ALMALYK, Uzbekistan — Police in Uzbekistan decided to invite a Russian Orthodox priest to take part in a raid on a group of Baptists, a police officer reported.
Igor Skorik of Almalyk’s Assumption of the Mother of God Church pressured Baptists not to attend unregistered worship and to come to his church instead, church members said. The use of a cleric of one religious community to pressure members of another in cooperation with the authorities is a disturbing new development.
The raid on a private home was led by Major Urazali Kholbekov from the Tashkent Regional Criminal Investigation and Counterterrorism Department, who apparently arranged for Skorik to take part.
Skorik claimed he did not violate the law by taking part: “I was not there to check up on the Baptists but to just advise them.”
Local Baptists point out that the raid and Skorik’s participation violate both Uzbek law and international human rights law. Church members were arrested, and police claimed Baptists were at risk of a terrorist act that could be carried out in people’s homes.
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