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December 9, 2002
Uzbek court strikes another blow to religious freedom
NAVOI, Uzbekistan—On December 3, Justice Nozim Sherov of the Navoi City Court found 30-year-old Mars Munasypov, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, guilty of teaching religion without a “special education,” an offense under Article 229.2 of the Criminal Code. Mr. Munasypov was fined 87,500 som (approximately $80.00 US) but then was granted amnesty. He had already spent one month in detention awaiting trial.
According to John Burns, a Canadian human rights attorney appearing in behalf of Mr. Munasypov, the case highlights the growing menace to freedom of religion in Uzbekistan. “Registration laws such as the one in question are being used to curtail healthy religious expression and to persecute religious minorities like Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
This is the second case of a conviction on similar grounds in less than a week. A court in the capital, Tashkent, convicted 26-year-old Marat Mudarisov, also one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, of illegal religious activity. As in this most recent case, Mr. Mudarisov’s “crime” was that he had been speaking to others about the Bible.
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