In mid-January a judge upheld one of two administrative fines totalling three months' average wages imposed on a Protestant-run drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in Sychevka in north-eastern Kazakhstan. She refused to explain why the authorities and the Court are punishing the charity work of the Protestants who only seek to help individuals with addiction problems. ‘We've given our decision, and you can read what's in there,’ she told Forum 18 News Service. ‘I'm not going to discuss it with you over the phone.’ The authorities have tried to punish the Centre since 2010. After four years' investigation the police had to abandon a criminal case of inciting ‘religious hatred’ for lack of evidence. Two administrative cases were then launched, which resulted in the fines and suspension of activity for three months. Kazakhstan's harsh Religion Law bans almost any religious activity away from state-registered religious premises see Kazakhstan religious freedom survey