A Kazakh pastor, who is being detained for ‘inflicting serious harm to health’, in July launched a hunger strike and appealed to the UN to protect him from the authorities.
Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev (67) has been held in custody since May following a complaint by a church member's mother. She claimed that her daughter Lyazzat Almenova had suffered psychological harm after attending the pastor’s church in Astana.
Despite repeated appeals from Lyazzat herself that he is innocent and she is psychiatrically healthy, the authorities have continued to detain the pastor.
