JEHOVAH'S WITNESS RECRUITED DEAF PERSONS IN URALSK
by Yulia Multilova
A specialized administrative court of the city of Uralsk fined one of the members of the Christian congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses of the West Kazakhstan province, a correspondent of the portal Moi Gorod reports.
Thus, on 25 April 2016 the administrative court imposed on a resident of Uralsk, Dina Sarsebekova, a fine of 100 times the monthly calculated index [MRP] for illegal conduct of missionary activity on the territory of the West Kazakhstan province.
According to the director of the administrative department for Administration of Religious Affairs of the West Kazakhstan province, Adil Nurmukhanov, Dina Sarsebekova arrived at the homes of deaf persons, introduced herself in sign language, and invited them to some activity that was supposed to occur on 23 March at the address Prospect Abulkhair Khan 73 (it is at this address that the religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses is registered—author's note), and then showed a video tape with religious contents on her tablet.
"Introducing herself as a sign language interpreter, Sarsebekova visited several families in which there are deaf persons. However after another visit to one of the families of the city, the parents of a deaf daughter sent to us in the administration a statement about propaganda of a certain religious movement. We collected the necessary materials, interrogated the suspect, and send the case to court," Adil Nurmukhanov explained. On 25 April sentencing occurred, where Sarsebekova did not admit her guilt. She maintained that she was not engaged in missionary activity in the name of the religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses but simply was sharing her opinion with neighbors.
However the court found 26-year-old Dina Sarsebekova guilty on the basis of article 490, part 3, of the Code of Administrative Violations of Law of the republic of Kazakhstan, "Violation of the legislation of the republic of Kazakhstan concerning religious activity and religious associations," and set a fine of 212,100 tenge (about US$636).
It should be noted that for conducting missionary activity it is necessary to be registered in the Administration for Religious Affairs of the West Kazakhstan province. In 2016, six missionaries are officially active on the territory of the province. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 May 2016)
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