The Russian branch of the Church of Scientology on Wednesday condemned large-scale searches of its churches in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as the arrest of ten church members.
"It is a disease of our society when government agencies charged with protecting the people and enforcing the law, use the name of the law to persecute the practice of religion," the Church said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Church said in its statement that the crackdown, which took place on Tuesday in Moscow’s two largest cities, violates religious freedoms protected by Russian law.
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