Two Protestants in Kazakhstan have been fined a month’s worth of
wages for possessing “extremist” literature, the Forum 18 News Service
reported.
The majority of the books discussed Islam and the
evangelization of Muslims.
The government of the central Asian nation does not publish a list of
banned literature, according to Forum 18; instead, the accused are
informed at unannounced court hearings that they have committed a crime.
The latest convictions are part of a pattern of harassment against the
nation’s Protestant community.
The nation of 18 million is 47% Muslim,
47% Russian Orthodox, 2% Protestant, and 1% Catholic.