In what is possibly the first case of its kind, a court in Kazakhstan has ordered the destruction of religious literature. A total of 121 books have been confiscated from a Baptist, Vyacheslav Cherkasov, and ordered to be destroyed. This is happening in the northern Akmola region. The books include the Bible, children's Bibles and other books and leaflets about the Christian faith, primarily in Kazakh. Cherkasov was also fined one month's average salary. If he loses his appeal, court executors will carry out the destruction.
A Justice Ministry official in the capital Astana told Forum 18: "Most likely the books will be burned." An official from the State Agency for Religious Affairs (ARA) told Forum 18: "I don't care if the executors have scruples about destroying religious literature". Local Baptists told Forum 18: "We were shocked - this is sacrilege and illegality".
Human rights defender Yevgeni Zhovtis of Kazakhstan's International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law was very upset and told Forum 18: "It's terrible, terrible". Religious literature is routinely confiscated and the state seems determined to use censorship and other violations of freedom of religion and belief as tools to control society.
Source: Forum 18 News, which the Danish European Mission is co-founder and involved in the management of.
