Uzbekistan: Tashkent tightens censorship and controls on religious literature

The government bans books that encourage conversion, or, in the state's opinion, "distort" religious canons. The new law imposes "severe state restrictions" on the production, sale, distribution and importation of religious material. Even pilgrims from Makkah can have their religious material seized.

02/15/2014 17:17

Tashkent (AsiaNews/Forum18) - Books and other material that encourage people to change their faith or, in the state's opinion, "distort" religious canons are now banned under a sweeping new censorship decree, this according to a report by Forum 18, an online news service that focuses on human rights violations in Central Asia.

In effect since late January, the new decree provides the legal basis for "severe state restrictions" on the production, sale, distribution and importation of religious material.

Limits have already been in place under Uzbekistan's harsh 1998 Religion Law, but the new legislation provides for harsher punishments for law-breakers.

Officials with the State Religious Affairs Committee, which is in charge of enforcing the censorship, refused to discuss its provisions, but its effects are immediate. Any returning pilgrims - including those from Makkah - will have their literature seized for checking.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Tashkent-tightens-censorship-and-controls-on-religious-literature-30319.html