Two Protestants have been given criminal convictions to punish them for their activity, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Vissa Kim, pastor of Grace Light of
Vissa Kim, pastor of a Protestant Church in Jambyl [Zhambyl] Region in southern Kazakhstan, was today (1 April) fined 10 times the minimum monthly wage for praying for a member of his church, a church member who wished to remain unnamed for fear of reprisals from authorities told Forum 18 News Service. As well as having a criminal record, he has also been told to pay large court fees which Forum 18 has been unable to clarify. Meanwhile, Sergei Mironov, leader of a Protestant drug rehabilitation centre in East Kazakhstan Region closed down by the local authorities, continues his attempts to overturn the closure of the centre and his criminal conviction.
Forum 18 is also aware of a criminal case opened against the leader of another Christian-run drug rehabilitation centre in
Officials at the Justice Ministry’s Religious Affairs Committee were reluctant to talk about any of the cases on 1 April. They referred Forum 18 to Zhanna Unlashova, the legal expert at the Committee, but she said she needed time to study the cases.
Asked whether the State authorities in
Sentenced for praying
Judge Azamat Tlepov of Taraz City Criminal Court in Jambyl Region, fined Pastor Kim of Taraz’s Grace Light of
“Pastor Kim will have to pay the fine and court expenses amounting to some 150,000 Tenge [6,075 Norwegian Kroner, 755 Euros or 1,020 US Dollars],” one church member complained to Forum 18. “Now it looks like pastors will get fines for praying for the sick in churches.”
Church members told Forum 18 earlier that the case was raised several times by the Taraz city Police in 2009, but was later dropped because there was no evidence of a crime. Later the case was taken up by the National Security Committee (KNB) secret police. The KNB alleged that Pastor Kim inflicted harm to the health of a woman attending his church by praying for her. The Taraz city court started hearing the case on 1 December 2009 but subsequent hearings were postponed several times (see F18News 23 December 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1391).
When called earlier on 19 March, Judge Tlepov told Forum 18 that Pastor Kim was “not guilty of a crime.” Asked why Kim was being prosecuted for having prayed for the sick, and told that it is not unusual for some Christians to pray for healing by laying on of hands, Judge Tlepov said: “You need to tell this to the agencies which began the prosecution against him.”
Rehabilitation centre leader to challenge criminal conviction
Sergei Mironov, the Head of a Christian-run Spiritual Centre for the Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts and Alcoholics in Steklyanka village in East Kazakhstan Region, has failed in his attempt to have his criminal conviction overturned, as he told Forum 18 on 30 March.
On 9 February, Judge E. Berekbulov of Semei District Court No. 2 had found Mironov guilty of violating Criminal Code Article 126 Part 1 (“illegal deprivation of freedom not connected to kidnapping”). In the verdict, seen by Forum 18, Mironov was sentenced to limitation on his freedom for one year. The decision says that Mironov may not change his permanent workplace and residence, as well as travel to other places from his home town without first getting permission from an authorised state agency.
Mironov told Forum 18 that he intends to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The prosecutor alleged that Mironov had illegally detained a client at the Centre, but he insists the accusations were fabricated. He points out that the prosecution came after a series of moves against the Centre, including an armed raid by the police and KNB secret police, two fines and a permanent ban on its activity (see F18News 6 October 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1359).
Aleksandr Artamasov, Deputy Head of East Kazakhstan Regional Administration’s Internal Policy Department, refused to comment on Mironov’s case. “Religious communities can do social work but only if they do it in accordance with the Religion Law,” he told Forum 18 on 1 April and put the phone down.
Raid on church service was a “violation”
Meanwhile, the Ayagoz District Prosecutor’s Office in East Kazakhstan Region has written to members of the Grace Church to say that the officials involved in the check-up of a Sunday service on 24 January in the
The congregation – registered with the local authorities as a “religious group” within the Grace Church – had gathered in the home of Nurken Askarov and his family for the Sunday service when the raid took place, church members told Forum 18. Two members of the local Akimat (administration), Roza Kairbaeva and Aydarzhan Iklasov, were accompanied by four police officers. No search warrant was shown. They claimed that they had received a report that needed to be checked up on. While Iklasov filmed those present, Kairbaeva insisted that the service be halted and demanded to know “why are more then 10 people present in the house?” Police demanded that all those present give their names, addresses and places of work. Attendees were asked why they had come to the service.
Later that Sunday, officials of the Akimat’s Internal Policy Department drew up a report about Askarov and demanded that he sign a statement saying why more than 10 people were present in his home. When he refused to sign anything, one police officer threatened that he would face prosecution under the Code of Administrative Offences.
In the wake of the raid, church members wrote a complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Defending the raid to Forum 18 on 17 February was Dametken Sagyndykova, head of the Ayagoz District Internal Policy Department. “There was a report from a resident – we had to check it up.”
Church members told Forum 18 that they believe the Prosecutor’s Office only responded to their complaint because of calls from the Almaty Helsinki Committee, which has long worked for religious freedom in
SOURCE:
Forum 18 news service
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1428
Published on April 1, 2010
