Bishkek, November 8, 2010
The St. Vladimir Orthodox Church was robbed in the Kyrgyzstan capital.
Priest Dmitry Bogolyubov told an Interfax-Religion correspondent on Sunday that at 3 a.m. on November 6, unidentified criminals rushed into the guard's house, beat the guard, then tied him up and started torturing him trying to learn where to find money and valuable things.
"They torn off his cross and insulted him as a Christian. Then they broke open the kiosk, forced open the safe, took the money and silver items (crosses, rings, chains). They took off the bars, broke the window and passed to the sanctuary, threw about all the things there as well as in the rest of the church. They broke open boxes for donations. Thank God, they didn't take any church utensils or icons," the priest said.
After the criminals' attack they went away with money and silver. The guard is alive, but suffers serious injuries. A criminal investigation has been initiated.
Earlier this August, an Orthodox cemetery was desecrated in north Kyrgystan where unidentified vandals destroyed over 30 tombs.
According to the interviewee of the agency a series of Protestant churches have also been robbed in the republic: 15 Protestant churches were attacked in the last two months.
"The scenario is always the same: a group of four to six armed people of Asian appearance break into the church in masks. They beat the guard and tie him up; there are some lethal cases. The criminals take all valuable things (mostly money)," Father Dmitry said.
