Photo via apn.kz

Kazakhstan: New wave of raids on Baptist churches

Amid tightening state control on religious activity, Baptists who refuse to apply for state registration are facing increased state hostility, reports Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service.

As a series of raids take place on unregistered Baptist congregations, the state-controlled media is being used to promote intolerance of peaceful religious groups, one article describing the Baptists as "God-fearing lawbreakers" and their meetings for worship as "illegal meetings."

In recent months, fines on Council of Churches Baptists – who refuse on principle to state-register their congregations – have become more frequent. Baptists refuse to pay fines imposed for unregistered religious worship, and the authorities have also stepped up their confiscation of personal property to pay these fines.

Reached by Forum 18 on 21 February, officials of the Justice Ministry's Religious Affairs Committee in the capital Astana refused to explain the surge in the number of raids on Baptist meetings. Committee deputy head Amanbek Mukhashev put the phone down as soon as Forum 18 had put the question, while other officials would not comment.

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[02/25/2008]

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