Police raided meetings of at least two Baptist churches on Easter Sunday, 16 April, including in the central city of Temirtau and the southern city of Taraz.
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 sign, but his wife Nadina advised him to. He had to borrow money to pay the fine.
A week after the raid, Tammar found a dead dog in the garden which he took as a warning that his family was being watched. The shock and stress caused a pregnant Nadina to miscarry at five months.