Great News! - Lisa Drenicheva Has Been Freed

Mark Brann
March 10, 2009

Dear Sub-Regional and National Leaders and UPF Secretary-Generals,

Warm greetings from London where we have recently received official confirmation from the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the OSCE, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, that The Appeal Court in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan released our sister Lisa Drenicheva after she had spent several weeks in jail having been convicted of "heavy crimes against the peace and security of humanity" for teaching Divine Principle privately in a church center.

Warm thanks to all who have contributed to this victory in any way, including the many prayers that were offered over the last few weeks and especial thanks to Rev. Peter Zoeher who among Europeans has been especially active and effective in securing Lisa's release.

A great debt of gratitude is also due to the many international Human Rights organizations that took up Lisa's case and brought immense pressure to bear on the Kazakh authorities and to many Unificationists throughout the world who have helped in so many ways to secure her release.

The appeal court did not quash the sentence completely but said that the time she had served already was quite sufficient for the offenses alleged and also imposed a small fine. But the court also ordered her immediate release and she left the prison not long afterwards to be greeted by the warm embrace of our members there.

Best rgds,
Mark Brann