Two Baptists in Zyryanovsk in the eastern Kazakhstan, who were given large fines on June 27 for religious activity without registration, have failed in their appeals to have the fines overturned.
Pastor Yegor Prokopenko was given the massive fine of 103,000 Tenge (870 US Dollars), while congregation member P. Shevel was fined half that amount. Average monthly salaries have been estimated to be roughly equivalent to 31,500 Tenge (260 US Dollars).
The fine on Pastor Prokopenko equaled the record fine for unregistered religious activity imposed in May on another Baptist pastor, Yaroslav Senyushkevich, who leads a congregation in the capital, Astana.
Prokopenko and Shevel appealed to the regional court on July 11, but the court rejected their appeal, local Baptists told Forum 18 on Nov. 24.
On Aug. 18 the two appealed to the prosecutor's office of the East Kazakhstan region, but acting prosecutor Tursun Veliev replied, “In such circumstances, reasons do not exist for an administrative review of the existing court decisions.” The two Baptists then lodged an appeal with Kazakhstan's general prosecutor's office on Oct. 2. Nearly two months later, they have still received no response.
Despite this, on Oct. 31, local court bailiff D. Ksebaeva warned Proko-penko that if he fails to pay his fine within ten days the money will be taken from his pension.
On Nov. 9, another local court bailiff G. Kasenova visited Shevel's home and designated a refrigerator and a corner cabinet unit for confiscation. She estimated their value at 60,000 Tenge (470 US Dollars) to meet his unpaid fine.
The Baptists, who belong to the Council of Churches and whose congregations reject registration in all the former Soviet republics where they operate, call for the fines to be cancelled, the property not to be seized and for them to be allowed to practice their faith freely in accordance with Kazakhstan's Constitution.
Legal restrictions on religious freedom have been increased by the authorities, through “extremism” and “national security” legal amendments. Baptists and other Protestant Christians have so far been the main victims of the legal changes, being fined for unregistered religious activity.