Kenneth Baillie, the head of the Salvation Army's Russian operations, said that the Moscow city court had reached this conclusion Nov. 28.
"Since we have the word 'army' in our name," he said, the court held that "we are a militarized organization bent on the violent overthrow of the Russian government."
The Salvation Army, of which Baillie is a colonel, was founded in the 19th century along military lines. But it has no military aspirations, and its members carry no weapons.
The group has been present in Russia since the collapse of communism. It operates community centers in Moscow and 13 other Russian cities, providing food, shelter and clothing to homeless people, elders and other less-fortunate groups.
One 85-year-old participant in the Salvation Army's Russian program told a Moscow newspaper on Wednesday that "this is the only thing that saves us lonely people. Here, we get everything we need, love and human contact."
And the leader of the Moscow Salvation Army office added that "if we have to close it, [the people receiving its services] will lose everything. They'll have nothing but their four walls."
The Salvation Army's legal travails began in 1997, when the Russian Parliament passed a law requiring that religious organizations with fewer than 15 years of work in the country register with local authorities. The Army's Moscow office filed the required documents in February 1999. Six months later, city officials refused to register the group.
The latest finding against the charity was the result of its appeal of that decision. The appeal forced it to spend more than $20,000 in legal fees, money the group said it would have much preferred to spend on those in need.
No court in any other region of Russia has thus far taken such an action against the Salvation Army.
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