hearing this week, BosNewsLife monitored Sunday, March 4. Salavat Serikbayev, 32, and Makset Djabbarbergenov, 26, did not make their court date last Monday, February 26, in the regional capital of Nukus to face charges of leading an unregistered religious meeting, news reports said. The pastors declined to make public the reason for their absence from court.
"Police have come to my house twice to take me by force this week," said Serikbayev, who was
not at home on either occasion. Djabbarbergenov was also absent when police came to his home to arrest him on Wednesday, February 28, Christian news agency Compass Direct News quoted Protestant sources as saying.
Both pastors face imprisonment for the duration of the trial if they attend the next hearing on Monday, March 5, Serikbayev told reporters. The pastor said that Uzbek law gives police the right to jail criminal suspects who fail to attend their court hearing.
BETHEL CHURCH
Serikbayev, pastor of Bethel Church in the village of Muinak and Djabbarbergenov were among
18 pastors detained during a January raid in the village of Kaskol-2 near Nukus, reported
Compass Direct News.
Uniformed police apparently led by two officials from the city prosecutor’s office burst into an informal gathering of church leaders from Nukus area’s various Protestant denominations early January 15. Authorities reportedly video-taped the group before escorting the Christians to the police station.
The pastors were allegedly subjected to racial slurs and verbal abuse while in police custody and told to write out and sign statements that the meeting had been a Christian gathering.
Uzbek law forbids unregistered religious meetings. Protestant denominations along with all other non-Muslim and non-Orthodox religious groups have been denied registration in Karakalpakstan, essentially outlawing their existence, church observers say.
SIGNING STATEMENTS
Serikbayev reportedly said that pastors who signed the statements were quickly released, while
he, Djabbarbergenov and several others who refused were held past midnight. During the following two weeks Serikbayev was twice called into the prosecutor’s office. The second time, he said he was notified that a case had been opened against him for "holding illegal meetings" and "inciting religious separatism," Compass Direct News reported.
Articles 216 and 244 of the Uzbekistan Criminal Code prescribe five and three years imprisonment for each crime respectively. According Serikbayev, Djabbarbergenov is only charged under article 216.
Officials were not immediately available for comment. The first convert from Christianity to Islam in his home town of Muinak when he became a Christian in 1994, Serikbayev is no stranger to persecution. In 1999 he spent four months in jail for his religious activities on what rights activists called "trumped up charges" of taking another man’s wife.
He said his jailors discriminated against him as a Christian during his imprisonment, refusing to allow him to receive food from his family. His wife was reportedly fired from her job because of the notoriety of his situation. In published remarks, the pastor said that if he were arrested again, it would be especially hard on his wife and five children, between the ages of 11 months and 10 years.
Despite his experiences, Serikbayev reportedly said that he wasn’t worried. "Worrying is when you lose your appetite and can’t sleep. I’m just praying and asking God what His will is."
