Bibles Now on List of Prohibited Books in Uzbekistan

In what some in Uzbekistan think may be a change in the authorities' repression policy, there has been an apparent increase in confiscations of privately owned religious books from homes during raids, ASSIST News Service reports. Associated with this have been violations of due legal process, including denials of legal representation, misrepresentation of whether a defendant has pleaded guilty, verdicts not being provided within the time laid down in law, and so-called "expert analyses" that have confused Christian books with Jehovah's Witness books. As police confiscated a Uzbek Bible, a Russian Bible and a book by John Bunyan from one Christian, they said, "Don't you know that it is prohibited to keep such books at home?" Police said the books would be sent for "expert analysis" by the Religious Affairs Committee and that their owner would be fined.