Officials who raided a Bible class held by the Greater Grace Protestant church in the capital Ashgabad on 11 April have insisted that the church does not have the right to teach its own members without approval from the government's Gengeshi (Committee) for Religious Affairs, reports Forum 18 News Service.
The church was checked by about ten officials from the Religious Affairs Department of the Hyakimlik (the executive authority) of the city's Kopetdag district, the Justice Ministry, the Ministry of State Security (MSS) secret police, local police and the Tax Ministry.
A Religious Affairs department official from the Hyakimlik told Forum 18 he saw nothing wrong with the check-up, and insisted that they had a right to check up on organisations. Forum 18 was told that the church could face removal of registration if violations are found this time and then again on a future occasion.
Religious activity without state registration remains illegal and punishable, in defiance of Turkmenistan's international human rights commitments. Both registered and unregistered religious communities face intermittent raids from various state agencies.
Like most of the few non-Muslim and non-Russian Orthodox communities allowed to gain legal status, Ashgabad's Greater Grace church has no dedicated place of worship. Even if it could afford it, church members doubt if they would be allowed to buy one.
This makes it vulnerable to official pressure as owners prepared to rent to a religious minority congregation are few. Communities which had their places of worship bulldozed or confiscated over the past decade - including Muslims, Pentecostals and Baptists - have been given no compensation.
Vladimir Tolmachev, the pastor of the Greater Grace church, told the news agency on 15 April that the government officials and police arrived unexpectedly
and disturbed their Bible class.
"I had to gather our people in one room and asked them to stay there until I could sort out what they wanted," he reported. He said he was surprised to see as many as ten officials come to check on them. "We have our registration, our two employees pay their taxes out of the salary they receive from the church, and we are not doing anything illegal."
Tolmachev said it was disturbing for them before the neighbours, since it is not regarded as good when law-enforcement officials arrive at the door. "They checked our papers, and asked two people from the church whether they
were forced to attend the classes."
The officials realised that everything was fine but still invited him to visit the Kopetdag district Hyakimlik the following day, a Saturday.
"At the Hyakimlik, officials asked me to sign a paper admitting our violations," Tolmachev told Forum 18. Officials told him the church was not allowed to teach classes as it does not have the necessary special permission from the Gengeshi for Religious Affairs.
