TASHKENT, Uzbekistan—Today the criminal prosecution of 26-year-old Marat Mudarisov begins in the Akmal Ikramobskiy Court in Tashkent. The Prosecutor alleges he is guilty of carrying on activity in the unregistered religious organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses and whose teachings insult the national and religious feelings of Uzbekistan citizens. If convicted he faces up to five years imprisonment.
Mudarisov was first arrested on 19 July 2002, charged with inciting religious hatred. Representing Jehovah’s Witnesses in this part of Central Asia, Anatoliy Mel’nik stated: “The particulars of the charges show that the prosecution’s real case is an attack on the religious beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They include, for example, complaints that Mudarisov believes that saluting the flag is idolatry, killing in war is wrong and that he has the ‘most true religion of existing Christian religions.’”
“There is also a remarkable complaint for Uzbekistan, a primarily Muslim country,” noted Mel’nik. “The prosecutor states Mudarisov is against the Russian Orthodox Church and against participating in its ceremonies. Where does this leave the majority of the population who also do not wish to participate in its ceremonies?”
The case against Marat Mudarisov began in April of this year when several individuals posing as electricians forced their way into an apartment where a peaceful religious meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses was being held. The police confiscated the religious literature, while threatening and insulting those in attendance. Subsequently, all in attendance were arrested and taken to the police station. Mudarisov was accused of organising an unlawful religious meeting.
The Human Rights Watch statement issued 12 September 2002, said of religious freedom: “Regrettably, though, this precious freedom is imperiled in many [OSCE] member states. Today, some of the most egregious violations of the right to freedom of religion take place in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Georgia…”
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom includes Uzbekistan in its International Religious Freedom Report for 2002 (7 October 2002): “The Government permits the existence of mainstream religions; however, it continued its harsh campaign against unauthorized Islamic groups it suspected of anti-State sentiments or activities.”