Further restrictions imposed in Kazakhstan's draft religion law

Kazakhstan's draft religion law was amended with further restrictions on November 7, according to a November 18 report from Forum 18. The amendments to the law include mandating a fixed fine of 50 times the minimum monthly salary for those found guilty of worshipping, building or opening places of worship, or publishing or distributing religious literature without government permission. The proposed amendment would also require both parents to give permission before a child can attend a religious event and would ban believers from expressing their faith beyond their "own circle."

Pray that this law will not be approved. Ask God to work in the hearts of Kazakhstan's leaders so that they too will know the Good News.

For more information on the persecution facing Kazakhstan's Christians, click here.

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Kazakhstan Profile

Location
Asia

Population
15,522,373 (July 2011 est.)

Ethnicity (%)
Kazakh (Qazaq) (53.4), Russian (30), Ukrainian (3.7), Uzbek (2.5), German (2.4), Other (8)

Religion (%)
Muslim (53.68), Non-religious (33.94), Christian (12.15), Other (0.23)

Leader
President Nursultan A. Nazarbayev

Government type
Republic; authoritarian presidential rule

Legal system
Based on Islamic law and Roman law

Statistics provided by CIA World Factbook and Operation World.