TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Pastor Sergei Rychagov of Grace Presbyterian Church, Tashkent, was heavily fined for violating the Religion Law, missionary activity, “illegal” religious teaching and violating the procedure for holding religious meetings.
However, Rychagov learned of the fine only in June, Protestants said.
Police bullied five teenagers from a local orphanage who had been attending the church into writing statements against him, they added.
The officer who brought the case insisted that Rychagov had violated the law, while the judge who fined him refused to explain why he had done so.
In Urgench, Anti-Terrorism Police accused a local Baptist of “teaching religion illegally.” Police have already seized religious literature and the man’s car. (F18)
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