STRASBOURG, FRANCE -- On Thursday, October 6, The European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that Russia’s refusal to register the Moscow branch of the Salvation Army violated the religious organization's rights to freedom of religion and association under Europe's human rights convention.

The Court said that, when the Moscow authorities refused to register The Salvation Army in 1999, they “did not act in good faith and neglected their duty of neutrality and impartiality vis-à-vis the applicant's religious community.”

The Court also awarded The Salvation Army 10,000 euros (USD 12,700) in damages. Commissioner Barry Pobjie, Territorial Commander for the Eastern Europe Territory, said that the Court’s ruling “was significant, not just for The Salvation Army, but for the entire religious community of Russia.”

This judgment “allows us to get on with the vital ministry of reaching out to the lost and serving the poor and suffering, more effectively,” he said. “We regret that so much time, effort, and money has had to be given to what, at best, should only be a peripheral issue. The big issues facing Russia are those of HIV/AIDS and human trafficking. Hopefully this judgment will now allow us to focus on major issues. It has been a long and costly journey that should never have needed to be made.”

“Now we thank God for the judgment and pray fervently that we can get on with meeting human need in Jesus’ name,” he said.

Commissioner Pobjie also emphasized that the Salvation Army’s appeal to the court was not about money.

“We are going to use every euro of the money awarded to us for a one-off project to help those who need it most. Not one euro will be used for The Salvation Army or paid to our lawyers, it belongs to the poor.” “We do, however, gratefully acknowledge the professional support and hard work done on our behalf by our lawyers at the Slavic Legal Centre.”

Pictured from lt are: Territorial Commander Commissioner Barry Pobjie and Vladimir Ryahovsky, attorney-at-law, managing partner, Slavic Centre for Law and Justice.