The justice ministry in Uzbek, part of the former Soviet bloc, has refused to renew the accreditation of the country's chief Rabbi Abe David Gurevich because he allegedly failed to provide proper documentation, Radio Free Europe reported. The ministry claimed that Rabbi Gurevich and the Chabad-Lubavitch movement failed to submit financial records.
The state press has questioned whether the rabbi, who has been a resident of Uzbekistan since 1990, has the authority to represent the Jewish community of central Asia. "None of the material written about us contains even a grain of truth," he said.