ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Uzbek Protestant pastor Makset Djabbarbergenov was released from prison in Kazakhstan’s commercial capital of Almaty on Dec. 4 and taken to the airport to be reunited with his wife and four children. They boarded a flight for Germany in the early hours of Dec. 5 and arrived safely in Europe.
Facilitating the release and asylum in Europe was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Uzbekistan has been seeking to extradite Djabbarbergenov on charges which carry a maximum 15-year prison term to punish him for leading an unregistered Protestant community. His friends in Almaty said, “We need to thank the Kazakh government — they did the right thing.”
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