Is praying speaking?
Is praying ‘speaking’? It is, and officials in various countries attempt to control even the prayers of their citizens. Kazakhstan has been aggressively targeting those who dare to pray without state permission. There have been ten known prosecutions in the first half of 2023 aimed at punishing individuals and organisations for maintaining and using places to pray without receiving state permission. This is about 10% of the total charges administrative prosecutions for exercising freedom of religion or belief, a sharp increase since 2022.
Eight of the 10 prosecutions – all of them involving Muslims – have ended with fines and/or court-ordered bans on activity.
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