A Protestant church in the Uzbek capital Tashkent has been denied legal status four times since October 2007.
Eskhol Full Gospel Church was previously been denied state registration in October 2007, and in January and April this year, reports Forum 18 news agency. The most recent denial was on 22 July. All four registration denials were signed by the Deputy Chair of the Tashkent city Justice Department, Zukhra Azimova.
The latest denial follows an appeal against fines imposed on church members being turned down. Church members had hoped that the appeal might succeed, as police had falsified documents and witnesses' signatures, according to Forum 18.
Azimova of the city Justice Department argued in her latest registration denial, which Forum 18 has seen, that Serik Kadyrov, the church's pastor, needed to prove that his theological college, Silk Road Protestant Theological Seminary in Kyrgyzstan, was state registered in Kyrgyzstan.
Vadim Djagaryan, the Director of the Seminary, confirmed that it was registered with the Kyrgyz Ministry of Justice in 1996. "I have sent the necessary papers to Serik Kadyrov today," he told Forum 18.
She also stated that the Church's "letters of guarantee", or formal permission to function in a geographic area, from the Hokimat (local administration) of Tashkents's Chilanzar district and the from the First Katta Mahalla (residential district) Committee did not correspond to official requirements.
To gain state registration, religious organisations must submit two letters of guarantee, one from the district Hokimat confirming that the organisation to be registered has a building which corresponds to public health and fire safety requirements; and one from the mahalla committee, stating that other mahalla residents do not object to the organisation.
Public health, fire safety and similar requirements are sometimes used to
provide excuses to harass religious organisations.
Mahalla committees are used by the authorities as a key instrument in their
attempts to control Uzbek society. Uzbek officials wrongly claim that the alleged unwillingness of local residents allows the state to, under international law, stop religious organisations from operating.
Azimova of the city Justice Department refused to talk to Forum 18 on 6 August about her repeated registration denials to the Church. "I do not want to talk to someone who is in no way related to the organisation in question," she stated before ending the telephone call.
Fines for unregistered religious activity continue to be imposed throughout Uzbekistan. The Karshi city Criminal Court in Kashkadarya Region fined four Council of Churches Baptists for unregistered religious activity last month. Judge Alexei Zhalilov who presided over the hearing - which was held without the Baptists being present - also ordered that 147 books, among them Bibles and New Testaments, 30 CDs and 6 audio-tapes should be confiscated.
The fines imposed are extremely difficult for most Uzbek people to pay, as
most are very poor.
