( Please pray for the persecuted Christians In Uzbekistan & around the world.)
 
Monday, August 21, 2006

Massive fines and jail proposed in Uzbekistan for sharing beliefs
 
By Jeremy Reynalds
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

UZBEKISTAN (ANS) -- Uzbekistan intends to impose massive fines and jail people - and the leaders of their religious communities - for sharing their beliefs outside places of worship.

Uzbekistan is located in Central Asia, north of Afghanistan (www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/uz.html).

According to Forum 18 News Service, the proposals were made at an Aug. 4 meeting of religious leaders, called by the state Religious Affairs Committee in the country’s capital, Tashkent.

Those attending the meeting were representatives of state-registered religious organizations, including the Spiritual Administration of Muslims in Uzbekistan, the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Central Asia, the Catholic Church in Tashkent, the Jewish community, the Baptist Union and the Full Gospel Church, a Pentecostal church. All unregistered religious activity is - against
international human rights standards - illegal in Uzbekistan.

According to Forum 18, the state Religious Affairs Committee told the religious leaders that they and their clergy must stop their members and those who regularly attend places of worship from sharing their beliefs with anyone outside their churches.

If anyone does share their beliefs outside church, it was proposed that they would be fined between 200 and 600 times the minimum monthly salary, Forum 18 reported the news service was told. One estimate from within Uzbekistan (detailed accurate economic information is closely guarded by the state) is that the minimum monthly salary is about 12 Uzbek Soms ($10 U.S.)

Those individuals persisting in sharing their beliefs outside a place of worship after being fined, would, along with the leader of their religious community, Forum 18 was told that the Religious Affairs Committee proposed, be jailed for between three and eight years.

FULL STORY at
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s06080100.htm