Please pray for a 65-year-old pastor in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan, who has recently been sentenced to three years in prison.
Pavel Shreider, who lives in the country’s capital, Bishkek, was arrested last November by members of the country’s secret police. Earlier this month he was convicted on charges of ‘inciting racial, ethnic, national, religious or regional hatred.’ He denies all charges and is preparing to appeal.
According to Release International’s partner for Central Asia, national security officers searched his home and the homes of several other Christians when Pastor Shreider was arrested. They seized thousands of books, including Bibles, as well as cash and cell phones.
Pastor Shreider claims he was tortured during his interrogation and that the secret police used a stun gun to try and persuade another arrested church member to write a statement against him.
The indictment against the pastor stated that Shreider and other unidentified accomplices had ‘conceived of inciting religious hatred in order to undermine the integrity and security of the state.’ It went on to say he had ‘illegally organised a religious cell, based on the principles of Protestant Christianity, in which he exerted a manipulative influence on church members, as well as through religious literature that is negatively aggressive in nature towards other religions.’
Kyrgyzstan is one of a cluster of Central Asian countries that gained its independence in the early 1990s, following the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The country’s constitution provides for freedom of religion.
Release International’s partner said, ‘For many years now it has been impossible to register a single new church in Kyrgyzstan; and as for previously registered communities, their legal legitimacy is currently under great threat, due to the adoption of new legislative acts.’ He added, ‘I sincerely ask all caring Christians to pray diligently for brother Pavel Shreider, as well as for the church in Kyrgyzstan.’
- for Pastor Pavel Shreider: in particular for a successful appeal against his sentencing;
- for his congregation and other Christian churches who may feel under pressure in Kyrgyzstan at this time;
- for God to continue building his kingdom in Kyrgyzstan.
