TATARSTAN – Custom officials, Prosecutor’s Office officials and FSB security service officers continue to seize works by Turkish Muslim theologian Said Nursi, whose work has been banned after being placed on the Federal List of Extremist Material, Forum 18 reported on July 16.  Local state officials in Tatarstan maintain the labeling of Nursi’s work as “religious extremism” is unfounded, and the senior religious affairs official, Renat Valiullin, informed Forum 18 that the Moscow court’s decision was decided “without any strong expert analysis.”

BARANOVICHI – The New Generation Church was fined for religious activity that officials from the Ideology Department deemed was “not according to its statute,” though they did not specify why, Forum 18 reported on July 16.  The Protestant church maintains that the special prayer service in question, which was held in its registered building, fell under the list of permissible activities within their statute.

KUALA LUMPUR – Police have released 9 Christians arrested on charges of attempting to proselytize to Muslim university students, the BBC reported on July 15.  It has been determined that the 5 Christian university students, and their 4 friends from Hong Kong, had been handing out religious material to fellow Christians and not to Muslim students as originally determined by security guards on campus.  Proselytizing to Muslims is illegal in Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR – Police have arrested 9 Christians accused of attempting to convert Muslim university students after allegations of distributing religious material were brought against them on July 14 by the students, AFP reported on July 15.  The Christians maintain that they were not proselytizing.  If convicted, the accused could receive prison sentences.

KUALA LUMPUR – Authorities are investigating whether or not two Muslim men who attended a church service undercover, and then wrote an article critical of the Christian faith from their experience, are responsible for inciting religious disharmony, AP reported on July 14.  The article appeared in the Malya-language Al-Islam magazine, and the writers of the article claim that they were trying to confirm the rumor that Muslim teenagers were being converted to Christianity in churches on Sundays.

KHARTOUM – Public order police arrested 13 women in a raid on a café on July 10 and flogged 10 of them for wearing pants in public, AP reported on July 13.  One of the women arrested, journalist Lubna Hussein, has said that she is challenging the charges, which may be punishable by up to 40 lashes.

TEHRAN – Iranian officials have reportedly informed the families of the seven Baha’i leaders, currently being held in Tehran, that their trial scheduled for July 11 has been delayed with no new trial date set, Baha’i World News Service reported on July 13.  The Baha’i leaders were arrested in the spring of 2008 without formal charges being brought against them, though official Iranian news reports accused them of “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.”

LONDON – The House of Lords, voting on the Coroners and Justice Bill, ruled on July 10 to keep free speech as a defense when charged with inciting homophobic hatred, the Independent reported on July 12.  The Labour government had originally sought to eliminate the free speech defense, however through a proposed amendment to section 61 of the Coroners and Justice Bill, the defense was kept.

DUBLIN – The Defamation Bill, which was proposed by the Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to rectify a discrepancy between Ireland’s constitution and its law, was approved on July 10, Irish Times reported on July 10.  Minister Ahern could have sought instead to hold a referendum to remove the blasphemy clause from the constitution, and his decision has drawn national and international criticism.  The new Defamation Act can be found here.

MOSCOW – The Russian Orthodox Church has been granted the right to preview legislation that passes through the State Duma, a right not shared by any other religious community in the nation, The Moscow Times reported on July 10.  Under this right, Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has voiced his oposition to the Duma’s ratification of the European Social Charter on May 20 of this year, which among other stipulations, will require that sex education be taught in schools.