wfn.org | Turkmenistan Police: Finding Nemo, Hunting Adventists

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

August 30, 2004
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief APD
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Schweiz

Turkmenistan: Arbitratry Rule at Police: Finding Nemo, Hunting Adventists

Turkmenabad, Turkmenistan, 11.08.2004/APD      Nine children were
watching a video of the animated film Finding Nemo when police raided
the home of an Adventist family in the eastern city of Turkmenabad
(formerly Charjou) on August 7. "Without showing any warrant they
immediately began confiscating all the literature they could find," a
Protestant who preferred not to be identified told Norway based "Forum
18", an independent News Service promoting religious liberty. Police
  then put pressure on the owners to admit an "illegal" religious service
was underway. Meanwhile in the capital Ashgabad, the Adventists -
who once again have state registration as a religious community - cannot
rent premises for services to replace their church, demolished by the
authorities in November 1999. "Although we have official registration,
we see no real change so far," the Adventist church's pastor Pavel
Fedotov told "Forum 18" from Ashgabad on August 10. "We cannot
hold public worship as we cannot find anywhere to hold it."

The raid in Turmenabad came three days after a raid on a Baptist home
in Abadan (formerly Bezmein) near Ashgabad, where a prayer and Bible
reading service was underway. Like the Adventists, the Baptists also
once again have state registration, but this did not protect them from
the raid and a warning never to meet again.

Yet the Adventist family in Turkmenabad were simply relaxing at home
when the police raided their home. "The family's five children were
there together with children of the neighbours, and the mother was
in the kitchen preparing supper," the Protestant told "Forum 18". "No
service was underway at that time." As well as all books, compact
discs were also seized. The police took the owners of the flat to the
police station, where they forced them to write statements and
confiscated their identity documents (internal passports). Neither
the identity documents nor the confiscated books and compact discs
have yet been returned.

Police pressured the husband to sign a statement that an "illegal"
religious service was in progress when the police arrived. He
showed them a copy of the Adventists' registration documents,
which show that the Church has registered status in the whole of
the country.

Since the Seventh-dayx Adventist Church received registration again
on June 1 for the first time since 1997, the Ashgabad congregation
has sought somewhere to meet in vain. "All hall managers turn us
down as soon as they learn that we are looking for premises for a
Church," Pastor Fedotov told Forum 18. "We appealed to the authorities
to help us find premises to rent but they refused. The hyakimlik [local
administration] refused to talk to us, declaring that all communication
should be through the government's Gengeshi [Council] for religious
affairs."

The News Agency "Forum 18" tried to contact officials at the Gengeshi
on August 11 to find out why religious communities - even those with
registration - cannot rent public buildings for religious services, but
all the telephones went unanswered. No official of the registration
department of the Justice Ministry was prepared to talk to Forum
18 on August 11.

"Even though we have registration we can't do anything," Pastor
Fedotov told Forum 18. "We have got the impression that no officials
consider us to be an independent legal entity." [Editor: Felix Corley
for Forum 18 and APD]

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