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 LatterDays rated 6 months ago - Officials who raided a Bible class
TURKMENISTAN: It is our duty to check up on religious organisations
By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service /www.forum18.org>
Some ten officials from the local Religious Affairs Department, the police, secret police, Justice Ministry and Tax Ministry rai...
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- LatterDays rated 6 months ago
- Officials who raided a Bible class
TURKMENISTAN: It is our duty to check up on religious organisations
By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service /www.forum18.org>
Some ten officials from the local Religious Affairs Department, the police, secret police, Justice Ministry and Tax Ministry raided a Bible class held by the Greater Grace Protestant church in a private flat in the capital Ashgabad on 11 April. Asked the reason for the check-up, Murad Aksakov of the local administration told Forum 18 News Service they wanted to find out how many people attended the classes, who those people were, and whether everything was in order with the church's documents. Pastor Vladimir Tolmachev told Forum 18 he was warned that the church was not allowed to teach its own members without permission from the government's Religious Affairs Committee, even though its officially-recognised Charter allows this. Officials told Tolmachev he would receive an official warning. Further such warnings could lead to the church's registration being stripped from it, rendering all its activities illegal. In an illustration of the problems even registered religious communities face, the church has no building of its own and has already had to move its services ten times this year. [ED. Follow link for complete article. http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1116]
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