On 25 November, 20 plain-clothes officials, joined later by 20 more, raided Baptists meeting for Sunday morning worship in Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent.
For the first known time in such raids, members of the military – the National Guard – took part in the raid. Other agencies included the State Security Service (SSS) secret police, the Justice Ministry, and Yashnobod District Police. When Baptists asked why the SSS secret police and the National Guard were on the raid, the raiders responded: ‘It is a special operation’. Officials told the Baptists: ‘We as the state cannot adjust to you, you need to adjust to our laws.’
Ransacked
Officials searched every part of the building, which was ‘ransacked’. They confiscated about 7,800 items of literature and DVDs, including all books and songbooks. When one woman tried to conceal some songbooks, an official ‘screamed at her that you are liars, Christians must not hide anything’.
