Kyrgyzstan, Central AsiaThe religion of peace strikes again.

After the death of a 14-year-old Baptist in Kulanak in central Kyrgyzstan, the local imam and a village mob prevented his burial in the village, even in land allocated two years earlier for Christian burials, local Baptists told Forum 18 News Service. A mob, some of them drunk, threatened the Isakov family and the police did nothing to protect them. Instead the police forced their way into the house, stole the body and buried it 40 kms (25 miles) away "in a disrespectful manner", Baptists complained to Forum 18. Talay Jakypov of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Naryn Region told Forum 18 the decision not to allow the burial in the village came in writing from the district authorities. However, a spokeswoman for the Regional Administration denied this to Forum 18, saying "the whole village" was against the burial.

Aleksandr Shumilin, head of Kyrgyzstan's Baptist Union, rejects the district authorities’ view that the entire village opposed the burial, claiming that a group from the local mosque engineered the mob action.

This is the latest in a series of incidents in Kyrgyzstan in which converts from Islam to other religions have been denied burial.

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