Turkmenistan: Protestants Still Targets
Literature Bans on the Orthodox Lifted
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Turkmenistan announced in a speech on Feb. 2 that the government ban on religious literature for the Orthodox Church has been lifted, according to Forum 18 News. No other church group in the country has the same freedom. Religious publishing is allowed only with government approval, and very little is allowed.
Christian literature, audio recordings and DVDs are often confiscated by police during raids. Christians also report that Christian literature is routinely confiscated at border crossings, both when entering and exiting the country. Travelers are subject to frequent and thorough searches. Anything more than a handful of books will almost certainly be confiscated because officials assume extra copies are for distribution, which is illegal. The first question travelers are asked by customs officials at the airport is whether they have religious literature. Restrictions on religious literature have grown even stricter recently, with border guards confiscating literature even from those leaving the country.
Literature Bans on the Orthodox Lifted
Pastor Ilmurad Nurliev of the Light to the World Protestant Church in Mary, Turkmenistan, is serving a four-year prison sentence on charges his church members say were fabricated to punish him for his religious activity. Pastor Nurliev had tried to register his church before his arrest in August 2010. His wife, Maya, told Forum 18 News, “The court ruled that Ilmurad is a drug addict and ordered forced treatment for this in prison.”
In December, Pastor Nurliev was transferred to Seydi Labor Camp, where authorities are thought to use psychotropic drugs against prisoners. Thankfully, friends report that he has not been forced to undergo “treatment.” But he has been denied care for his diabetes and is very weak. Prison officials have allowed the pastor to practice his trade as a barber for camp staff and fellow prisoners instead of forcing him to work in the camp’s brick factory.
Pastor Nurliev had hoped to be included in a general prisoner amnesty in February, but he was not given amnesty. “The camp chief at Seydi told him he would be freed under amnesty if he acknowledged his guilt,” said one Protestant Christian. “But he refused.” Also that month, Pastor Nurliev’s wife was denied permission to see him or give him any food at his allotted monthly visit. She told Forum 18 that her husband is not allowed to have a copy of the Bible. She said she treasures his personal Bible at home as something she can hold in his absence.