remodeled their apartments over the past ten years. Naturally, before making the decision, nobody from the city authorities talked with any of the owners or inspected the condition of the apartments and the building as a whole. But the law clearly defines the procedure for determining the danger of a building, since this is a very serious and responsible affair. In addition, after the adoption of this resolution, in February city authorities registered a transaction for sale and purchase of apartments in our building which, if one admits that its dangerous condition was recognized as legal, then it could not be recognized as fit for occupancy. Absurd! Nevertheless, in Febraury the expert institution of Moscow (Moscow Building Inspection) issued for concluding such a transaction a technical conclusion regarding its fitness for habitation. At that time when in January this same institution had recognized the building as dangerous (to be sure, nobody has seen that conclusion; we just heard a reference to it). It must be said that such a situation in Moscow, when the rights of owners are crudely violated, especially in the center of the city, is not a rarity, alas. Unfortunately, on the basis of several conversations and certain evidence, we do not rule out in this case a definite ideological order with the goal of removing from the center of Moscow those who dare to conduct themselves freely, without fear and submissive desire to please one or another ruler.
The only way out of this situation that we see is
upholding legality and maximum publicity of all
that has happened. Experience shows that if people
insist on their rights in solidarity and accord
they have a real chance of resisting illegality.
On 30 June, on the day of the first judicial
session in Moscow arbitration court, we ask all
friends for fervent prayer for our institute and
the entire Christian brotherhood in Russia and for
the work of spiritual and cultural education and
enlightenment within it. (tr. by PDS) |
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