Persecution of religious groups persists in Uzbekistan

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Uzbekistan continues to attack peaceful religious activity. Eduard Kim, a Baptist in the eastern city of Fergana, was fined the equivalent of nine months’ average wages after a raid by 10 state officials on his house where about 40 local Baptists were meeting for Sunday morning worship.

Kamal Musakhanov, a Pentecostal pastor near Tashkent, was fined more than two months’ average wages for "violating the rules on teaching religious doctrines." His congregation is affiliated with a registered Pentecostal church.

A Jehovah’s Witnesses meeting in the central city of Samarkand was raided and some members were severely assaulted by police.

And Grace Presbyterian Church in Tashkent was forced to halt all its activities. Asked why the church was stripped of legal status and property, an official said, "They violated the laws on religious propaganda, and not everything was in order with the auction whereby they had purchased their building."