A man who was accused of insulting Islam and inciting hatred for becoming a Christian in Muslim-majority Kazakhstan was jailed for 12 weeks, then given a sentence of seven years under house arrest, according to a group that works in support of persecuted Christians around the world.
Then he was hauled back into court and told he was being shipped to a prison labor camp for two years. Immediately.
The report involving Yklas Kabduakasov, 54, has been documented by officials with The Voice of the Martyrs, which explained the nation’s secret police investigated him and made statements to the court.
Those police, in Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, monitored his activities and movements for over a year, gathering secret recordings of his conversations with university students with whom he had a Bible study and raiding his home to seize his books.
VOM reported, “The 54-year-old father of eight sought full acquittal, stating that he had not insulted Islam nor had he ‘incited religious hatred.’”
Prosecutors at his trial claimed both of the charges were true, that he insulted Islam and incited violence, including by attempting to “force” his co-workers to become Christians.
“After the revised punishment was handed down and Yklas was rearrested, he was transferred to a labor camp in Pavlodar, 280 miles northeast of his home in Astana. His wife is now solely responsible for the care of the couple’s six minor children, including their son born in September 2015,” VOM reported.
His attorney has reported that an appeal is being prepared to Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court, which likely would offer him his last opportunity for reprieve.
VOM reported the law under which he was charged is that nation’s Criminal Code Article 174, which “is often used to target those the government views as political or religious dissidents. For those charged as first-time offenders under Part 1, punishments can range from two to seven years in prison or under restricted freedom. Those who are deemed as repeat offenders under Part 2 can face between five and 10-year prison terms in a labor camp.”
from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2016/04/02/christians-house-arrest-turned-into-term-in-labor-camp/
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