Source: Forum 18, January 9, 2026
In November, police raided a Baptist church’s worship meeting, blocking the doors. Those present rejected pressure to write statements. When church leaders refused to register the church, police took administrative cases to court, but a judge dismissed them in December.
In September, police visited [another] Baptist church. A woman who complained that the church was teaching children later admitted she wrote the complaint “under pressure and dictation from the police.” Police interrogated a pastor’s child in school in the parents’ absence. Police in both cases refused to comment.
Read more. Note that the country’s religious laws allow only state-registered religious communities to hold worship services, which must be held at state-approved locations. As a rule, Council of Churches Baptist churches do not seek state permission to exercise their freedom of religion. The Muslim community faces even tighter restrictions: only mosques subject to a state-controlled board are permitted to exist.