Persecution of Christians Increases in Uzbekistan  

By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND (ANS) – Protestant church leaders and their families in Uzbekistan appear to be suffering increased persecution.

Uzbekistan is located in Central Asia, north of Afghanistan.

That according to reports received by the Barnabas Fund, which says that many of these individuals have now gone into hiding.

These latest reports follow a surge of anti-Christian activity in Uzbekistan over several months, the Barnabas Fund reported in a news release. It is believed, the release stated, that this activity is linked with the Sept. 1 anniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence.

According to the Barnabas Fund, Sergey Hripunov, a well-known church leader and evangelist, was given a week to leave the country with his wife and children. This is the second incident of deportation of a church leader from Uzbekistan in a month.

The leader of a church started by Hripunov was given only 24 hours to leave the country with his wife and two children, the youngest of whom was only two weeks old. They were given no reason for the order.

Around Aug. 24, a group of Christians was arrested in the town of Termez by the Security Services. A number of the Christians, the Barnabas Fund reported, including women and children, were beaten. Some of the group were released the next day, but six men were detained. Officials have yet to give information as to why the Christians were arrested. One of the men detained was a Ukraine national who was visiting friends in Uzbekistan.

In another incident in Aug., a group of Uzbek Christians, mostly young men but also including a pregnant woman, were arrested in Surhandarya. The men were beaten and jailed.

Earlier in Aug. the Barnabas Fund reported, the government increased fines for unregistered religious activity. As a result, those caught sharing their faith will now face fines between 200 and 600 times the minimum monthly salary. This is an increase on the current fines, which stand at 50 to 70 times the minimum monthly wage.

According to some reports, the minister is not exempt from being fined. If a person continues to share his or her faith and is caught a second time they along with their pastor, could face a prison sentence of between three and eight years.

Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of the Barnabas Fund, commented in the news release, “In the context of increasing general repression in Uzbekistan, Christian leaders and their families are being targeted as if they were violent criminals to be restrained in the run-up to independence celebrations. I ask Christians around the world to pray that the Uzbek authorities will recognize that the peaceable activities of Christian believers are no threat, but rather a source of positive help to society.”