Uzbekistan fines Baptists of unregistered church

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Uzbekistan has fined 13 members of an unregistered Baptist church 100 times the minimum monthly salary.

The church has protested against the fines, claiming that more than 60 violations of Uzbek law were committed in the course of the arrests, detentions and interrogations which led up to the court proceedings. Among the criminal code articles said to be violated were those forbidding the use of violence by officials.

There have been several other recent raids and fines on Protestants. In one incident after fining three Protestants, Judge Makset Berdimuratov in the northwestern region of Karakalpakstan ordered the destruction of confiscated Christian books including the Bible.

When asked why Christians cannot keep copies of Bibles in their homes, the judge — in a very calm voice — stated that Bibles “must also be registered with the State Committee, and if they are not they will be destroyed once found.”