Those opposed to the bill claimed that it was in breach of the Constitution and Ukrainian legislation, basically, the separation of religion and State

On 17 March the Verkhovna Rada rejected a draft law to bring in amendments to the law on business activities so as to enable believers to carry out business activities without having an identification number

On 13 March the private school “Rostok” in Donetsk received the permit it needed for carrying out its educational activities in the rented premises

Members of the parliamentary Committee on Culture and Spirituality were unable to come to any decision following their review of a new draft law proposing amendments to law enabling religious organizations to found educational institutions

The school “Rostok”, which was founded and is maintained by the Ukrainian Christian Evangelical Church, is for the second year running encountering obstacles from the authorities

On 30 January the President signed the Law “On amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine regarding the right of religious organizations to permanent use of land sites”.

The Directorate is convinced that the ruling will lead to a new string of court hearings dragging out the process of compelling the Simferopol City Council to conclude a lease agreement for land on which to build an Assembly [Soborna] Mosque

Officials of the Executive Committee of the Donetsk City Council are putting obstacles in the way of believers holding a peaceful gathering on 1 June

It is not only Muslims who experience difficulties in the Crimea, with Simferopol parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church encountering no less problems

In a shocking attack just over a month ago, all 220 gravestones in the central Muslim cemetery of the Nizhnyohirske settlement in the Crimea were destroyed

The Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine extends its deep sympathy to the Muslims of the Crimea, especially to those people whose relatives are buried in the graveyard of the Nizhnyohirske Settlemen

Members of the Muslim community in the Crimean Nizhnegorsky settlement are convinced that this was not the wrok of one or two vandalisms, but a planned attack

According to the Prosecutor, by allocating a different site for the Soborna Mosque to that applied for , the Council failed to comply with legislation and exceeded its authority

The civic movement “For a tolerant Crimea” has directed an appeal to the Simferopol Mayor and Deputies expressing concern over discrimination against Muslim and other religious communities in the city

On 23 January they held a picket and prayer service in the place where the Simferopol City Council had previously given permission to build the Soborna Mosque. At one of the last sessions, the Council’s deputies reversed this decision

The appeal is prompted by cases where police officers have exceeded their authority and flagrantly infringed the rights of believers from Evangelical Protestant Churches

The Russian Human Rights Ombudsperson has called on the regions forcing children to study the subject to remove the compulsory element however thus far without success and parents are planning to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights

Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi Azriel Khaikin has addressed a letter to main government bodies with regard to constant incidents involving anti-Semitism in Zhytomyr

They believe that the draft law proposed will help in completing the return of Church property in Ukraine in accordance with Ukraine’s commitments to the Council of Europe

Their reasons remain as compelling as ever so it is only to be hoped that this time they will be heeded