KAZAKHSTAN: "They need permission from the local authorities"

Up to 16 police officers and journalists – led by the local religious affairs official – raided the meeting for Sunday worship on 10 November of Baptists in Oral (Uralsk) in West Kazakhstan Region. Ten of those present face possible fines of one or two months' average salary, for meeting for worship without state permission. One of the Baptists, Kenzhetai Baytinov, may have been removed from his job under state pressure. Elsewhere, imam Mukhammad Toleu of a mosque in Aktobe, which was denied state re-registration, has had his appeal against a fine for leading the community of one month's average salary rejected. He told a court that "no law bans praying five times a day", but he was found guilty. "They had no registration and no permission to meet", Prosecutor's Assistant Talap Usnadin insisted to Forum 18 News Service. Asked why, he insisted that "they need permission from the local authorities". And in a village near Aktobe, a Muslim who turned his home into a mosque with an unapproved minaret has been fined.

18 November 2013

TAJIKISTAN: "The law demands that all religious literature be checked by the state"

Members of Tajikistan's Islamic Renaissance Party had "hundreds of booklets" seized from them by police in the northern city of Khujand, a party member complained to Forum 18 News Service. The booklets, seized ahead of the 15 October Islamic festival of Kurban Bayram (Eid al-Adha), explained "the meaning of the holiday and its values". Police warned party members they could be punished for distributing unapproved religious literature. A Baptist was fined in the capital Dushanbe in September after three church members received religious magazines by post from Belarus. This – and at least five other earlier cases - were all brought by the NSC secret police. Mavlon Mukhtarov, Deputy Head of the State Committee for Religious Affairs (SCRA), told Forum 18 that censorship "must be done according to the Religion Law." Religious communities described the SCRA's censorship fees as "unaffordable".

15 November 2013

KAZAKHSTAN: Censorship "is not censorship", tightened censorship planned

Kazakhstan's Religion Law does not define what religious literature and objects are, but still imposes censorship on them. There is confusion among officials about what is censored, what is involved and what if anything is exempt. Galym Shoikin of the Agency of Religious Affairs (ARA) insisted to Forum 18 News Service that unless a book or object is banned by a court, it is legal. But legal books or objects cannot be distributed without ARA censorship. When Forum 18 noted that this is censorship, he claimed that: "This is not censorship – it is defending the interests of our country". He was unable to state a legal basis for some official actions, for example stating in relation to a claim that some (but not all) undefined "holy books" are exempt from censorship that "such issues are not put in law". But a new Criminal Implementation Code, a draft Law amending other laws "on questions of countering religious extremism and terrorism", and draft changes to the Religion Law will all further tighten censorship if adopted. Other changes considered include making religious communities pay for the state's imposition of censorship which breaks its human rights obligations.

11 November 2013

KAZAKHSTAN: At least 153 fines in 2013 – and counting

Many people have been fined in 2013 in Kazakhstan for the "offence" of exercising freedom of religion or belief without state permission. So far in 2013, at least 153 administrative fines have been imposed on 126 named individuals, some of whom have been fined up to five times, according to a list compiled by Forum 18 News Service. Fines have mostly been equivalent to either one or two months' average salary. Such fines, including fines for refusal to pay such unjust penalties, have been imposed on Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Hare Krishna devotees and Muslims. In addition, twelve fines were imposed on commercial booksellers and other traders. If people refuse to pay such fines – imposed against Kazakhstan's international human rights obligations - they can also be banned from leaving the country. The list of documented fines is incomplete as state authorities refuse to make information public. Fines for the "offence" of exercising a human right without state permission are still being imposed.

7 November 2013

AZERBAIJAN: "Tragicomedy and mockery of justice"

Islamic theologian Taleh Bagirov has been given a two-year strict regime prison sentence on 1 November by a court in Azerbaijan. He was found guilty of possessing just over one gram of heroin, a fabricated accusation his supporters insist. As well as politically opposing the state, Bagirov and other Muslims had opposed the Caucasian Muslim Board's attempt to impose an imam on the Hazrat Abulfaz Aga Mosque. The authorities attempted to use a sermon to prosecute him, but "they realised they would have made themselves a laughing stock if they had pursued these charges" lawyer Javad Javadov told Forum 18 News Service. In August Bagirov's driver, Anar Melikov, was given a 19-month prison term. His lawyer Anar Kasimov denounced this "tragicomedy and mockery of justice". Among other recent cases, two Jehovah's Witnesses - Reza Babayev and Ilham Hasanov - were discussing their faith in Barda when a local man gathered a crowd of about 20 men who insulted and assaulted the two, and tore some of their religious literature. Police took no action against the crowd, but Babayev and Hasanov have been convicted of "violating legislation on holding religious meetings, marches, and other religious ceremonies". Their appeals were rejected today (7 November).

5 November 2013

UZBEKISTAN: Prisoner of conscience exposed to TB

Two months after his appeal against a 16-year jail sentence was rejected, Muslim prisoner of conscience Khayrullo Tursunov's relatives have still not received a copy of the decision. Without copies of the decision, no further appeals can legally be made. Relatives living abroad, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of state reprisals, told Forum 18 News Service that the original verdict was similarly delayed by the authorities, limiting the appeal options and causing relatives to think the sentence was 12 years. Tursunov, who was jailed for exercising his freedom of religion or belief, has been moved to a prison for tuberculosis (TB) sufferers. This is a potentially fatal disease, and foreign-based relatives think "the Uzbek authorities intend to get him infected with TB". Neither relatives nor human rights defender Mutabar Tadjibayeva of the Fiery Hearts Club, who had close contact with him before he was jailed, think he suffered from TB or any other serious illness before his extradition from Kazakhstan. The authorities have denied all wrongdoing to Forum 18.

4 November 2013

KAZAKHSTAN: "He was told not to sell religious literature"

The religious affairs official in Kazakhstan's capital Astana who initiated a case against local businessman Pyotr Volkov - which led to a fine for selling religious literature without a state licence – has insisted to Forum 18 News Service that: "He was told not to sell religious literature." But Adiya Romanova denied that this is state censorship. Volkov has tried to gain a state licence, and is appealing against both the fine and the failure to process his licence application. Nine of the fourteen fines known to Forum 18 to have been imposed in 2013 on book sellers are of about two months' average salary. In May, four books confiscated from a bookseller in East Kazakhstan Region – including two with prayers to Russian Orthodox saints Serafim of Sarov and Sergius of Radonezh – were ordered destroyed when the bookseller was fined. If it was carried out, this would be the first known time that a court-ordered religious book destruction has been carried out in Kazakhstan.

30 October 2013

KAZAKHSTAN: Baptist faces one year in jail, Hare Krishna community ordered halted for three months

Because Pavel Leonov refused to pay a fine equivalent to about two months' average salary, for leading a religious community without state permission in East Kazakhstan, the Baptist Pastor was jailed for 24 hours, Forum 18 News Service notes. As he still refuses to pay, police on 28 October opened a criminal case against him. He now faces a possible maximum punishment of one year's imprisonment. Pastor Leonov is one of more than 100 people (one of them aged 86) known to have been fined in 2013 for, among other "offences": leading or participating in religious meetings without state permission; sharing their faith with others without being personally registered as "missionaries"; or distributing religious literature away from state-licensed venues. Fines are typically one or two months' average salary, the most recent known fines having been imposed on Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Hare Krishna devotees. Also, the activity of Kostanai's Hare Krishna community was ordered to be stopped for three months. This was subsequently overturned on appeal. A Prosecutor's Office official told Forum 18: "It's not the Soviet system. This is the Kazakh system."

25 October 2013

RUSSIA: Incoherence persists in counter-"extremism" policy

As the Russian state continues its campaign to brand as "extremist" readers of Islamic theologian Said Nursi and Jehovah's Witnesses, Forum 18 News Service has found strikingly different levels of support for the campaign among officials - even in the same locality. In Siberia's Krasnoyarsk Region, criminal cases have been brought against Nursi readers and courts have ruled his books "extremist". Yet when Forum 18 suggested that Nursi texts had been banned without foundation, the region's religious affairs official replied: "Something needs to be done about this, we agree." After a local court found four Jehovah's Witness texts "extremist", two of the findings were overturned on appeal. Prosecutors dropped four further cases, even though all eight cases were "as alike as peas in a pod", a local Jehovah's Witness involved in the hearings told Forum 18.

24 October 2013

UZBEKISTAN: Baptist camp ordered seized, Protestant pressured to inform

A court in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent has ordered expropriated a Baptist summer camp it bought legally 13 years ago, according to court documents seen by Forum 18 News Service. Baptists have made an appeal against confiscation of the camp for children and families to the General Prosecutor's Office. The judge and the government department which brought the expropriation case refused to discuss the case with Forum 18. Religious communities have long faced insecurity of ownership over their property. Meanwhile in Andijan, an NSS secret police officer tried to pressure Protestant Murot Turdiyev to inform on his community, Protestants told Forum 18. The officer put the phone down when Forum 18 called him. Turdiyev is also facing possible punishment because he had a Christian book in his car when stopped by traffic police.

21 October 2013

RUSSIA: Muslims "fed up" with "not being allowed to read these texts"

After two separate raids on 8 August on the homes of Muslims in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, an "extremism" criminal case has been opened against a 48-year-old Muslim woman who state officials refuse to name. The woman is alleged to be involved in an organisation called "Nurdzhular" which Russian readers of theologian Said Nursi's works deny exists. The same day, another raid lasting 5 hours took place on the home of Yelena Gerasimova. Gerasimova, a professional lawyer, noted numerous procedural violations in the raid, including an invalid search warrant the authorities unlawfully refused to give her. She also told Forum 18 News Service that, for fear of a similar raid, she did not this year host a party to celebrate the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha on 15 October. "We're fed up with this whole thing – not being allowed to read these texts – but we don't read them", Gerasimova told Forum 18. Other trials of alleged readers of Nursi's works continue, as well as of 16 people in Taganrog allegedly involved in the local Jehovah's Witnesses community. This has been banned as allegedly "extremist".

17 October 2013

ARMENIA: "Imprisoned conscientious objectors should be immediately and unconditionally released"

Armenian Jehovah's Witnesses have welcomed the release from jail of eight conscientious objectors to military service. The men all had less than six months of their sentences to run. However, 20 prisoners of conscience remain in jail. "Our position is that the 20 imprisoned conscientious objectors should be immediately and unconditionally released", they told Forum 18 News Service. The government has now introduced alternative civilian service and set up an Alternative Service Committee to decide on applications for alternative service. It is due to hold its first full meeting to consider 65 applications – from Jehovah's Witnesses and others - in the week of 21 to 25 October. Yet Jehovah's Witnesses state that 97 of their young men, including the 20 prisoners of conscience, have applied to have their cases considered. Questions also remain over how the Committee will make decisions. Stepan Danielyan of Collaboration for Democracy notes that only during the November call-up will it be clear whether the new system will allow individuals to choose which type of service to do in accordance with their conscience.