Baptist churches in Kyrgyzstan are the latest religious group to be targeted by National Security Committee (NSC) secret police officers, with raids and fines being imposed on believers.
NSC officers have carried out raids on Council of Churches Baptist congregations, which refuse to officially register with the state. They have become the latest religious minority group to be targeted, in addition to crackdowns on other communities.
According to Norwegian human-rights organisation Forum 18, the secret police recently raided a church in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital city, during a Sunday service, following which the church’s leaders were fined for holding meetings without registration. Similar incidents have also taken place in recent months, including a raid on a church in the nearby village of Vasilyevka, which did not result in punishment.
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