Source: www.forum18.org
Date: May 29, 2026
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
Two National Security Committee (NSC) secret police officers led a raid on
the Sunday meeting for worship of a Council of Churches Baptist
congregation in the capital Bishkek on 19 April. Major Aleksey Akulich and
Senior Lieutenant Nursultan Nazarov had also led a raid on the same church
in September 2025. After both raids, officials handed summary fines of
about two weeks' average wage to the church's leaders for holding a
religious meeting without state registration.
Pastor Dmitry Golovin, who leads the church, rejects the accusation of
wrongdoing. He points to Article 34 of Kyrgyzstan's Constitution, which
guarantees the right to freedom of religion or belief. "Everyone has the
right to profess, individually or together with others, any religion or to
profess no religion at all," Part 2 of Article 34 declares. His appeal
against the April 2026 fine is due to be heard at Bishkek's Lenin District
Court in June (see below).
Council of Churches Baptist congregations choose not to seek official
registration in any country where they operate, as is their right under
international human rights law. In Kyrgyzstan, exercising freedom of
religion or belief without state registration is illegal and punishable
(see below).
NSC secret police officer Major Akulich did not answer his phone each time
Forum 18 called and did not answer written questions about why officials
raided the church and whether this was the initiative of the NSC or another
state agency. Alisher Alybayev of the National Agency for Religious Affairs
and Interethnic Relations – who also took part in the raid and issued the
summary fine on Pastor Golovin – put the phone down. He too has not
responded to Forum 18's written questions (see below).
The 19 April raid follows a raid on the Council of Churches Baptist
congregation in the village of Vasilyevka near Bishkek during its 25
January Sunday meeting for worship. An NSC secret police officer was joined
by officers from the Police's 10th Department (which oversees religious
extremism cases) (see below).
The NSC secret police officer questioned the leader of the congregation.
"The first question was: 'Why don't you register?'" The church leader
explained that the requirement to register contradicted their "Biblical
beliefs", a church member told Forum 18. The officer insisted he was not
trying to frighten church members. "They reacted to us in a human way," the
church member added. "They didn't fine us or do anything, but all this did
contain some kind of threat of this" (see below).
The local police officer subsequently and reluctantly sealed a door leading
to the room in the house used for worship meetings. An officer from the
Police's 10th Department (who had been present during the 25 January raid)
arrived on 20 February. He told church members that the Department was
trying to decide what to do with the church. The officer understood that
while police had sealed one door, church members accessed the church's
meeting room through another door. "He said that you are still meeting for
prayer. A church member responded: 'You can't ban us from praying'. And
that's how it all ended" (see below).
The NSC secret police has a long history – with other state agencies - of
obstructing the exercise of freedom of religion or belief, especially by
communities it does not like. In addition to Council of Churches Baptists,
it has targeted Ahmadi Muslims, Falun Gong practitioners, Jehovah's
Witnesses and True and Free Reform Adventists (see below).
In 2021, the NSC sought to have 19 Jehovah's Witness publications and
videos banned as "extremist" via the General Prosecutor's Office. The
attempt failed in court on a technicality. The then head of the NSC secret
police expressed a desire not only to ban Jehovah's Witness literature but
the community as a whole (see below).
The NSC secret police has not responded to Forum 18's question as to
whether a criminal case it opened in 2019 against so far unspecified
members of the Jehovah's Witness national centre in Bishkek remains open or
has been closed (see below).
In March 2025, a Court in Chuy Region banned the True and Free Reform
Adventist Church as an "extremist" religious organisation. The civil case
had been brought by Chuy Region Prosecutor's Office with the close
involvement of the NSC secret police. Indira Aslanova, Senior Expert of the
Centre for Religious Studies, an independent organisation in Bishkek, told
Forum 18 in July 2025 that accusing the True and Free Adventists of
"extremism" is "absurd" (see below).
The NSC had arrested True and Free Adventist Pastor Pavel Shreider in
November 2004. A Bishkek court jailed him in July 2025 for 3 years. In
March 2026, the Supreme Court in Bishkek changed the rest of his prison
term to a fine of 3 months' average wage. He was freed the same day. He
subsequently reluctantly paid the fine. The NSC secret police deported him
on 9 April (see below).
Secret police, religious affairs official raid Bishkek Baptist church –
again
On 19 April, National Security Committee (NSC) secret police officers
alongside an official of the regime's National Agency for Religious Affairs
and Interethnic Relations raided the Sunday morning meeting for worship of
the Council of Churches Baptist Church in Bishkek.
Council of Churches Baptists choose not to seek state registration, as is
their right under international human rights law
(https://odihr.osce.org/odihr/
belief without state registration is illegal and punishable
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
NSC secret police officers Major Aleksey Akulich and Senior Lieutenant
Nursultan Nazarov, as well as Alisher Alybayev of the National Agency took
part in the raid. "They showed no documents authorising the inspection,"
church members noted on 8 May.
Major Akulich asked the church's pastor Dmitry Golovin "provocative
questions" about service in the military, participation in elections and
vaccinations, church members said. "At this time, Nazarov was conducting
hidden filming." When Pastor Golovin saw this, he ended the conversation.
"Nazarov then went into the building and filmed all those present."
On 21 April, Alybayev of the National Agency drew up a record of an offence
against Pastor Golovin under Violations Code Article 142, Part 7 ("Carrying
out religious activity and using a facility for religious purposes without
state registration"). He summarily fined him 200 Financial Indicators,
20,000 Soms (about two weeks' average wage for those in formal work).
The Violations Code allows the police and the National Agency to issue
summary fines for violating Article 142. The Amending Law which came into
force in February 2025 sharply increased fines
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Pastor Golovin rejected the accusation. He pointed to Article 34 of
Kyrgyzstan's 2021 Constitution, which guarantees the right to freedom of
religion or belief. "Everyone has the right to profess, individually or
together with others, any religion or to profess no religion at all," Part
2 of Article 34 declares. Pastor Golovin also stressed that a private home
is not a religious site.
Pastor Golovin lodged an appeal to Bishkek's Lenin District Court. The
Court has set a date for the hearing of 4 June, but his lawyer has asked to
postpone it until after 15 June, he told Forum 18 from Bishkek on 29 May.
NSC secret police officer Major Akulich did not answer his phone each time
Forum 18 called on 29 May. Forum 18 sent written questions to his phone,
asking:
- Why he and other officials raided the church on 19 April, as well as in
September 2025;
- Why church leaders have been fined;
- Whether the raids and fines were the initiative of the NSC secret police,
the National Agency or another state agency.
Forum 18 had received no response by the end of the working day in Bishkek
of 29 May.
Reached on 27 May (a public holiday), Alybayev of the National Agency
repeatedly put the phone down when Forum 18 asked about the raid on the
Baptist community. Forum 18 sent written questions the same day asking:
- Why he issued a summary fine to Pastor Golovin;
- and whether he or the NSC secret police initiated the 19 April raid on
the church.
Forum 18 had received no response by the end of the working day in Bishkek
of 29 May.
Secret police, 10th Department Police raid Vasilyevka Baptist church
On 25 January, an NSC secret police officer and officers from the Police's
10th Department (which oversees religious extremism cases) raided the
Sunday meeting for worship of the Council of Churches Baptist Church in the
village of Vasilyevka north of Bishkek on the border with Kazakhstan.
"Some of them behaved provocatively, but others were broadly normal," a
church member told Forum 18 on 26 March.
The NSC secret police officer called over the leader of the congregation.
"The first question was: 'Why don't you register?'" The church leader
explained that the requirement to register contradicted their "Biblical
beliefs", the church member noted. The officer insisted he was not trying
to frighten church members. "They reacted to us in a human way," the church
member added.
However, after the worship meeting was over, the officers called in a team
of police officers. They took statements from the church leader and another
church member.
When the officers left, one from the Police's 10th Department remained
behind. He started to photograph everything and told church members: "You
have this house and everything is set up, you need to register." Church
members again explained why they choose not to seek state registration.
"They didn't fine us or do anything, but all this did contain some kind of
threat of this," the church member added.
The local police officer then visited the church on 17 February. "He was
very polite. He said that reluctantly he would have to seal the house. He
went ahead and reluctantly did so." The officer stuck a paper on one door,
giving his name and role and the date when he placed the seal. He gave no
written document.
Officers from the Police's 10th Department later called to say they would
be visiting. An officer (who had been present during the 25 January raid)
arrived on 20 February. He told church members that the Department was
trying to decide what to do with the church. "Unlike on the first occasion,
when he was with a commission, this time he was very polite," the church
member told Forum 18. "He said they would visit again in any case."
The officer understood that while police had sealed one door, church
members accessed the church's meeting room through another door. "He said
that you are still meeting for prayer. A church member responded: 'You
can't ban us from praying'. And that's how it all ended."
September 2025 secret police raid on Bishkek Baptist community
NSC secret police officers Major Aleksey Akulich and Senior Lieutenant
Nursultan Nazarov also took part in a 14 September 2025 raid on Bishkek's
Council of Churches Baptist Church Sunday meeting for worship.
Officer Izzat Ozubekov of Bishkek's Sverdlov District Police drew up
records of an offence under Violations Code Article 142, Part 7 ("Carrying
out religious activity and using a facility for religious purposes without
state registration") against Pastor Golovin and Demchenko. He summarily
fined each of them (https://www.forum18.org/archi
200 Financial Indicators, 20,000 Soms (about two weeks' average wage for
those in formal work).
Forum 18 asked Officer Ozubekov in October 2025 why he fined the Baptists
for exercising their right to religious freedom guaranteed by the
Constitution. "They violated the Religion Law, because they do not have
registration," he responded
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
On 3 February 2026, Sverdlov District Court rejected Pastor Golovin and
Demchenko's appeal. On 10 March, a panel of three Judges at Bishkek City
Court, chaired by Judge Taalaykul Kadyrkulova, rejected their final appeal,
according to the decision seen by Forum 18.
Secret police's long history of obstructing freedom of religion or belief
The National Security Committee (NSC) secret police has a long history –
with other state agencies - of obstructing the exercise of freedom of
religion or belief (https://www.forum18.org/archi
especially by communities it does not like.
In addition to Council of Churches Baptists, the NSC secret police has
targeted Ahmadi Muslims, Falun Gong practitioners, Jehovah's Witnesses and
True and Free Reform Adventists (see below).
The NSC secret police also played a decisive role in one of the most
high-profile freedom of religion or belief censorship cases. The film "I am
gay and Muslim", by Dutch filmmaker Chris Belloni, follows the life of
several gay Moroccans who reflect on their orientation and Islam. The film
was scheduled to be shown in September 2012
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Duino (One World) human rights film festival.
After a protest about the film to the NSC from the then acting Chief Mufti,
the NSC's Investigative Directorate wrote to the then State Commission for
Religious Affairs (SCRA) asking it to conduct an "expert analysis" of the
film. The NSC asked specifically if the film is "religious extremist",
whether it is associated with a "religious extremist organisation", if it
calls for Kyrgyzstan's Constitution to be changed and whether it incites
"ethnic, racial or religious hatred".
Two SCRA "experts" viewed a disc of the film provided by the NSC secret
police, as well as two accompanying brochures. They wrote that the film
"shows Islam in distorted and offensive tones and completely contradicts
the canons of Islamic doctrine" and "it is clear that the aim of the film
is to incite religious intolerance and provocative actions on the part of
the Muslim population". The analysis concluded that the film was therefore
"extremist" under the terms of Article 1, Part 1 of the 2005 Anti-Extremism
Law.
The NSC secret police confiscated the film before it could be shown. Four
NSC officers gave film festival organiser Tolekan Ismailova an official
warning (https://www.forum18.org/archi
showed the film she faced possible prosecution under Article 299
("Incitement of national, racial, or religious hatred") of the then
Criminal Code.
On 28 September 2012, Bishkek's Birinchi May (Pervomaisky) District Court
upheld a suit from the General Prosecutor's Office banning the film
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
as "extremist". The General Prosecutor's Office then ordered the State
Communications Agency to take "urgent measures" to block access to the film
on the internet. Attempts to challenge the ban on the film and the warning
issued to Ismailova failed, with Bishkek City Court rejecting the first
appeal in December 2012 and the Supreme Court in May 2013.
As of 29 May 2026, the General Prosecutor's Office includes "I am gay and
Muslim" on its list of "informational materials deemed extremist by the
courts", citing the 2012 and 2013 court decisions.
Ahmadi Muslims, Falun Gong association
Ahmadi Muslims have not been able to meet for worship since July 2011. As
their communities in Bishkek and three other locations sought
re-registration with the then State Commission for Religious Affairs
(SCRA), the NSC secret police told the SCRA that Ahmadi Muslims are a
"dangerous movement and against traditional Islam". The SCRA then rejected
the re-registration application
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Then-SCRA Head Ormon Sharshenov, asked by Forum 18 in December 2011 how the
SCRA concluded that Ahmadi Muslims are dangerous, replied
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
heaven."
The General Prosecutor's Office then tried to have the Ahmadi community
banned as "extremist". Its first attempt in June 2012 failed on "technical"
grounds (http://www.forum18.org/Archiv
Then Deputy General Prosecutor Lyudmila Usmanova, who signed the first
liquidation suit, refused to explain why her Office was again seeking to
ban the Ahmadi community through the courts. "I won't comment on court
decisions and won't give consultations by phone," she told Forum 18 from
Bishkek (https://www.forum18.org/archi
2012.
In July 2014, Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court rejected the Ahmadi community's
appeal to revoke two earlier 2013 decisions of lower courts in favour of
the SCRA's 2011 refusal to give state registration to the community
throughout the country.
An association of the Falun Gong spiritual movement was registered in July
2004, but - under Chinese pressure - was liquidated as "extremist" in
February 2005. On 26 January 2018 a Falun Gong association was registered,
yet less than eight weeks later on 20 March 2018 the Justice Ministry
cancelled its registration
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
As of 29 May 2026, neither the Ahmadi Muslim community nor Falun Gong
appear on the list of banned "destructive, extremist and terrorist
organisations" on the website of the National Agency for Religious Affairs
and Interethnic Relations. Nor does either appear on lists on the websites
of the NSC secret police, General Prosecutor's Office or the Justice
Ministry's Probation Department.
NSC secret police targeted Jehovah's Witnesses
On 4 December 2019, the National Security Committee (NSC) secret police
opened a criminal case
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
unspecified members of the Jehovah's Witness national centre in Bishkek
under Article 313, Part 2, Point 2 of the Criminal Code then in force. This
punishes "Incitement of racial, ethnic, national, religious or
inter-regional enmity (discord) conducted by a group of people in a prior
conspiracy" with jail terms.
As part of the criminal case, the NSC secret police raided the Jehovah's
Witness national centre in Bishkek and the adjoining residence in March
2021. Officers seized documents and electronic equipment from both. "After
protests they returned the confiscated materials within one day," Jehovah's
Witnesses told Forum 18
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
The NSC secret police's then chief Kamchybek Tashiyev claimed to the
General Prosecutor in July 2021 that Jehovah's Witness teaching "is
contradictory and oriented towards people who don't know the fundamentals
of religion and the Bible" and based on "the personal views of the founders
of the organisation who misinterpret the Bible".
Tashiyev claimed, without giving evidence, that Jehovah's Witnesses "at
various times and in various countries have been accused of rape, child
kidnapping, murder, incitement to murder and suicide, desertion, fraud,
theft, racism, extortion, bodily harm, prostitution, etc. The activity of
Jehovah's Witnesses is banned in Russia, China, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan,
Iran, Iraq and in a number of other countries."
Tashiyev called for not only Jehovah's Witness literature to be banned, but
the community as a whole.
On 2 December 2021, a Bishkek court ruled that a suit from the General
Prosecutor's Office to ban 13 Jehovah's Witness publications and 6 videos
as "extremist" had not been filed correctly and dismissed the case
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
police was a party to the case, backing the suit to have the materials
banned.
Forum 18 asked the NSC secret police in writing on 26 March 2026 (re-sent
on 26 May):
- Whether the criminal case is continuing or has been closed;
- If it has been closed, when it was closed; and
- Why local Jehovah's Witnesses have not been kept informed on the course
of this criminal investigation.
Forum 18 had received no response by the end of the working day in Bishkek
of 29 May.
Regime crushes True and Free Reform Adventist Church
The True and Free Reform Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kyrgyzstan is part
of a reform movement within Adventism that emerged during the Soviet
period. (It is separate from the Seventh-day Adventist Church, with its
headquarters in the United States.)
The Church – which is led by Pastor Pavel Shreider (deported on 9 April)
- chooses not to seek state registration.
The National Security Committee (NSC) secret police arrested Pastor
Shreider in Bishkek in November 2024. Officers searched his home and those
of about 10 other church members
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
thousands of books, including Bibles, as well as cash and mobile phones.
The NSC secret police later returned the 2,196 books they confiscated
during the November 2024 raids. The NSC handed back about 80 per cent of
the books in spring 2025. It returned the rest in September 2025.
After their arrest, NSC secret police officers tortured Pastor Shreider and
another detained church member Igor Tsoy during interrogations.
On 10 July 2025, nearly three months after his criminal trial began,
Bishkek's Birinchi May (Pervomaisky) District Court jailed Pastor Shreider
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
be followed by deportation. Bishkek City Court rejected his appeal on 25
October 2025. He then appealed to the Supreme Court
On 25 March 2026, the Supreme Court in Bishkek changed the rest of Pastor
Shreider's 3-year prison term to a fine of 3 months' average wage. He was
freed the same day (https://www.forum18.org/archi
He subsequently reluctantly paid the fine.
On 9 April, officers who said they were from the National Security
Committee (NSC) secret police deported Pastor Shreider
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
car, took him to the land border and banned him from re-entering the
country," someone who knows him told Forum 18. "There were no deportation
documents and they put no mark in his [Russian] passport." He was due to
pay for his own deportation, but the NSC secret police officers did not
demand any money on deportation day.
Forum 18 asked the NSC secret police in writing on 26 May why its officers
had deported Pastor Shreider, given that he was born in Kyrgyzstan and has
family in Kyrgyzstan. Forum 18 pointed out that his community has not
attacked anyone and does not pose a danger to individuals. Forum 18 had
received no response by the end of the working day in Bishkek of 29 May.
Court bans True and Free Reform Adventists as "extremist"
On 19 March 2025, Alamudin District Court in Chuy Region banned the True
and Free Reform Adventist Church
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
religious organisation. The civil case had been brought by Chuy Region
Prosecutor's Office with the close involvement of the NSC secret police.
Indira Aslanova, Senior Expert of the Centre for Religious Studies, an
independent organisation in Bishkek, told Forum 18 in July 2025
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
True and Free Adventists of "extremism" is "absurd".
On 4 August 2025, Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court in Bishkek rejected the appeal
against the ban (https://www.forum18.org/archi
whole process took 20 minutes when the Judges decided to go into their
chamber for discussion and they came out in a couple of minutes and
announced that they upheld the previous decision," Church members told
Forum 18. The Supreme Court upheld the ban permanently, and there is no
possibility of challenging it in Kyrgyzstan.
In September 2025, church members lodged a further appeal to the United
Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva, church members told Forum 18.
The Church can no longer meet for worship because of the ban. It previously
met in its place of worship in the village of Lenin in Alamudun District of
Chuy Region, just north of Bishkek.
In 2025, officials added the True and Free Adventist Church to the "list of
organisations deemed terrorist and extremist by the courts" on the websites
of the General Prosecutor's Office and the Justice Ministry's Probation
Department. The General Prosecutor's Office also includes on its list of
"informational materials deemed extremist by the courts" unnamed "printed
and electronic versions of materials (books)" produced by the Church, based
on the March 2025 Alamudin District Court decision.
As of 29 May 2026, the True and Free Adventist Church does not appear on
the list of banned "destructive, extremist and terrorist organisations" on
the website of the National Agency for Religious Affairs and Interethnic
Relations. Nor does it appear on a list on the website of the National
Security Committee (NSC) secret police.
Forum 18 asked the National Agency for Religious Affairs and Interethnic
Relations in Bishkek in writing on 26 March 2026 whether the True and Free
Adventist Church is still banned and, if so, why. Forum 18 pointed out that
the Church is not listed on the National Agency website as banned. Forum 18
had received no answer to its questions by the end of the working day in
Bishkek of 29 May.
UN Special Rapporteurs' concern over Adventists' torture, arrests,
prosecution
On 23 July 2025, five United Nations Special Rapporteurs – including
Nazila Ghanea, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief –
wrote to the regime (AL KGZ 4/2025
(https://spcommreports.ohchr.o
about the "arrests, detentions and alleged torture" of members of the True
and Free Reform Adventist Church, as well as the subsequent criminal
prosecution of Pastor Pavel Shreider.
The Special Rapporteurs also noted the 19 March 2025 court ruling banning
the True and Free Reform Adventist Church as "extremist".
The Special Rapporteurs asked the regime for further information or
comments on their actions against the True and Free Adventists and about
Pastor Shreider's current state of health. They also asked how Pastor
Shreider's prosecution and the court-imposed ban on the Church are
"compatible with the international human rights obligations", including
under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(https://www.ohchr.org/en/inst
(ICCPR). They also asked what measures had been taken to "investigate the
credible accusations" of torture against the four Church members.
The regime's 20 September 2025 response
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Rapporteurs merely recounted the prosecution case against Pastor Shreider
and the ban on the Church. It insisted that "the ban on the activities of
the aforementioned association and the criminal prosecution of its
individual members are carried out in accordance with national law and the
international treaties to which the Kyrgyzstan is a party". (END)
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Kyrgyzstan
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For more background, see Forum 18's Kyrgyzstan religious freedom survey
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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