Seventh-day Adventist Pastor Pavel Fedotov was arrested on October 21 during church services and detained for three days for holding “illegal religious meetings.”  Keston News Service (KNS) reports that Fedotov spoke briefly after his release, telling family members, “Everything is okay now.”

According to the KNS report, Fedotov traveled from the capital, Ashgabat, to the northeastern town of Turkmenabat on October 18 to meet with local Adventist Church members. Police disrupted the Saturday, or Sabbath, worship service, citing the fact that the Adventist Church is not registered as a religion in Turkmenistan and thus cannot hold religious meetings.  Police also accused Fedotov of “drawing children into religious activity.” Fedotov, along with a number of adults present, were arrested.  All but Fedotov were released soon after.

Following his arrest, Fedotov’s wife, Tatyana, traveled to Turkmenabat with documents showing that the Adventist Church had attempted to register under Turkmenistan’s 1997 compulsory religious registration laws.  Fedotov was released on October 24, three days after his arrest.

Although ostensibly protecting religious freedom, Turkmenistan’s laws, in practice, prevent registration of all but the two dominant religious groups; only the Russian Orthodox Church and Sunni Muslims have legal status. Since 1995, Christian organizations in the country have faced increasing government hostility, confiscation or destruction of property, and imprisonment of church leaders.  In November 1999, government officials in Ashgabat ordered the destruction of an Adventist church building.