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RELIGIOUS OPPRESSION AROUND THE WORLD

Turkmenistan

 

Turkmenistan Authorities Confiscate Church Building

April 19, 2001

      The city court in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat ruled on April 4 that a house owned by Pastor Viktor Makrousov and used as the city's Pentecostal church should be confiscated without compensation, upholding a March 14 district court decision, as told to the Keston News Service.

Another source told Keston News that the court did not take into account the defendant's claim that the previous court hearing had been conducted with serious violations of proper court procedure. The prosecutor maintained the previous position - that Makrousov purchased the house for illegal religious purposes and never intended to live there.

Asked about the legality of religious meetings in private houses, another source told Keston News that such gatherings were not against the law. Yet, in court it was claimed that Makrousov had repeatedly been warned not to hold "illegal" religious meetings. The congregation has not been meeting in the church since November, Makrousov said.

--Used by permission of Religion Today


 

Baptist Minister Is Imprisoned and Beaten for his Faith

February 15, 2001

    The co-chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Congressman Christopher H. Smith, has called for the immediate release from prison of the Rev. Shagildy Atakov, a Baptist minister in Turkmenistan.
    Smith said, "It sickens me to learn of the persecution of Atakov, who, we believe, is being held prisoner and tortured because of his faith." He sent a message to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), with this information.
    The Atakov was arrested on Dec. 18, 1998, at his home in Turkmenbashi and charged with fraud. In March 1999, he was fined $12,000 and sentenced to two years in prison.
    Despite his conviction for an allegedly criminal offense, government officials have reportedly pressured Atakov and his family to renounce their religious faith. He reportedly has been subjected to brutal beatings and torture by prison officials. His second trial, set for July 1999, was postponed because of his weakened condition following more beatings. In November 1999, March 2000 and December, 2000 Atakov underwent more punishment and beatings, some so severe, he was temporarily blinded.
    Today, his life is in severe danger, and the latest reports indicate he told his wife recently that he does not expect to survive his abuse.
    Turkmenistan is the most repressive country in the former USSR. Under President Niyazov's rule, Turkmenistan remains a one-party police state that observes no human rights commitments. In the last few years, the government has noticeably stepped up harassment of religious communities and persecution of believers, according to information supplied by Smith and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, chairman of the Helsinki Commission.

--Used by permission of Religion Today


 

Churches Destroyed in Turkmenistan by Court Order

Monday, January 8, 2001

    A court in Turkmenistan ordered a pastor's house confiscated because it served as his church. A court of the Kopetdag district of Ashgabad ruled Jan. 4 that the house used as the city's Pentecostal church is to be confiscated without compensation, Keston News Service reported. Pastor Viktor Makrousov insisted he had done nothing wrong, but the court said he violated laws restricting religious services.
    "They did not listen to our arguments, they just issued the verdict to take away the house and that was that. The illegality comes down from the top," Makrousov told Keston. He said he will file an appeal, but does not believe it will make any difference. "No one listens to us."
    "The ruling appears to have very little legal foundation in Turkmenistan's own law," Bess Brown of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Ashgabad told Keston. "This case seems to be motivated by an intent to stop Pastor Makrousov's religious activities."
    Two mosques, two Hare Krishna temples, and one Adventist church have been destroyed in Turkmenistan since 1999, according to Keston. One of those present in the courtroom to support Makrousov was pastor Pavel Fedotov, whose Adventist church in Ashgabad was bulldozed in November 1999 without a court hearing. The church has received no compensation, and a road that authorities of the Kopetdag district said they planned to build through the site has not yet been started, Keston reported.

--Used by permission of Religion Today


 

Christians Evicted in Turkmenistan

Friday, December 22, 2000

    Secret police in Turkmenistan evicted two Christian families in the capital city of Ashgabad, just 10 days after their house-church pastor's home was confiscated, Compass Direct News Service reports.
    Batir Nurov was thrown out of his home Dec. 20, along with his wife, Hasanowa Enejan, and their infant son, according to Compass. National Security Committee, or KNB, officers gave him a one-hour ultimatum to evacuate after questioning him as to the whereabouts of the family of his pastor, Shokhrat Piriyev, evicted Dec. 9 from their private home in the suburban village. Police watched as Nurov packed and removed his family's belongings, then sealed the door. Officials told him his residence permit in Ashgabad was cancelled but his passport would be returned and he would be given copies of the formal confiscation documents, Compass reported.
    Umit Koshkarov, his wife, Germezy, and their toddler son were told to move out by 8 a.m. Dec. 21, Compass reported. A KNB agent from Ahal district issued the orders late on Dec. 20. To ensure that they complied, the policeman locked the apartment registered to Mrs. Koshkarov from the outside to prevent their escape and pocketed the keys. Mrs. Koshkarov spoke with Compass before noon Dec. 21 and confirmed that her family's possessions were being removed from the dwelling. The family said they had no place to store their household items and they did not know where they would find a place to stay, Compass reported.
    The evictions follow repeated interrogations, beatings, torture, and intimidation of the three men, according to Compass. Earlier this year, they and an unmarried church member were implicated for having Christian contraband. Authorities discovered copies of the "Jesus" video in the Turkmen language in Nurov's car after a Nov. 21 accident. For three days the men were beaten, given electric shocks, and suffocated until they passed out, and after their release, officials continued to question and threaten them, Compass reported.     "We don't know what to do, where to go," Piriyev told Compass on Dec. 21. His house church cannot obtain legal registration under Turkmenistan's repressive religious laws and its members are regularly rounded up for interrogation, he said. "Our situation is getting very difficult."

--Used by permission of Religion Today

 

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