23rd April, 2015
A Baptist in Kazakhstan, Nikolai Novikov, could face up to three years in jail for refusing to pay a 2013 fine for offering religious literature which has not been censored by the state on the streets, Forum 18 News Service has learned.
He has refused to pay that and other fines, as he states they are unjust. Prosecutor Aydin Rashidov insistently claimed that as Novikov”s “crime” was of what he described as “middling seriousness”, if convicted Novikov would not be imprisoned. However, Rashidov stated that he would have to live under restrictions ” such as being subject to a curfew every night at his house – for up to three years.
Novikov has pointed out that the prosecution is illegal under Kazakhstan’s law.
Meanwhile, administrative prosecutions to punish individuals for commercially distributing Muslim religious materials without state approval continue.
And, apparently for the first time, the General Prosecutor”s Office has published a list of religious and other texts deemed “extremist” and whose production, import or distribution is banned.
– FELIX CORLEY, Forum18 News Service
