Tag: Central Asia

Azerbaijanis fined and detained for selling religious books

May 24, 2017 Azerbaijan Baku, Caucasus, Censorship, Central Asia, House churches

New cases have emerged of Azerbaijanis facing heavy fines and imprisonment for trying to sell or distribute religious literature. The South Caucasus state, which supposedly allows religious freedoms under its secular constitution, has made it difficult in the past for Christians to practise their faith. In December 2016 two church . . . Read More

Turkmenistan’s secret additions to already restrictive Religion Law

May 18, 2017 Turkmenistan Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Islamic extremism, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, Turkmenistan

It’s been over a year since the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan added further restrictions to its Religion Law, but the changes were introduced in such secrecy that few knew about them until well after the event. It wasn’t until January this year that regional news agency Forum 18 shed . . . Read More

Uzbekistan releases jailed Christian convert after six years

November 23, 2016 Uzbekistan Baptists, Central Asia, Converts, Gulistan, Islamic extremism, Protestants, Soviet Union, Tohar Haydarov, Uzbekistan

Tohar Haydarov.International Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians and Baptists Uzbek authorities have released a Christian convert six years into his 10-year jail sentence. Tohar Haydarov, 33, was released on parole on 8 November after serving six years and 10 months of his prison term. A judge had ruled he . . . Read More

Azerbaijan registers Bible Society after 20 years, but will it be able to print Bibles?

October 3, 2016 Azerbaijan Central Asia, Exile, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

Rasim Khalilov (left), Chairman of the Bible Committee, and Pastor Elchin Pashaev, one of the founders of the new Bible Society, holding the certificate of registration.United Bible Societies The recent registration of a Bible Society in Azerbaijan, after a 20-year fight, has brought fresh optimism to the country’s minority . . . Read More

Uzbek pastor and family granted asylum in US after 9-year ordeal

September 2, 2016 Uzbekistan Andijan, Asylum seekers, Central Asia, Fergana Valley, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islam Karimov, Islamic extremism, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Migrants, Refugees, Soviet Union, USA, Uzbekistan

Finally, their journey is over. Three years since fleeing Uzbekistan – following four years in a labour camp, house arrest and death threats – Pastor Dmitry Shestakov has arrived in the United States, where he and his family have been granted asylum. It’s been almost 10 years since Shestakov was . . . Read More

Central Asian Christians feel repercussions of governments’ focus on Islamist threat

July 6, 2016 Central Asia, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islam Karimov, Islamic extremism, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saparmurat Niyazov, Soviet Union, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

When the three suicide bombers who killed 44 people at Istanbul’s main airport on 28 June were identified as Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals, it provided another reminder that the threat from the so-called Islamic State reaches far beyond Syria and Iraq. And nowhere is that threat being taken more . . . Read More

Freedom of religion or belief ‘undermined’ in corrupt countries

June 2, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Asia-Pacific, Central Asia, Colombia, Corruption, David Cameron, Eastern Europe, Europe, G20, Libya, London, Mexico, Middle East, Nigeria, North Africa, Religious freedom, Somalia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan, Yemen

Corruption is increasingly seen as a factor behind the persecution of minority Christians around the world, and the world leaders who gathered at an Anti-Corruption Summit in London in May showed they are beginning to pay more attention to the effects of corruption on freedom of religion or belief. Evidence . . . Read More

2016 World Watch List drawn from world headlines

January 13, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Bibles, BJP, Boko Haram, Central Asia, Charlie Hebdo, Churches, Egypt, Hindu nationalism, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kenya, Libya, Middle East, Mosul, Niger, Nigeria, Nineveh Plains, North Korea, Paris, Sub-Saharan Africa

Some of the most urgent headlines of the past 12 months, from the global spread of jihadist violence to North Korea’s test of a putative atomic weapon, intersect with an updated list of the most difficult places to live as a Christian. For the 14th straight year, North Korea is . . . Read More

Kazakh Christian could face 10 years in jail

October 14, 2015 Kazakhstan Astana, Central Asia, Islamic extremism, Kazakhstan, Seventh-day Adventists, Yklas Kabduakasov

A Seventh-day Adventist in Kazakhstan could face between five and 10 years in prison if convicted of “spreading religious discord”. Yklas Kabduakasov, 54, was arrested in August, after a year of police surveillance and the secret filming of a conversation between him and four Muslim students. His trial began in . . . Read More

Obama appoints religious minorities envoy

September 28, 2015 Barack Obama, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, Minorities, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Syria, USA

President Obama has created a new special envoy position to address the persecution of religious minorities. Knox Thames was appointed to the long-awaited position of special envoy for religious minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia to coincide with the visit of Pope Francis to the White House . . . Read More

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