avoided a prison sentence following "prayers" and "appeals of the people of God," to the authorities, a news agency reported Friday, June 6.
Pastor Sergei Nizhegorodtsev from the village of Georgievka in Eastern Kazakstan faced a possible four months prison sentence for refusing to comply with a court-ordered ban on his church services, the Forum 18 News Service (F18News) said.
The prison threat came after special forces of the former Soviet republic reportedly monitored an "unregistered" Easter church meeting in his home, with over 20 other fellow Christians.
PROTESTS FROM EVERYWHERE
But in a major turn-around, deputy procurator of Zharma district, Erzhan Zharylgapov, told the pastor that he withdrew his case after receiving "many" letters and protests "from everywhere" , especially Moscow, church officials claimed.
"Tell people to stop sending these letters,!" Zharylgapov was quoted as saying in a statement released by the church. Kazakstan has been criticized for its crack down against churches and other groups under its controversial Article 362 part 1 of the criminal code.
The long-running case against pastor Nizhegorodtsev also included his refusal to pay a fine imposed in February 2002 for leading the unregistered church. Low enforcement officers confiscated furniture and other family possessions, including a 25-year-old washing machine, reports said.
FAMILY CALF THREATENED
"They would also have confiscated the family calf, but said they had nowhere to keep it," explained the well informed F18News, which has close ties to a religious rights organization and monitors persecution.
Nizhegorodtsev’s church belongs to the International Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians/Baptists which refuses to accept registration, as it believes it would lead to unacceptable interference by the secular authorities.
Many Baptist and Jehovah’s Witness congregations have faced in harassment in Kazakstan, a mainly Islamic nation of about 17 million people, because they do not want registration or have been denied it, F18News reported.
