Uzbek Court Rejcts Fines But Upholds Convictions of 3 Baptist Officials

Baptist Press yesterday reported that a court in Uzbekistan last month overturned high fines that were levied in October against the president of the Baptist Union, a Baptist Union accountant and a Baptist camp director. However their criminal convictions were left standing, as was the bar on their holding responsible positions in the Baptist Union for three years. The charges against the three of evading taxes and involving children in religious activities without their parents' consent grew out of assemblies held at the Joy Baptist Children's Camp. Some camp parents testified in favor of the three, while one parent who had signed a complaint said it had been dictated to her by prosecutors.