Baptist Christians in southern Kazakhstan have suffered a surge in police raids upon their churches, as well as arrests and fines for expressing their faith, Christian Daily (CD) reports.
Devoted Christians face a difficult Christmas season in Kazakhstan after legislators approved one of Europe’s harshest religious laws limiting worship or other faith-based events.
A Kazakh court in Astana has increased the severity of the sentence given a Christian convert from Islam.
Kazakh authorities recently raided a church-run children’s camp after claiming the children were being taught religion illegally and without their parents’ permission.
A drug and alcohol rehabilitation center run by Christians in the village of Sychevka in north-eastern Kazakhstan has been fined and closed down for three months after a court order last month, according to Barnabas Aid.
In separate incidents, two Kazakh Christians have been issued large fines for practicing their religion without the state’s permission, according to Barnabas Aid.
Two men were sentenced last month after Kazakhstani authorities confiscated the Christian books they were handing out near a market in Shchuchinsk, according to Barnabas Aid.
A Christian father of three has been jailed in Kazakhstan for refusing to pay a fine for leading a worship service in his own home, according to Barnabas Aid.
Pastor Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev was released yesterday on three years’ probation following a bizarre trial and nine months of imprisonment, according to International Christian Concern.
Although charges of “propagating extremism” leveled against a 67-year-old Presbyterian pastor were dropped Wednesday by a court in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana, the minister still remains in prison, according to International Christian Concern.
International Christian Concern reports that a 67-year-old pastor was charged with religious extremism and imprisoned just hours after he had been released to house arrest for supposedly harming the health of his parishioners.
After his arrest in May, International Christian Concern reported that Pastor Bakhytzhat Kashkumbayev has been severely mistreated by the Kazakhstan government while it continues to hide his whereabouts.
International Christian Concern is calling for the immediate release of a pastor in Kazakhstan who has been falsely imprisoned.
A pastor in Kazakhstan was arrested last month for allegedly serving hallucinogens to his congregation while wielding a powerful psychological influence over them.
An appeals court in Kazakhstan has overturned a previous ruling to destroy Bibles and other Christian literature seized from a street evangelist, according to Barnabas Aid.
In Kazakhstan, anyone who shares their faith could be jailed under proposed new laws that would increase the penalties for those practicing their religion.
A court in Kazakhstan has ordered the destruction of Christian literature, including Bibles, seized from a street evangelist.
Churches and mosques in Kazakhstan are being forced to close as that nation’s deadline for mandatory re-registration expires, but many religious communities have complained that the procedures for their closures were both arbitrary and flawed.
An oppressive religious law adopted by Kazakhstan last year has reduced the number of officially recognized religions from 46 to 17, according to Eurasianet.
Authorities in three Central Asian nations have launched a crackdown on evangelical Protestant churches and several believers are reportedly mistreated, fined and detained.