Uzbekistan’s military have taken part in a raid on a Baptist meeting for the first time, according to Forum 18.
The Norwegian-based news service reports that on 25th November, as many as 40 officials raided a Baptist meeting in the capital Tashkent’s Yashnobod District. It says that for the first time, members of the National Guard were involved alongside members of the State Security Service secret police, Justice Ministry and local police.
When asked why the military were involved, Forum 18 reports that inquirers were told it was a “special operation”.
Baptists told Forum 18 that the building was “ransacked” during the raid – which took place about an hour into a Sunday service – and almost 8,000 items of literature and DVDs, including the songbooks used in worship at the church, were taken.
Fourteen people were taken to the local police station and interrogated and all who had attended the meeting had their details taken. Baptists told Forum 18 that while at the police station, the local chief of police told them that “unless we officially register the church, the police will come every Sunday and disrupt the church service every time until we give up and stop our activity”.
Forum 18 reports that raided congregation is part of the Baptist Council of Churches, which refuses, on principle, to register with the state.
