KAZAKHSTAN: Drink vodka – yes, watch football – yes, praying – no

The leader of a Baptist congregation in Semei in East Kazakhstan Region, which chooses to meet for worship without state permission, began a ten-day prison term on 27 May. Viktor Kandyba had refused to pay a fine handed down in 2013 for leading the church. Prosecutor's Office official Bolzhan Botbayev, who brought both cases to court, struggled to explain why Kandyba has the right to gather friends to drink vodka or watch football on television but not to meet for worship. "The law says they must have registration before they are allowed to meet," he insisted to Forum 18. Kandyba is the tenth known Baptist to be given a short-term prison sentence in 2014 for refusing to pay fines for exercising the right to freedom of religion or belief. "I can't agree that these imprisonments are a violation of human rights," Rustam Kypshakbayev of the government's Ombudsperson's Office for Human Rights told Forum 18. Those who lead unregistered religious communities will face up to 60 days' imprisonment if the new Criminal Code now in the Senate is adopted in current form.

28 May 2014

AZERBAIJAN: Where is prayer allowed?

On 25 April, Police in Azerbaijan's capital Baku tried to prevent worshippers unable to fit into the small Lezgin Sunni Mosque for Friday prayers from praying in the surrounding streets. On the four Fridays since then, police impose a cordon from mid-morning and allow no prayer around the mosque, the mosque chair Faiq Mustafa complained to Forum 18 News Service. Colonel Kamal Velishov also tried to order the mosque to close at 8 pm each evening. "This would prevent us holding the last two prayers, at 9 pm and 11 pm," Mustafa noted. Colonel Velishov refused to discuss his actions, including threats to close the mosque. "Talk to the Interior Ministry," he told Forum 18, putting the phone down. Other Sunni Muslim mosques were closed in 2008-9. The State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations appears to have been behind this spring's enforced change of leadership at the previously Sunni mosque in Mushfiqabad near Baku.

23 May 2014

RUSSIA: Auction to end Old Believer church restitution hopes?

Despite a verbal promise from the regional governor, Old Believers in Yekaterinburg in the Urals fear that they may never get restitution of their church, seized during the Soviet period. Sverdlovsk Regional Property Fund is due to auction the historical church on 11 June. "Logic, common sense, the Governor's promise, and historical justice compel us to believe that the church building will be handed over to its rightful owners," Maksim Gusev of the Church's Urals Diocese told Forum 18 News Service. "But officials are doing everything to obscure the situation and delay the outcome." Lutherans in Vyborg in north-western Russia have been refused the restitution of their former parish house, which they hope to use as the pastor's accommodation and a Sunday school. A 21 May court decision claims this is not a "religious purpose" as required under the 2010 restitution law. Catholics in Barnaul have been promised the return of their Soviet-confiscated church "no later than 3 February 2018".

21 May 2014

KAZAKHSTAN: "Not accused of extremism", but punished

Nauatbek Kalymbetov, head of Jambyl Region Police's Department for the Struggle against Extremism, personally questioned two Jehovah's Witnesses detained for talking to others about their faith on a Taraz street. His department sent a report to court when the two were fined two months' average wages each. Yet he repeatedly refused to explain why punishing two women for speaking to others about their faith was an issue for his Department. "I'm not accusing them of extremism, but they broke the law," Kalymbetov insisted to Forum 18 News Service. Dozens of administrative fines for exercising the right to freedom of religion or belief are known to have been issued across Kazakhstan in 2014 so far. A new Administrative Code now in the upper house of parliament would require deportation even for Kazakh citizens who conduct "missionary activity" without the required personal prior state permission. And religious communities which commit two "offences" within a year could be banned permanently.

16 May 2014

KAZAKHSTAN: Two months' jail for religious meetings without state permission?

Leaders of religious communities who fail to gain or choose not to seek state registration will face up to 60 days' imprisonment if the new Criminal Code now in the upper house of Kazakhstan's parliament is approved in the current form, Forum 18 News Service notes. Those who attend such communities could face up to 45 days' imprisonment. The new Administrative Code, now in the Senate, also appears likely to continue current administrative punishments for exercising the right to freedom of religion or belief. The new Criminal Implementation Code – also in the Senate – bans building places of worship in prisons. "Significant changes to these Codes are unlikely now at this late stage," one human rights defender lamented to Forum 18. Asked why provisions of these Codes restrict individuals' rights to freedom of religion or belief, Telegen Dertayev, a consultant on the Senate's Legal Committee, insisted to Forum 18 that "we have religious freedom".

13 May 2014

UZBEKISTAN: "To prevent illegal religious materials"

A court in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent has fined both Grigory Kasparov and his wife Yelena for "illegally storing" Kasparov's Christian books in their private home. This was despite Yelena Kasparova refusing to sign a "confession" police attempted to force from her for this "offence". The verdict in Kasparov's case states that the books were destroyed even before the Court had found Kasparov "guilty" and decided what to do with the books. A court official admitted to Forum 18 News Service that bailiffs destroyed the books, but refused to state whether bailiffs are allowed to do this before a verdict. In another case, the NSS secret police and ordinary police have ignored a court order stating that they must return confiscated books and other material. In the Kasparov case the court verdict states the fine followed "investigation and search operations with the purpose to prevent illegal religious materials". In a very similar recent case, the verdict states that the NSS secret police conducted "an operation .. to identify persons who illegally store religious materials".

9 May 2014

UZBEKISTAN: "Let him pay the fine and we'll return the car"

Court bailiffs in Uzbekistan's central Samarkand Region admit they confiscated a car, a vacuum cleaner and other household items from two families beyond the legally-defined deadline. "We and our colleagues can't keep up with the volume of work, so we were a bit late with these confiscations," bailiff Sadriddin Salahuddinov admitted to Forum 18 News Service. The seizures came after the two Baptists refused to pay fines imposed in 2012 to punish them for exercising the right to freedom of religion or belief. "Let him pay the fine and we'll return the car to him," the bailiff added about Veniamin Nemirov. Meanwhile, 15 police and other officials raided a church's Sunday meeting for worship in a home in Syrdarya. "When the officials broke in they were preparing a dinner, and getting ready to celebrate the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem," Baptists lamented to Forum 18. Police officer Oybek Turdikulov, who took part in the raid, told Forum 18 that they "received an instruction from above to go to check up on the gathering."

8 May 2014

AZERBAIJAN: Beating to extract "evidence"; conscientious objector gets one year's military detention

Dashqin Vahabli was among nine Muslims fined nearly four months' average wages for attending a study session of the works of Islamic theologian Said Nursi in Baku. On 1 May he was summoned to the secret police where, he told Forum 18 News Service, he was beaten. Officers tried to force him to incriminate Eldeniz Hajiyev and Ismayil Mammadov for teaching religion "illegally". The two have been in secret police custody since 12 April and face up to three years' imprisonment if convicted. Secret police investigator Nadir Mustafayev did not answer Forum 18's repeated calls. Meanwhile 18-year-old Jehovah's Witness conscientious objector Kamran Shikhaliyev has appealed against his sentence of one year in a disciplinary military unit. He was forcibly conscripted in October 2013. Azerbaijan's failure to introduce a civilian alternative to military service is in defiance of its commitments to the Council of Europe, of which it becomes Chair on 14 May.

6 May 2014

AZERBAIJAN: Muslim Nursi texts, Old Testament, and Jehovah's Witness texts "banned"

Members of several religious communities in Azerbaijan have expressed concern to Forum 18 News Service over a list of "banned" books, which may be used to confiscate books in raids. Most of the banned books are Islamic texts such as those by theologian Said Nursi, but the list also includes the Old Testament and Jehovah's Witness texts. The list was apparently compiled by police based on State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations "expert analyses", but is not so far known to have been published officially. Police have long confiscated texts named on the list as well as others during raids on private homes and meetings of people exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief. "We need to pray to God for wisdom as to how to respond to this ban on the Holy Scriptures in Azerbaijan", one Protestant noted. Azerbaijan has long imposed tight censorship on all religious literature and items, and the State Committee seems to be delaying permission for the Baptist Union to print New Testaments.

2 May 2014

UZBEKISTAN: Another 5 year prison term for sermons in mobile

Nine years after he moved to Russia to find work, Zoirjon Mirzayev was arrested at a Tashkent Region train station on his return to his native Uzbekistan after customs officials found 29 recordings of Muslim sermons in his mobile phone. The Religious Affairs Committee said the recordings were "extremist" and on 8 April Mirzayev received a five-year prison term, according to the verdict seen by Forum 18 News Service. Assistant Prosecutor B. Kamilov, who led the case in court, told Forum 18 "it's the minimum punishment that we could ask the court for". He was unable to say who had banned the sermons as "extremist" and when. "The sentence is not just and Mirzayev's relatives are preparing to file an appeal," human rights defender Surat Ikramov told Forum 18. Uzbek citizen Ikhtiyor Yagmurov was arrested on similar grounds at Tashkent airport and is awaiting trial, but officials refused to tell Forum 18 what charges he faces.

1 May 2014

RUSSIA: "They'll punish you .. whether or not you committed a crime"

State agencies continue to conduct inspections of premises and vehicles owned by Muslims and Jehovah's Witness, often targeting religious literature banned as "extremist", Forum 18 News Service notes. Prosecution often follows on charges of "mass distribution" of "extremist" material – even if only one copy of a text is found. In the 15 known prosecutions so far in 2014 all have led to convictions. In one example, the Mufti of a Mosque in Saransk was tried for possession of one copy of Turkish theologian Said Nursi's "Guidebook for Women". Mosque staff think the book was planted, and Mufti Zyaki Aizatullin stated that the first time he had seen it was during an inspection by the Prosecutor. On appeal on 5 March, the defence pointed out among other things that there were discrepancies in who the prosecution stated had found the book. But the appeal was dismissed. The Mosque spokeswoman commented to Forum 18 that "it turns out the law exists only on paper, and in practice they'll punish you regardless of whether or not you committed a crime. It's enough just to be a Muslim."

28 April 2014

AZERBAIJAN: Three year prison terms for Koran study?

Two Muslims from the Azerbaijani capital Baku - Eldeniz Hajiyev and Ismayil Mammadov – are under criminal investigation on charges of "Creation of a group carrying out activity under the pretext of spreading a religious faith", the lawyer for one of the men Nizami Abbasov told Forum 18 News Service. The charges carry a maximum three-year prison term. Two days after their 12 April arrest, a court ordered two months' pre-trial detention. The two – both readers of Islamic theologian Said Nursi's works - are being held in Baku's NSM secret police investigation prison. Hajiyev "told me he reads the Koran and studies with his friends and does nothing against anyone," Abbasov told Forum 18. "Of course he has the right to do this." After a separate raid in the north-western town of Qazax, another Nursi reader was given a seven-day prison term.