Turkmenistan’s secret additions to already restrictive Religion Law

Turkmenistan’s secret additions to already restrictive Religion Law
It’s been over a year since the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan added further restrictions to its Religion Law, but the changes were introduced in such secrecy that few knew about them until well after the event. It wasn’t until January this year that regional news agency Forum 18 shed . . . Read More

Uzbekistan releases jailed Christian convert after six years

Uzbekistan releases jailed Christian convert after six years
Tohar Haydarov.International Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians and Baptists Uzbek authorities have released a Christian convert six years into his 10-year jail sentence. Tohar Haydarov, 33, was released on parole on 8 November after serving six years and 10 months of his prison term. A judge had ruled he . . . Read More

Azerbaijan registers Bible Society after 20 years, but will it be able to print Bibles?

Azerbaijan registers Bible Society after 20 years, but will it be able to print Bibles?
Rasim Khalilov (left), Chairman of the Bible Committee, and Pastor Elchin Pashaev, one of the founders of the new Bible Society, holding the certificate of registration.United Bible Societies   The recent registration of a Bible Society in Azerbaijan, after a 20-year fight, has brought fresh optimism to the country’s minority . . . Read More

Uzbek pastor and family granted asylum in US after 9-year ordeal

Uzbek pastor and family granted asylum in US after 9-year ordeal
Finally, their journey is over. Three years since fleeing Uzbekistan – following four years in a labour camp, house arrest and death threats – Pastor Dmitry Shestakov has arrived in the United States, where he and his family have been granted asylum. It’s been almost 10 years since Shestakov was . . . Read More

Central Asian Christians feel repercussions of governments’ focus on Islamist threat

Central Asian Christians feel repercussions of governments’ focus on Islamist threat
When the three suicide bombers who killed 44 people at Istanbul’s main airport on 28 June were identified as Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals, it provided another reminder that the threat from the so-called Islamic State reaches far beyond Syria and Iraq. And nowhere is that threat being taken more . . . Read More

Freedom of religion or belief ‘undermined’ in corrupt countries

Freedom of religion or belief ‘undermined’ in corrupt countries
Corruption is increasingly seen as a factor behind the persecution of minority Christians around the world, and the world leaders who gathered at an Anti-Corruption Summit in London in May showed they are beginning to pay more attention to the effects of corruption on freedom of religion or belief. Evidence . . . Read More

2016 World Watch List drawn from world headlines

2016 World Watch List drawn from world headlines
Some of the most urgent headlines of the past 12 months, from the global spread of jihadist violence to North Korea’s test of a putative atomic weapon, intersect with an updated list of the most difficult places to live as a Christian. For the 14th straight year, North Korea is . . . Read More

Kazakh Christian could face 10 years in jail

A Seventh-day Adventist in Kazakhstan could face between five and 10 years in prison if convicted of “spreading religious discord”. Yklas Kabduakasov, 54, was arrested in August, after a year of police surveillance and the secret filming of a conversation between him and four Muslim students. His trial began in . . . Read More