Tajik Authorities Say Baptists Must Register Before Gathering To Worship

In Tajikistan's capital of Dushanbe, a District Court has ordered a Baptist congregation to stop meeting for worship in an apartment of one of the congregation's leaders. Reports this week from Forum 18 and ABP say that officials insist the church must register under the country's Religion Law before it can meet. The Baptists refuse to do so on principle, and insist that under the Religion Law they should be permitted to meet privately without registration. The Baptists have filed an appeal of the ban with the Dushanbe City Court.