Pentecostal pastor faces criminal charges of swindling

Pentecostal pastor faces criminal charges of swindling

MARY, Turkmenistan — Pentecostal pastor Ilmurad Nurliev, arrested at his home in Mary in southeastern Turkmenistan on Aug. 27, faces criminal charges of large-scale swindling which carry a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment and confiscation of property, his wife, Maya, and his lawyer said.

Two women who had attended church meetings wrote statements that he took money from them, as did a man they had never heard of, charges his wife and other church members deny vigorously.

They say police pressured the two women to write the statements and they now regret doing so.

Another church member has been threatened that if she does not testify against Nurliev her husband — who is not a church member — will be sacked from his job.