Almaty, Kazakhstan - Authorities have accused Hare Krishna religious followers of illegally acquiring land outside the Kazakh commercial capital Almaty and are seeking to destroy several summer houses and possibly expel the group altogether, a Hare Krishna spokesman said Thursday.
Government officials said the case was a simple matter of the group's failing to follow land regulations procedures, but spokesman Maxim Varfolomeyev accused Kazakh courts of arbitrariness and religious persecution.
"We are sitting on a powder-barrel," Varfolomeyev said.
He said court officers accompanied by police and a bulldozer came to knock down five cottages on the 48-hectare (118-acre) plot on Wednesday, but were blocked by Hare Krishna community members. He said authorities were targeting the group because the plot was prime real estate.
Local courts have ruled that the group committed violations in buying the land and said that five members failed to carry out proper procedures on their cottages when buying them from the state.
"The issue has nothing to do with religion," said Yeraly Tugzhanov of the government's Religious Affairs Committee. "They should have followed proper procedures in registering the land."
The legal battle began two years ago when the Karasai district administration sued 21 members for failing to follow proper regulation when they privatized their cottages. At the same time, the district administration filed a separate suit demanding confiscation of the land.
Court orders are pending to knock down another 12 Hare Krishnas' cottages, while the community is appealing a separate court's land seizure order.
"In one go, they want to get rid of a religious minority and get a juicy morsel of land," said Ekaterina Levitskaya, another Hare Krishna member.
Ninel Fokina, head of the Almaty Helsinki Committee rights group, said authorities appeared to simply be coveting the Hare Krishnas' land.
"It's obvious that they (Hare Krishnas) are being purposely forced out," Fokina said.
Land and property prices in and around the oil-rich Central Asian nation's biggest city have soared in recent years amid a construction boom fueled by a rapid economic growth.
The mostly Muslim nation has long been tolerant to other religions, but in recent years the government has tightened laws on religious organizations, citing concerns about religious extremism.