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KAZAKHSTAN: Government Proposes Retaining Punishments for Exercising Religious Freedom
Kazakhstan's proposed new Administrative Code continues current penalties for exercising freedom of religion or belief. The state-approved version being considered by Parliament continues existing fines and bans punishing individuals and religious communities operating without state-granted legal status or who conduct unregistered "missionary activity".
Those classified as foreigners who conduct unapproved "missionary activity" are set to continue to face fines and deportation, as is currently being threatened in the case of a Kazakh-born Baptist. Also, a new offence of inciting an undefined "religious superiority" is included in the government draft. A Baptist jailed for three days in 2009 for unregistered worship told Forum 18: "What we want is simple: to be left alone to pray to God and to speak to others of God without any obstruction. We don't want any privileges or any discrimination in our favour." He said that in the 1990s they could worship freely, "but since 2000 this has been banned and that has been banned."
Source: Forum 18 News Service
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