9 June, 2009

Dear colleagues

Yesterday, the appeal we had submitted for the case of Liza Drenicheva at the City Court in Almaty was rejected (as we expected).
We had submitted our appeal at the end of May. The date for the hearing was set unexpectedly early by the court, on June 8. After a very short discussion the judges delivered their response - obviously decided beforehand - it was rejected.

We are now considering the next possible steps: bring the appeal to the Supreme Court, then to the UN Committee on Human Rights.

In a letter to US Congressman Wolf last March, the Kazakh Ambassador to the US defended his country's record on religious freedom and guaranteed that the rights of the Unification Church, a legal organization in Kazkahstan, would be respected. "Ms Drenicheva's case, he wrote, had nothing to do with the status of the Unification Church in Kazkahstan and was not a persecution of the Church by Kazakh authorities...The Church is legally registered and enjoys a full array of rights and privileges granted such groups under the Constitution of Kazakshtan".

However, based on the March 10 court decision that maintained the accusation against Liza (though her sentence was reduced and she was freed from jail), in May an investigation of the Unification Church of Kazakhstan was offficially launched by local authorities. We expect it to last till early July.

As you know religious freedom is being seriously threatened in our Eurasia Region, particularly in Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Central Asia. Alexander Dvorkin, the well known Russian anti-cult activist who has been recently appointed Chairman of Russia's Justice Department’s “Commission for the Implementation of State Expertise on Religious Science”, was officially invited last March to Kazakshtan to speak at the National Assembly. His speech was broadcast to every region, indicating clear policy of restricting religious minorities in the country.

We expect tension to continue with Liza's case appeal and the UC investigation in Kazakhstan. We are very grateful for your efforts in putting pressure on Kazkahstan authorities, especially as they prepare to hold the 3rd congress of leaders of world and traditional religions in Astana on July 1-2, and to chair the OSCE in 2010.