By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN (ANS) -- A Pentecostal Full Gospel congregation in Uzbekistan has decided to close down and halt all its activities in the wake of official pressure.
"I and our church leadership decided to close the church two months ago -- it was too dangerous to continue to meet," said Bakhtier Tuichiev, pastor of the Resurrection Church, in the town of Andijan [Andijon] in the Fergana [Farghona] Valley.
"We have faced such pressure from the leaders of the local mahallas [urban districts] and from the prosecutor, especially this year. It is too painful to talk about all the threats and insults we have had to endure."
Protestant congregations elsewhere in Uzbekistan are among religious minority communities facing a new wave of pressure. A growing number of active Protestants are on the exit blacklist and cannot leave their own country.
Pastor Tuichiev said that officials of the mahalla where the church building is based and the mahalla where he and his family live have been leading the campaign, though Prosecutor Ahmedov, the police and the National Security Service (NSS) secret police have joined the campaign.
Mahalla officials frequently pressure Muslims as well as religious minority communities and prevent them from practicing their faith freely.
Tuichiev told a western news agency based in Oslo, Norway, that a police car is now permanently posted outside the former church building in the Yakhshi mahalla of the town, while police also keep watch outside his home in the Dostlyk mahalla.
Forum 18 News Service (www.forum18.org) was unable to reach any officials at Andijan town Hokimat (administration) on June 19 to find out why the Resurrection Church has been put under such pressure that it feels its only option was to close down. Likewise no-one at the government's Religious Affairs Committee in the capital Tashkent was available.
"The chairman Artyk Yusupov is not in the office," the official who answered the phone told the news service. "I'm just here to learn the job, and I know nothing of such events."
Tuichiev also told Forum 18 that he wants to leave Uzbekistan but cannot because the local visa and registration office refuses to stamp his new passport to authorize him to travel abroad.
"I was in Russia in April and May, but my passport ran out soon after I returned. Now they won't stamp the new passport, saying the local internal affairs directorate, the NSS secret police and the commission they form in such cases won't give permission for me to leave my own country."
Tuichiev said several Protestant leaders he knows have also been unable to get the stamp in their passport allowing them to leave the country, which is valid for two years.
Other Protestants have said this is a growing problem for prominent activists, especially for those regarded as being of Muslim background. "I know of three people just in my part of the country," one Protestant told Forum 18 on June 12. "No reason is given. They know they wouldn't be able to get through the border if they tried to leave as their names are on the computer exit blacklist."
Tuichiev's congregation has sought legal status since 2002 but in vain. "Officials have always refused us registration -- and never given reasons," he told Forum 18. Under Uzbekistan's harsh religion law -- which contradicts the country's international human rights commitments – unregistered religious activity is illegal and subject to criminal penalty. Many religious communities of a variety of faiths have been denied registration.
Tuichiev was fined 109,500 sums (550 Norwegian Kroner, 68 Euros or 88 US Dollars) by Andijan City Court in December 2006 under the Code of Administrative Offences for conducting "illegal" meetings. He told Forum 18 he has refused to pay the fine and has appealed against it, but says that at any time court executors could come and seize property belonging to the church.
The moves against the Resurrection Church have coincided with moves to crush another Full Gospel congregation in Andijan, led by Pastor Dmitry Shestakov (also known as David). He was given a four-year sentence in an open work camp on March 9, a sentence made harsher at a new trial on 25 May 25 when he was ordered to serve the rest of his sentence in a labor camp.
Members of the embattled congregation Shestakov led have faced continuing official pressure since he was imprisoned. Eight have had their appeals against fines rejected, Protestant sources told Forum 18 on June 16. All eight -- Damir Kamalitdinov, Yuri Pan, Venera Muratova, Vadim Muratov, Luiza Bibisheva, Rima Bekmatova, Susanna Mukhtarova and Olga Fazylova – were found guilty on May 16 of violating Article 197 of the Code of Administrative Offences, which punishes "obstruction of the legal activity of a prosecutor and failure to fulfil his orders." Each was fined 24,840 Sums (120 Norwegian Kroner, 15 Euros or 20 US Dollars). On 11 June Judge S. Siddikov of Andijan Criminal Court rejected their appeals against the fines.
The court decision rejecting Kamalitdinov's appeal against the fine was signed by Siddikov. It notes that the NSS secret police had reported on March 23 that Kamalitdinov was a member of Shestakov's church. The decision adds that Kamalitdinov failed to appear at the Prosecutor's Office for questioning despite summonses on April 5 and 11.
Two other members of the same congregation were also fined the same amount on May 16 on the same charges. All had refused to go to the prosecutor's office after receiving what they regard as "illegal" summonses.
Jehovah's Witnesses have also faced mounting pressure in recent months. Irfon Hamidov was sentenced on May 14 in the central city of Samarkand [Samarqand] to two years in a labor camp on charges of "illegally" teaching his faith to others.
For a personal commentary by a Muslim scholar, advocating religious freedom for all faiths as the best antidote to Islamic religious extremism in Uzbekistan, see www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=338.