Baptists from the village of Georgievka in Eastern
Kazakhstan region have ascribed the withdrawal of the criminal case against
Pastor Sergei Nizhegorodtsev to "the prayers and appeals of the people of
God". A 3 June statement from the church reaching Forum 18 News Service
reported that the deputy procurator of Zharma district, Erzhan Zharylgapov,
wrote to Nizhegorodtsev on 28 May to confirm the withdrawal of the case.
Zharylgapov told Forum 18 from Zharma on 6 June that he had received many
letters and protests "from everywhere" about the case, especially from
Moscow. "Tell people to stop sending these letters!"
Nizhegorodtsev was informed on 12 May that he faced a criminal case for
refusing to comply with a court-ordered ban on his unregistered church holding
services. The move came two weeks after the church's Easter service was raided
(see F18News 19 May 2003).
The charge sheet against him, dated 14 May, declared that "officials of
the police of Zharma district established that in the given house
[Nizhegorodtsev's home] a service was being held by the Evangelical
Christians/Baptists in honour of the Easter festival under the leadership of
the elder of the group of Evangelical Christians/Baptists, Sergei Alekseevich
Nizhegorodtsev, with the participation of 22 parishioners". The procuracy
argued that as the court had banned the church from meeting, this constituted a
crime under Article 362 part 1 of the criminal code, which punishes wilful
refusal to carry out a court order with up to four months' imprisonment.
As part of the long-running case, initiated after Nizhegorodtsev refused to pay
a fine imposed in February 2002 for leading the unregistered church, court
enforcers confiscated furniture and other family possessions, including a
25-year-old washing machine. They would also have confiscated the family calf, but
said they had nowhere to keep it.
"The case against Nizhegorodtsev was withdrawn for absence of the
substance of a crime," Zharylgapov told Forum 18. He added that he had
replied to Nizhegorodtsev's fellow Baptists who had written in his support to explain
that the case had been withdrawn and why.
Nizhegorodtsev's church which belongs to the International Council of
Churches of Evangelical Christians/Baptists - refuses to accept registration,
as it believes it would lead to unacceptable interference by the secular
authorities. Many Baptist and Jehovah's Witness congregations in Kazakhstan
have faced harassment for functioning without registration, either because they
do not want registration or have been denied it.