Four foreigners fined for missionary activity in Uzbekistan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan - Four foreign employees of the Global Involvement through Education non-governmental organizations have been filed for conducting missionary activities in Uzbekistan.

"The Samarkand City Court has finalized the trial against four employees [of the local office] of the foreign non-governmental organization Global Involvement through Education," a source in the country's Supreme Court told Interfax on Tuesday.

"Allegations of missionary activities were fully confirmed by numerous witnesses during the investigation," he said.

"Under the pretext of teaching English, the foreign employees persuaded students of local universities to convert to a Protestant-style religion. Material evidence, including educational audio and videocassettes, CDs and various printed materials promoting Protestant ideas, was presented in court," he said.