Turkmenistan Pastor Facing Threats, Arrest
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ASHGABAT/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Pressure is mounting on Rahymjan Borjakov, a 44-year-old pastor who faces imminent arrest for leading an unregistered church in Turkmenistan, Christians tell Worthy News.
Sources familiar with the case say he had received threats from authorities, including in early July when an official at a local mosque in the village of Dogryyol told worshippers that Borjakov “would be locked up sooner or later.”
Authorities were plotting the Christian man’s arrest, according to Christians citing the official. Already, officials visited the pastor’s home in mid-July and asked for information about his relatives, including their places of work, Christians said.
Shortly after, the pastor’s relatives, who are not Christians, began receiving “threatening and insulting” calls from the phone number of a police officer whose department controls religious activities within the region, according to Christian investigators.
Earlier this year, Pastor Rahymjan Borjakov reportedly attempted to board a plane but was refused for unspecified reasons.
Advocacy group Voice Of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC) told Worthy News that this “is not an unusual treatment for political activists and others with whom the government has concerns.”
CLOSE MONITORING
The group added that “Close monitoring by officials is commonplace for Christians in Turkmenistan, particularly for those belonging to unregistered religious communities, like Pastor Rahymjan [Borjakov].”
The threats against the pastor are the latest in a series of “challenges encountered by Christians in this Central Asian nation, go to our country profile,” VOMC said.
The group urged its supporters to pray for the pastor and his family “and that no formal charges would be brought against this Christian leader.”
Although the allows for constitution allows for religious freedom, “in reality, there is little room for Christians to breathe” in the heavily Muslim, autocratically-ruled, Central Asian nation of nearly six million people, said advocacy group Open Doors.
There are “tight restrictions and close surveillance making it very difficult for believers to express and share their faith,” the group added.
“The totalitarian government of Turkmenistan uses a huge body of state agents, such as police, secret services, and local imams, to closely monitor all religious activities. The printing or importing of Christian materials is restricted,” added Open Doors in a recent assessment of the former Soviet nation.
MUSLIM BACKGROUND
“Christians who come from Muslim backgrounds bear the brunt of persecution—not just from the authorities, but from their family, friends, and the local community. Men can experience beatings, threats, disinheritance, and boycotting of businesses, while women can face house arrest, forced marriage, verbal abuse, threats, social rejection, and sexual assault,” Open Doors said.
It has ranked Turkmenistan 29th on its annual World Watch List of 50 nations, where it says Christians face the most persecution.
There were no signs Monday that Serdar Berdymukhamedov, who took over in March 2022 as the third president of the authoritarian state, would change the perceived strict anti-Christian policies.
His father, Gurbanguly, became president in 2007 after the death of his mentor, Saparmyrat Niyazov.
Like his predecessors, President Berdymukhamedov wields absolute power in the natural-gas-rich nation and is the focus of a personality cult in the state-run media.
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