Tag: Almaty

Kazakhstan church banned for singing songs at summer camp

September 11, 2017 Kazakhstan Almaty, Central Asia, Constitution, Kazakhstan

A policeman is filmed during the Good Friday raid on New Life church in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Photo: Maxim Maximov / YouTube

A church in Kazakhstan has been banned from meeting because its members sang religious songs at a summer camp, reports regional news service Forum 18. The three-month ban – yet to come into force because of an appeal – was imposed on the New Life Protestant Church in Oskemen, eastern . . . Read More

Kazakhstan deports missionary for conducting baptisms

August 14, 2017 Kazakhstan Almaty, Baptism, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev

Kazakhstan has ordered the expulsion of a Canadian citizen for conducting “illegal missionary activity” by holding baptisms in hot springs near the country’s commercial capital, Almaty. Hae Taik Kim, a Canadian citizen who leads a church in New York, was also fined 226,900 Tenge (US$680) – about two months’ average . . . Read More

Kazakh Baptists raided, fined on Easter Sunday as ‘illegal’

May 4, 2017 Kazakhstan Almaty, Astana, Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Russia, Uyghurs

Police raided meetings of at least two Baptist Churches on Easter Sunday. The protestant communities draw attention because they they choose to hold their church services without seeking state registration "out of conviction".

Tammar leads a church of young Uyghurs in Kazakhstan. On Easter Sunday, as 20 of them gathered, there was a sudden police raid, including members of the anti-terrorist team. All 20 had to sign a form saying they were at this ‘illegal’ meeting, and Tammar was fined $900. At first, he wouldn’t . . . Read More

Kazakhstan church raids a ‘backward step’

May 24, 2016 Kazakhstan Almaty, Astana, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Pentecostals, Protestants

Recent raids on Christians’ homes and churches in Kazakhstan are a “backward step”, following the positive strides made by the Kazakhstan President in recent years, according to a religious freedom expert in the country. Kevin White, research fellow and country director at the Almaty-based Religious Freedom and Business Foundation, says . . . Read More

Retired Kazakh pastor given suspended jail sentence

February 18, 2014 Kazakhstan Almaty, Astana, Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev

The protracted trial of a retired Kazakh pastor ended yesterday (Feb. 17), as 67-year-old Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev was handed a suspended four-year prison sentence and a fine. Kashkumbayev, former pastor of Grace Church in the Kazakh capital Astana, was ordered to pay 2 million Tenge (€7,900) in damages to Lyazzat Almenova, . . . Read More

Kazakh pastor’s trial halts amid heated arguments

January 31, 2014 Kazakhstan Almaty, Astana, Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev, Protestants

Bakhytzhan KashkumbayevWorld Watch Monitor The trial of a 67-year-old pastor in Kazakhstan halted amid heated arguments on Wednesday (January 29), as the pastor and his lawyer stormed out of the courtroom, even after two of his original charges were dropped. The pastor and his lawyer say the whole court . . . Read More

Jail term for Kazakh pastor extended

September 22, 2013 Kazakhstan Almaty, Astana, Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev, Kazakhstan

A Kazakh pastor has been told he is to be detained for another month, four months after his arrest for allegedly “harming the health” of a member of his congregation. Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev, pastor of Grace Protestant Church in Astana, the capital, was arrested on May 17, charged with the psychological manipulation . . . Read More

90 days to freedom

January 28, 2013 Kazakhstan Almaty, Astana, Kazakhstan, Makset Djabbarbergenov, UN, Uzbekistan

For 90 days last autumn, Makset Djabbarbergenov lived in a Kazakh prison cell, under threat of deportation to his native Uzbekistan to face almost-certain years of harsh jail time. His alleged crime: Leading small Christian communities in house churches without official registration. By 2007, this had made “Pastor Makset” a . . . Read More

Uzbek pastor released from Kazakhstan prison

December 5, 2012 Kazakhstan Almaty, Kazakhstan, Makset Djabbarbergenov, Protestants, Uzbekistan

Uzbek pastor Makset Djabbarbergenov has been released from prison in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He was released Dec. 4 and taken to the airport, where he was reunited with his wife and four children. According to the Norwegian religious-freedom watchdog agency Forum 18, they were flown to Germany. After arrival at Frankfurt . . . Read More

Uzbekistan increases charges against church leader in Kazakhstan jail

November 2, 2012 Kazakhstan Almaty, Kazakhstan, Makset Djabbarbergenov, Uzbekistan

The legal ground continues to shift underneath Makset Djabbarbergenov, a house-church leader being held in a Kazakhstan jail at the request of his native Uzbekistan. Djabbarbergenov was arrested Sept. 5 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan wants him back to face charges that he practiced religion outside state regulation. His fate could . . . Read More

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