ASTANA, Kazakhstan — Shortly before the Oct. 25 re-registration deadline for all of Kazakhstan’s religious communities, officials pressured nearly a quarter of the signatories on the re-registration application of Grace Protestant Church in Karaturyk to remove their names.
“It seems the authorities especially chose to target those founders who are of Kazakh and Uygur ethnicity,” Pastor Zhursyn Koshkinov said.
One of the officials noted, “We only did what we were asked by the District Internal Policy Department (DIPD).” The DIPD reported the instruction came from the government’s Agency of Religious Affairs (ARA).
ARA official Zhumagali Alimbekov refused to say how the authorities can demand that the Grace Church signatories reveal whether or not they are active in the church or write statements to reveal their beliefs when this is not required by the Religion Law. Jehovah’s Witness communities have been raided “to make sure we are registered,” while a Protestant church’s worship was interrupted by the head of a state-backed “anti-sect” center.
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