On July 18, Olga Shchedrova was summoned to a court in Turkmenabad, Turkmenistan and threatened with fines and imprisonment for attending a non-registered Baptist church meeting. According to an August 4 report from Forum 18, Officials tried to force Shchedrova to deliver summonses to other Christians, but she refused to do so. Three days later the court officials took her passport, without her permission, and used it to gain access to her pension of 300,000 manat ($82.00 CDN). They withheld 255,000 in payment of her fine (which was to be 250,000) and gave her 46,000. When she asked where the remaining 4000 manat were, the officials told her that they had kept it for themselves. Throughout the conversation, the officials made fun of her because Shchedrova is deaf and mute.
On July 21, a similar summons was issued to Nezire Kamalova, also a deaf-mute Baptist. She was threatened with fifteen days in prison if she did not pay her fine. Her mother paid her fine, but then became very hostile toward Kamalova, threatening to send her to live with non-Christian relatives in a distant village so she would be unable to attend Christian services in Turkmenabad.
Religious freedom in Turkmenistan is virtually unknown for any faith other than the officially sanctioned Muslim Board and the Russian Orthodox Church. All other faiths are unable to register and are considered illegal. In recent months, pressure has been building against various religious communities, as police burst into private homes where believers are meeting and arrest those attending.
Pray for these ladies and other believers arrested, fined and imprisoned for the faith in Turkmenistan. Pray for the strength to stand in the face of opposition.
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