raided by police failed Tuesday, September 10, to have their sentence revoked, Keston News Service (KNS) reported.
The two Christians are from a Pentecostal church led by Pastor Shakar Dosov in the Uzbek town of Gulistan, the regional centre of Syrdarya region, 110 kilometres (70 miles) south of the Capital Tashkent.
They had taken their appeal to a Syrdarya regional court, in an attempt to overturn the fines handed down by another judge on August 18. However, the regional court left the original verdict unchanged, said KNS, which closely monitors religious persecution.
The Christians, Pastor Dosov’s wife Tamara Dosova, and the deacon of the church, Sanjar Jabarov, will now be forced to pay about $40,000 in local currency for breaking the Uzbekistan law on religious organizations.
SET-BACK
It is seen as major set-back for the Christian community in the mainly Islamic former Soviet republic where average monthly wages are estimated at $50.
The fines followed a July 13 raid on Pastor Dosov’s home, where the believers were meeting, by 15 officials from the regional procuracy, the regional department of justice and the police, KNS said.
Police officers reportedly searched the house, wrote down the names of those attending the meeting, as well as confiscating religious literature of the pastor, who was himself away during the raid.
"WRONG DAY"
Judge Rasulberdiyev was quoted by KNS as saying in an earlier interview that he handed down the fines on August 18 because the Pentecostal community was not registered. But in a statement the fined Christians stressed they already tried 3 times without success.
"The first deputy chief of the department of justice simply tore up our documents, saying that we had come on the wrong day". However the first deputy head of the department of justice of Syrdarya region, Zikirilo Abduvahidov denied the accusations.
"No-one tore up their documents – that is downright slander," he told KNS. "They have not once submitted documents for registration as a religious community, and have only once come to see me for advice. There has been no law-breaking on our part."
Pastor Dosov told KNS that his church is continuing to seek registration in accordance with the law. "We are trying to fight for our rights. According to Uzbekistan’s constitution, every one has the right to profess any religion."
