Tag Archives: Presidential Administration

CHRISTIANS JAILED IN UZBEKISTAN AFTER A MEAL IN PRIVATE HOUSE

Posted on by

Uzbekistan has since the beginning of March imposed short jail terms on four Protestants, as well as detaining three more in a centre for the homeless, Forum 18 News Service has learnt.

Three Protestants were each jailed for 15 days, after police raided a meal in a private home where the three were present, and three more were held in a homelessness centre for between four and eleven days.

Asked why individuals must ask for permission to gather for a religious purpose, the judge told Forum 18 that “I am not a law-maker, and I don’t want to discuss the law.” In a separate case, a Baptist was jailed for 10 days after some 20 officials from various state agencies – including the Presidential Administration – raided a prayer meeting in a registered church.

Officials told church members that they need special permission for any services apart from those on Sundays, though Forum 18 can find no requirement for this in published laws or regulations.

Report from the Christian Telegraph

KAZAKHSTAN WILL TRY TO ADOPT A HARSH RELIGION LAW

Posted on by

President Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan will not be challenging the finding of the Constitutional Council that the proposed new law amending various laws on religion is unconstitutional, reports Forum 18 News Service.

The Constitutional Council told Forum 18 News Service that the Presidential Administration has informed it that President Nazarbaev agrees with its finding and is not planning to challenge it.

However, Nikolai Golysin, the President’s deputy spokesperson, told Forum 18 that “the head of state has given no official information on this. I don’t know what official gave these remarks to the Constitutional Council.”

Many in Kazakhstan remain wary, certain that officials will try again to impose harsh new restrictions on freedom of religion and belief. “This is not the end of the attempt to adopt such a law,” Yevgeny Zhovtis, head of the Almaty-based Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, told Forum 18. “I think they will try again.” He believes fresh attempts could come in 2011 or 2012, after Kazakhstan has completed its chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). “But I’m not sure that they won’t try again in 2009.”

Report from the Christian Telegraph