KAZAKHSTAN: Husband jailed in Xinjiang, wife to be jailed from 2027 When Guldaria Sherizat's youngest daughter turns 18 in 2027, her 5-year jail term is set to begin. She was among 19 Kazakhs originally from China's Xinjiang Province convicted in Taldykorgan on 13 Apr...

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#Kazakhstan: Husband jailed in Xinjiang, wife to be jailed from 2027

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BELARUS: Supreme Court rejects last-ditch challenge to Greek Catholic parish liquidation Brest Regional Court ended the legal existence of all three previously-registered Greek Catholic parishes in Brest Region. On 9 April, the Supreme Court in Minsk rejected the appeal by the Parish of t...

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#Belarus: Supreme Court rejects last-ditch challenge to Greek Catholic parish liquidation

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#Belarus: Catholic priest arrested – by KGB?

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KYRGYZSTAN: Freed, fined, to be deported 66-year-old Pastor Pavel Shreider of the now-banned True and Free Reform Seventh-day Adventist Church is awaiting deportation at his own expense. He was freed from prison on 25 March after the Supreme...

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#Kyrgyzstan: Freed, fined, to be deported

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OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Born in Krasnodon 66 years ago, now ordered expelled On 21 March, Russia's occupation authorities in Ukraine ordered Baptist pastor Vladimir Rytikov to leave what they regard as Russian territory within two weeks. "I was born here and have lived here fo...

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Occupied #Ukraine: Born in Krasnodon 66 years ago, now ordered expelled

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RUSSIA: Handcuffed, stripped, beaten, "repeatedly subjected to electric shocks" The FSB raided at least four Jehovah's Witness households in Dimitrovgrad in Ulyanovsk Region early on 3 February. Masked officers knocked down Zhanna Popova when she answered the door. An officer struck her 60-year-old husband Igor Popov in the back, "forcibly twisting his neck", apparently to make him give up his computer password. At the local FSB headquarters, Popov was handcuffed, stripped, beaten, and "repeatedly subjected to electric shocks". An investigator forced him to sign a prepared statement "incriminating himself". Officials have not answered Forum 18's questions about the torture.

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#Russia: Handcuffed, stripped, beaten, "repeatedly subjected to electric shocks"

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BELARUS: "Your long-time pastor is leaving your parish against his will" Polish Catholic parish priest Fr Paweł Kruczek had served in Belarus for almost 20 years, Fr Adam Straczyński for 11 years. Their Bishop describes their "forced departure" as "painful". The regime's s...

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#Belarus: "Your long-time pastor is leaving your parish against his will"

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BELARUS: Praying daily for "speedy and honest restoration" of Red Church Asked if Saints Simon and Helena Catholic Church (Red Church) in central Minsk will be returned for worship once renovations are complete in January 2027, Deputy Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethn...

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#Belarus: Praying daily for "speedy and honest restoration" of Red Church

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RUSSIA: Revocation of citizenship after extremism convictions "gaining momentum" Born in Soviet Uzbekistan, Rustam Diarov had his Russian citizenship revoked in February 2025 while he was in jail to punish him for participation in Jehovah's Witness meetings. On 17 February 2026, p...

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#Russia: Revocation of citizenship after extremism convictions "gaining momentum"

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KAZAKHSTAN: Orthodox priest's 2-month pre-trial detention – on "fabricated" charges? On 25 February, Almaty's Investigative Court ordered independent Orthodox priest Yakov Vorontsov held until 23 April as investigators pursue criminal charges that he ran a drugs den. Police Investigat...

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#Kazakhstan: Orthodox priest's 2-month pre-trial detention – on "fabricated" charges?

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KAZAKHSTAN: Independent Orthodox priest's 10-day jailing, criminal case underway Supporters of independent Orthodox priest Fr Yakov Vorontsov – whose 40th birthday is today – fear officials might not release him from his 10-day jail term on 23 February, but rearrest him on crimina...

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#Kazakhstan: Independent Orthodox priest's 10-day jailing, criminal case underway

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UZBEKISTAN: Mosque prayers for sick mother to lead to former prisoner of conscience re-jailing? Probation Department officials threatened they would return former Muslim prisoner of conscience Fazilkhoja Arifkhojayev to jail if he again violates the terms of his conditional release. They spotted...

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#Uzbekistan: Mosque prayers for sick mother to lead to former prisoner of conscience re-jailing?

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UZBEKISTAN: Political prisoner tortured for protest against ban on reading Koran Political prisoner Dauletmurat Tajimuratov is serving a 16-year term in Navoi's Prison No. 11 for involvement in the 2022 Karakalpak protests. The Muslim has repeatedly faced punishment for exercising...

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#Uzbekistan: Political prisoner tortured for protest against ban on reading Koran

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ARMENIA: Prime Minister seeks to change leadership of legally autonomous Armenian Church Officials have not responded to questions why Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly called for the removal of the head of the Armenian Church, Catholicos Karekin, despite the constitutionally-...

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#Armenia: Prime Minister seeks to change leadership of legally autonomous Armenian Church

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RUSSIA: One church unsealed, others face banning suits In November 2025, Federal Security Service (FSB) officers, National Guard troops, prosecutor's office and fire service officials inspected a Council of Churches Baptist church in Rostov's Kirov Distri...

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#Russia: One church unsealed, others face banning suits

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OCCUPIED UKRAINE: "If we don't register, they'll come to every service and stop it" Russian Police and military officers (some with automatic weapons) raided Council of Churches Baptists' Sunday worship in Krasnodon on 25 January. "They said that if we don't register, they'll come to...

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Occupied #Ukraine: "If we don't register, they'll come to every service and stop it"

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KAZAKHSTAN: Wife to be jailed for advocating for husband jailed in Xinjiang? Guldaria Sherizat, an ethnic Kazakh originally from Xinjiang, is among 19 people on trial in Taldykorgan on 23 January for "inciting national discord against the Chinese people". At a demonstration sh...

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#Kazakhstan: Wife to be jailed for advocating for husband jailed in Xinjiang?

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RUSSIA: Four administrative fines for anti-war articles, criminal investigation underway Independent Orthodox priest Iona Sigida has not appealed against four administrative fines imposed in late December 2025. At least two punished him for articles on his church's website. Forum 18 asked...

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#Russia: Four administrative fines for anti-war articles, criminal investigation underway

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UZBEKISTAN: No mosque visits for Muslim serving sentence under effective house arrest Muslim prisoner of conscience Fazilkhoja Arifkhojayev, punished for criticising the regime's religious policies, is now banned from attending mosque. A Tashkent court imposed the new effective house a...

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#Uzbekistan: No mosque visits for Muslim serving sentence under effective house arrest

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KAZAKHSTAN: Complaint against church "under pressure and dictation from police" In November, police raided a Baptist church's worship meeting in Balpyk-Bi, blocking the doors. Those present rejected pressure to write statements. When church leaders refused to register the church,...

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#Kazakhstan: Complaint against church "under pressure and dictation from police"

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RUSSIA: Peaceful clergy statements "can become the target of prosecution" In a series of administrative prosecutions, a Krasnodar Region court fined Orthodox priest Fr Iona Sigida on 18 December for allegedly expressing "overt disrespect" for society, state bodies, and stat...

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#Russia: Peaceful clergy statements "can become the target of prosecution"

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AZERBAIJAN: Conscientious objector freed from prison under restrictions, with electronic tag Jehovah's Witness conscientious objector Elgiz Ibrahimov will serve the rest of his one-year sentence not in prison but on probation under restrictions, wearing an electronic tag. On 26 November, Shek...

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#Azerbaijan: Conscientious objector freed from prison under restrictions, with electronic tag

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UZBEKISTAN: Police conduct sexual harassment, threaten fines or jail for sharing faith Police and Struggle against Terrorism and Extremism police summon Jehovah's Witnesses who share their faith with others in public. Officers warn of fines of two months' average wages – and in one case...

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#Uzbekistan: Police conduct sexual harassment, threaten fines or jail for sharing faith

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RUSSIA: Buddhist's retrial, Protestant pastor's appeal fails On 22 October, Moscow City Court overturned the conviction and 8-year prison term handed to Moscow Buddhist leader Ilya Vasilyev for a Facebook post about a Russian missile attack in Ukraine made "sol...

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#Russia: Buddhist's retrial, Protestant pastor's appeal fails

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RUSSIA: Orthodox journalist to face in absentia criminal trial? Investigators in Moscow have opened a criminal investigation into Orthodox journalist Kseniya Luchenko for online comments from a religious perspective about Russia's war against Ukraine. She could ev...

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#Russia: Orthodox journalist to face in absentia criminal trial?

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KAZAKHSTAN: Fined, ordered deported, but torture unpunished On 21 November, Kentau Town Court fined and ordered deported Jehovah's Witness Daniyar Tursynbayev – an Uzbek citizen - for posting on Telegram about his faith. Deportation is suspended, pending his a...

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#Kazakhstan: Fined, ordered deported, but torture unpunished

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RUSSIA: Orthodox priest tortured, prosecuted for "overt disrespect for society" On 27 November, National Guard, Investigative Committee, and FSB officers raided an independent Orthodox church in Krasnodar Region. "They'd rummaged through the sanctuary, barbarously turning everyth...

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#Russia: Orthodox priest tortured, prosecuted for "overt disrespect for society"

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BELARUS: Will regime allow freed Catholic priests to return to ministry? Two Catholic priests, Fr Henryk Okolotovich and Fr Andrei Yukhnevich, who were handed long sentences at closed trials, were pardoned and freed from labour camp early on 20 November. They were taken to...

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#Belarus: Will regime allow freed Catholic priests to return to ministry?

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UZBEKISTAN: Jailed, fined for uncensored religious materials A Tashkent court jailed Muslim blogger Alisher Tursunov (Mubashir Ahmad) for two-and-a-half years for his online publications and ordered his sites closed. Tursunov did not appeal and is in labour cam...

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#Uzbekistan: Jailed, fined for uncensored religious materials

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KAZAKHSTAN: Prosecutors stall criminal investigation into police torture of Jehovah's Witness A court had to order Kentau Prosecutor's Office to begin a criminal investigation into police torture of and murder threats to Jehovah's Witness Daniyar Tursynbayev on 13 August. But prosecutors stall...

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#Kazakhstan: Prosecutors stall criminal investigation into police torture of Jehovah's Witness

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