Uzbek Baptist denied permission to leave country

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Seven months after a fine for “illegally” bringing Christian magazines into Uzbekistan was overturned on appeal, passport officers stopped Tashkent Baptist Lidiya Guseva from leaving Uzbekistan, fellow Baptists said.

She was taken off a late-night train and had to return to Tashkent by taxi. Bailiff Sanjar Sultanov said the failure to cancel her exit ban was the fault of the court for failing to tell them it had cancelled the fine.

The court insisted it had told the bailiffs. This was the second known case since the beginning of September of an individual punished by an administrative court for his or her religious activity causing the denial of permission to leave the country.