Russia’s jailing of a Falun Gong practitioner amid growing ties with the Chinese regime is stirring alarm in Washington, with the State Department and lawmakers condemning the move.
Natalya Minenkova is being detained until June 27 under a controversial law against “carrying out the activities of an undesirable organization.” The law has previously been used against journalists and human rights activists.
The criminal investigation by Russian authorities against Ms. Minenkova is getting underway as Russia becomes increasingly reliant on Beijing.
The State Department said in a statement that it’s “troubled and saddened” by reports of the raid.
“We are deeply concerned about persecution of members of Falun Gong globally,” a State Department spokesperson told The Epoch Times. “Russian authorities and others harass, fine, and imprison Falun Gong practitioners for such simple acts as meditating and possessing spiritual texts.”
The spokesperson noted that Secretary of State Antony Blinken has designated Russia as a “country of particular concern” since 2021 for engaging in “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
“These include physical abuse, torture, and imprisonment of individuals on the basis of their religious beliefs and unjustly designating peaceful religious and spiritual groups such as Falun Gong as ‘extremist,’ ‘terrorist’ or ‘undesirable,’” the spokesperson said.
“Russian authorities should fulfill their obligations with respect to human rights and fundamental freedoms and release all individuals who have been imprisoned or detained for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief.”
Lending Legitimacy to Abuses
Ms. Minenkova is being detained while under investigation. Court documents outlining the accusation state the penalty for conviction carries a prison sentence of up to nine years.“We have seen China and Russia try to grow closer together,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said during a White House press briefing on May 6, in response to a question by The Epoch Times.
Mr. Kirby said he hadn’t seen the reports of Ms. Minenkova’s detention, but called it “concerning.”
So too, he said, is the trend of Russia and China “putting themselves in positions to either oppose our foreign policy objectives or to try to be an obstacle to them in many, many different ways.”
Katrina Lantos Swett, president of Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice and former chair of bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, likewise suggests that Moscow is carrying out Beijing’s wishes.
‘No Limits’ Partnership
Lawmakers and former U.S. officials similarly find the development in Russia deeply troubling.“Beijing and Moscow have, for years, undermined religious freedom as they actively target anyone who is simply trying to live out their faith,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told The Epoch Times. “As the Kremlin continues to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, the international community must condemn these actions.”
“Part of the ‘unlimited partnership’ between China and Russia extends to religious persecution,” former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom Sam Brownback told The Epoch Times.
“The Chinese Communist Party hates the Falun Gong and now extends this reach into Russia,” he said. “The Axis of Evil countries persecute people of faith they don’t control.”
“This must stop.”
Subsequent Russia state media reports largely parroted Chinese disinformation vilifying Falun Gong.
It paints a “disconcerting picture” of just how far Russia might go “to be aligned with communist China,” Levi Browde, executive director of the Falun Dafa Information Center, told NTD.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) was among several other lawmakers who voiced support for the faith group amid the climate in Russia.
“The CCP has already demonized and isolated those who practice Falun Gong, when they know it is simply a peaceful meditation group. It isn’t surprising that Russia is following suit in persecuting Ms. Minenkova,” he told The Epoch Times.
“I hope that those who practice Falun Gong across the world stand strong and are not shamed for practicing what they believe in.”
Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) said the reports of Falun Gong practitioners’ detention had him “deeply concerned.” He told The Epoch Times that he will speak out “unwaveringly against the restriction of human rights and the persecution of religious groups, wherever they occur.”
Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.), a member of the Select Committee on CCP, condemned what he described as “targeted acts of harassment by authoritarian governments.”
“Government persecution and harassment against religious minorities is never acceptable,” he told The Epoch Times.
A Troubling Prosecution
Russia currying favor with communist China may be a huge mistake, said Mr. Browde.“They’re coupling themselves with a regime that by a lot of markers is really on its last legs. A partnership with communist China really doesn’t make sense for any country, including Russia,” he said.
While many in the West see both Russia and China as bad actors, in terms of tyranny against its own people and malign influence inside the United States, he said, the Chinese regime is “way above anybody else,” which makes the Kremlin’s latest move a “very troubling step.”
Multiple friends of Ms. Minenkova described her as friendly, smiling, and kind. The 46-year-old quit drinking and smoking after she took up the practice in 2010.
Her friend Anna Chlebnickova, now a foreign language instructor in Germany, shares a similar journey of overcoming drug addiction through her faith 11 years ago.
“She didn’t do anything wrong,” she told The Epoch Times’ sister media NTD. “She’s trying to live a healthy life and she’s trying to be a good person.
“Falun Gong is based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance—why fight with just good people?”
To people in Russia, the prosecution of Ms. Minenkova sends a chilling message, Ms. Chlebnickova said.
“You never know what can happen, who might become undesirable.”
