Demo over 'satanic' tax numbers
2004-06-03 20:52
Kiev - Hundreds of Ukrainian Christians protested on Thursday against a proposed new tax law they believe to be satanic, according to an Interfax news agency report.
More than 1 000 Orthodox Christian demonstrators gathered outside Ukraine's national parliament, the Verhovna Rada, in Kiev to show their disapproval of a bill under consideration.
If it is passed, it would extend legislation requiring Ukrainians to have a personal tax identification number.
The loud, but peaceful, marchers brandished placards with slogans such as: "We don't want to live in an electronic concentration camp!", "God gave man a name, not a number!" and "We're not cattle, we don't need bar codes!"
Christian Orthodox teaching, as interpreted by Ukrainian priests and monks, generally considers reduction of a person's identity to a number as heretical.
Personal tax ID number mandatory
Some of those at the protest justified the march by pointing to a Biblical canon which describes the connection of numbers to the human soul as a satanic device.
Marchers also spoke out against the increased computerisation of the animal husbandry and livestock sectors in Ukraine, which assigned numbers to creatures created by the Almighty.
Two years ago, the Ukrainian government, in an effort to improve tax collection, made registration for a personal tax identification number mandatory for a variety of financial activities, including receiving a legal paycheck, buying or selling property, or opening a bank account.
The plan has met with widespread resistance among Ukrainians, many of whom believe corrupt government officials line their own pockets with tax funds.
The bill introduced in parliament last month would extend the tax number laws by assigning every newborn baby a number, as well as making it necessary for marriages and divorces.
Police were monitoring the protest, but had made no early arrests. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA