Baptist Churches refuse to register themselves, authorities respond by banning public meetings and the celebration of mass. Pastors who continue activities risks prison or heavy fines.

Astana (AsiaNews/F18) – Seizures and imprisonment for the Baptist Church which persistently refuses to register itself as is required by Government law: Pastor Fauzi Gubaidullin ended a three-day administrative prison term on 10 March for leading his unregistered Baptist church in the southern city of Shymkent.          Congregation member Yuri Pfafenrot told Forum 18 News service “We can't agree to having our church closed down”.

 

Kazakistan requires that all religious groups are registered.  But the Council of Baptist Churches refuses to request registration, which it sees as State interference in its internal affairs.  Kanat Nalmagambetov, head of the Internal Affairs Department at the Shymkent city administration, insists that "any religious organisation must be registered this is the law”.

 

Pfafernrot explains that the State seeks to control religious communities through their registration. “officials want to know how many faithful there are, who prays and how much money is collected. – he says - We cannot accept this form of interference, which is a veritable control mechanism”.

 

The Shymkent Baptist community was banned for 3 months in 2006, but the circa 40 members continue to meet. On March 7th their leaders Gubaidullin and Dengof were arrested and immediately put on trial.  Believers protested that charges against Gubaidullin were laid before the appeals court judgement was passed.  Pfafenrot now fears that the authorities will bar access to the Church which is the private property of congregation members and maintain that “they (the authorities) have no right to do so in private property”.

 

Meanwhile in Northwest Aktobe Baptist preacher Andrei Grigoryev refused to pay fines amounting to 53.980 tenge (circa 430 dollars) for illegal religious activities. February 24th executors seized a washing machine and a car to pay the fines. Kazakhstan's Human Rights Ombudsperson, Bolat Baikadamov, agrees that the law on the obligatory registration of religious groups is unjust and adds that “We appealed to the government last year to remove it”, but without success.

• KAZAKISTAN
• Baptist
• Church
• religious
• law
• registration
• religious
• freedom
• civil
• liberties
• arrests