Migration police confiscated passports of 15 members of SKC

April 25, 2002 regional authorities raided an unregistered farm run by the Society for Krishna Consciousness in the village of Yeltay, in the Karasay District of Almaty Oblast. Tax, immigration, fire, and health and hygiene officials all were involved in the inspection. Police confiscated the passports of 15 foreign members of the community, 5 of whom were sentenced to deportation at a May 5, 2002 local court hearing, at which no charges were stated and the lawyers for the accused were not permitted to speak. In early June 2002, the Hare Krishnas appealed the deportations and the court also levied fines against three other members. Ultimately no members were deported.

See original Religious Freedom Report 2003, Kazakhstan (Released on December 18, 2003 by U.S. State Department).