Because a United Methodist congregation in the western city of Smolensk has a Sunday school which is attended by four children, the Regional Court dissolved the Church on March 24. The church's pastor, Aleksandr Vtorov, said the court agreed with the Regional Organised Crime Police that the Methodists were breaking the law by conducting “educational activity in a Sunday school without a corresponding license”. Investigation into the congregation began after a complaint from a local Russian Orthodox bishop. It originally focused on a proposed missionary college, before switching to the Sunday school. Vladimir Ryakhovsky of the Moscow-based Slavic Centre for Law and Justice fears the Methodist congregation's liquidation increases the threat to other religious education.

Christians in Laos continue to be affected by government interference and intolerance. On February 22, Laotian officials arrested 15 Christian families from the Hmong ethnic group in the Bokeo district. Authorities arrived in Ban Sai Jarern village with six trucks and hauled away eight Christian families. Seven other families from neighbouring Fai village were also taken. The next day, nine other Hmong church leaders were sentenced to 15 years in prison for conducting Christian meetings which had grown too large. There are serious fears for the wellbeing of all in custody.

Easter celebrations in Bangalore and Shimoga District in India were marred by violence when Hindu extremists stormed services at two different churches on Easter Sunday, beating at least 16 Christians, including two pastors.

A mob of more than 150 Hindu nationalists launched an attack on a Pentecostal church at 9 am, accusing the church of "forced" conversions. The attackers beat 35-year-old pastor Mandya Nagraj and five others. They also vandalized church property, including the church’s roof and musical instruments.

Police arrested six of the attackers and agreed to provide protection to the pastor. The Pentecostal church, attended by around 60 Christians, has been functioning for six years with no evidence of attempting to convert people by force or fraud.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen assailants— led  by the Hindu priest of a local temple— attacked Christians of an independent church in Byapanahalli in the suburbs of Bangalore.

The aggressors beat 30-year-old pastor P. Isaac and nine believers, including a 17-year-old girl identified only as Jency. The girl was rushed to a hospital for first aid.

Following the attack, the assailants went to the homes of a few believers and warned them against attending the church. They also took Pastor Isaac to the police station and sought to register a complaint against him for "forced" conversions. Police interrogated the pastor and subsequently released him.

But police then brokered a “compromise” between the attackers and the pastor, requiring him to leave the area.

The independent church was established around seven years ago, and has more than 60 members.

Attacks on Christian holidays are becoming increasingly common in India. Last Easter,  Hindu extremists beat two pastors of Believers' Church in Salwa village in Madhya Pradesh state's Mandla district. They arrived at the house of the pastors, Dinesh Toppo and Chandan Chhinchani, to launch the assault.

Similarly, on Christmas Eve of 2007, extremists led a series of violent attacks on Christians and their property in Orissa state's Kandhamal district.