The Associated Press Thursday, May 10, 2007
Kazakhstan’s small Hare Krishna community faces imminent expulsion from its property after the country’s highest court backed local authorities in a land dispute, the group said Thursday, claiming religious persecution.
The community bought 48 hectares (118 acres) of land in 1999 near Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, but authorities later said legal violations were involved in the purchase.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that the Krishnas could continue using the land, but on Friday it overturned that order.
A statement from the Krishnas said the 2005 ruling had been the last barrier to the execution of a lower court’s confiscation order issued in January, and that “the land may be confiscated at any moment now.”
Last November, as a result of disputes over the privatization of houses on the land, workers under court order tore down all 13 of the group’s cottages.
Meanwhile, a government commission rejected the Krishnas’ claims of persecution, saying the land purchase violated religious laws because the buyers did not specify it would used for religious purposes.
The U.S. Embassy expressed concern about the legality of razing the houses, and urged Kazakh authorities to end what it called an “aggressive” campaign against Hare Krishna followers.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has said it appeared the Krishnas were targeted because of their religious beliefs.
Krishnas have said that another reason why local authorities sought their expulsion could be that their plot of land — near the country’s commercial center, Almaty — is prime real estate.
Land and property prices in and around the oil-rich Central Asian nation’s biggest city have soared in recent years amid a construction boom fueled by a rapid economic growth.
The mostly Muslim nation has long been tolerant of other religions, but in recent years the government has tightened laws on religious organizations, citing concerns about religious extremism.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/10/asia/AS-GEN-Kazakhstan-Hare-Krishna.php