Seven members of a house church in Kazakhstan, two of whom are in their late 70s, have been fined for meeting to worship in a building without state registration.
In court hearings on 29 August, two of the believers were fined the maximum amount of 106,050 Tenge (around £232), while the two older members of the congregation and those with families were ordered to pay a reduced penalty. All the believers were charged with violating religious laws introduced in 2011, which require churches to obtain state permission to meet and also prohibit carrying out ‘missionary activity’ without state registration.
Misguided anti-terror laws
There is concern that, as happened in Russia earlier this year, the introduction of amendments to existing anti-terror laws could lead to even greater restrictions on Christians’ religious freedom. The suggested amendments currently being discussed in Kazakhstan’s parliament would require pre-publication censorship of all religious literature and only allow individuals to bring into the country one copy of any uncensored book about religion, in addition to expanding restrictions on Christians sharing their faith.
