Source: www.forum18.org
Date: July 14, 2025
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Felix Corley, Forum 18, and Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18
On 10 July, nearly three months after the criminal trial began, Birinchi
May (Pervomaisky) District Court in the capital Bishkek convicted True and
Free Reform Seventh-day Adventist Church Pastor Pavel Shreider on charges
of "incitement of racial, ethnic, national, religious, or regional enmity"
when "committed by a group of individuals". Judge Ubaydulla Satimkulov
jailed the 65-year-old Pastor for three years. The Judge ordered his
deportation at the end of the prison term.
The prosecution was led in court by Madaliyev of Birinchi May District
Prosecutor's Office. He demanded the maximum 7-year jail term but not
deportation. The deportation order appears to have been the initiative of
the Judge. Pastor Shreider was born in Talas district of Kyrgyzstan in the
Soviet period and lives with his family in Bishkek. But he holds a Russian
passport (see below).
Pastor Shreider was brought in in handcuffs and was held in the defendant's
cage in the court room during each hearing. "We were not allowed to
approach him in the cage to talk to him," one of those present at the trial
complained. They said people are used to seeing defendants in criminal
cases being held in a cage in the court room (see below).
Pastor Shreider rejected all the charges and is preparing to appeal, his
lawyer told Forum 18 after the hearing (see below).
"No evidence was provided [of incitement to enmity] and was not proven at
the trial," one of those present told Forum 18. "One single disc, as the
judge read out when passing the sentence, formed evidence of guilt for the
crime, but during viewing in the courtroom it was empty. The judge did not
cite anything else that proved any guilt. Yet the sentence was handed down"
(see below).
Forum 18 was unable to reach Judge Satimkulov on 14 July (see below).
The Deputy Director of the National Agency for Religious Affairs and
Interethnic Relations, Kanatbek Midin uuly, defended the right of any
country to enforce its own laws in the area of religion. "When these laws
are violated, punishment is envisaged," he told Forum 18 (see below).
Pastor Shreider's lawyer Akmat Alagushev earlier rejected the accusations.
"There is not a single reference in the indictment to the persons in
collusion with whom Shreider allegedly committed the mentioned crimes, and
no references to any specific names," he told Forum 18 in May. "Also there
is no concrete evidence of illegal actions Shreider allegedly committed in
the media, on the internet or publicly or otherwise" (see below).
Officials from the Office of the regime-appointed Human Rights Ombudsperson
Jamilya Jamanbayeva have visited Pastor Shreider in prison and listened to
relatives' concerns, but have concluded that no violations have taken place
and they need only to monitor the case. The Ombudsperson's Office has not
responded to Forum 18's question as to what further action it is intending
(see below).
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. They seized thousands of books, including
Bibles, as well as cash and mobile phones (see below).
The NSC secret police have now returned most of the 2,196 books they
confiscated during the November 2024 raids. "About 20 per cent are still
with the NSC and have not been returned," one individual told Forum 18 (see
below).
NSC secret police officers tortured Pastor Shreider and another detained
church member Igor Tsoy during interrogations. "I was given blows on my
head, chest and given kicks in my spine from behind by five officers,"
Pastor Shreider wrote in a November 2024 complaint to the National Centre
for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment in Bishkek. Officers "hit me with an iron pipe to
force me to confess that I committed crimes" (see below).
NSC secret police officers used a stun gun to try to coerce Tsoy to write a
statement against Pastor Shreider, causing multiple injuries. However, Tsoy
refused to do so (see below).
The National Centre for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment claimed that the torture cannot be
corroborated. Officials who participated in the arrest and investigation of
Pastor Shreider deny that officers tortured Pastor Shreider and church
member Tsoy (see below).
On 19 March, in a civil case opened by the NSC secret police and brought to
court by Chuy Regional Prosecutor's Office, Alamudun District Court
declared the True and Free Seventh-day Adventist Church an "extremist"
religious organisation and banned its activity throughout the country. The
community has appealed against the ban to the Supreme Court, but no date
has yet been set for the hearing (see below).
Indira Aslanova, Senior Expert of the Centre for Religious Studies, an
independent organisation in Bishkek, had earlier described accusing the
True and Free Adventists of "extremism" as "absurd". "I sincerely hope that
this time the judge will demonstrate greater objectivity, review the case
fairly, and take into account the alternative expert assessment," she told
Forum 18 (see below).
Aslanova noted Pastor Shreider's criminal conviction. "I'm not a lawyer but
I believe the problem won't be resolved until the organisation is removed
from the list of banned extremist organisations," Aslanova added. "As long
as it remains on that list, the relevant articles of the Criminal Code will
automatically apply to its members" (see below).
The regime has jailed others for exercising freedom of religion or belief
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Muslim prisoner of conscience Asadullo Madraimov has been jailed since
October 2023 for criticising the authorities for closing Kara-Suu
District's Al-Sarakhsi Mosque. Another member of the community, Mamirzhan
Tashmatov, was freed from prison in May 2024. In July 2023, a court jailed
Protestant Aytbek Tynaliyev for 6 months for allegedly "inciting religious
enmity" for social media posts sharing his faith.
Three-year jail term plus subsequent deportation
Eight months after the National Security Committee (NSC) secret police
arrested Pavel Davidovich Shreider (born 10 January 1960), Pastor of the
True and Free Reform Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Bishkek court has
ordered his jailing.
On 10 July, Birinchi May (Pervomaisky) District Court convicted Pastor
Shreider under Criminal Code Article 330, Part 2, Point 3. This punishes
"Incitement of racial, ethnic, national, religious, or regional enmity"
when "committed by a group of individuals". Punishment is a 5 to 7 year
jail term.
Judge Ubaydulla Satimkulov jailed Pastor Shreider for 3 years. The Judge
ordered his deportation at the end of the prison term. The written verdict
is expected by 18 July.
The prosecution was led in court by Madaliyev of Birinchi May District
Prosecutor's Office. He demanded the maximum 7-year jail term but not
deportation, Pastor Shreider's lawyer Akmat Alagushev told Forum 18 on 14
July. The deportation order appears to have been the initiative of the
Judge.
Pastor Shreider rejected all the charges and is preparing to appeal to
Bishkek City Court, his lawyer told Forum 18 after the hearing.
"No evidence was provided under Article 330 and was not proven at the
trial," one of those present told Forum 18. "One single disc, as the judge
read out when passing the sentence, formed evidence of guilt for the crime,
but during viewing in the courtroom it was empty. The judge did not cite
anything else that proved any guilt. Yet the sentence was handed down."
Forum 18 was unable to reach Judge Satimkulov on 14 July. His assistant did
not answer the phone or respond to written messages.
Forum 18 was also unable to reach Madaliyev of Birinchi May District
Prosecutor's Office. Officials did not answer any of the phones on 14 July
or respond to a written message.
Pastor Shreider's trial began with a preliminary hearing on 17 April
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
brought in in handcuffs and was held in the defendant's cage in the court
room during each hearing. "We were not allowed to approach him in the cage
to talk to him," one of those present complained. They said people are used
to seeing defendants in criminal cases being held in a cage in the court
room.
"Hearings were open and church members attended to support Pavel Shreider,"
one of those present told Forum 18. "About 20 attended the final session to
hear the verdict, with several more outside unable to fit into the court
room."
A journalist attended the final hearing on 10 July, but court officials
banned him from filming the reading of the verdict, one of those present
added.
The Deputy Director of the National Agency for Religious Affairs and
Interethnic Relations, Kanatbek Midin uuly, told Forum 18 on 11 July that
he was on holiday. He defended the right of any country to enforce its own
laws in the area of religion. "When these laws are violated, punishment is
envisaged," he told Forum 18. Officials at the National Agency in Bishkek
did not answer the phone on 11 or 14 July.
Pastor Shreider to remain in pre-trial detention
Since his arrest on 13 November 2024, Pastor Pavel Shreider has been kept
for more than 8 months under NSC secret police supervision at an Interior
Ministry Investigation Prison in Bishkek.
"Pavel Shreider will stay in the Investigation Prison until at least the
appeal is heard," one of those present at the trial told Forum 18. "We are
able to visit him. His conditions there are OK. He can read his own books
we have brought, including the Bible."
Pastor Shreider's address in Investigation Prison:
720005 Bishkek,
Oktyabr District,
Geologicheskiy pereulok 2,
Uchrezhdenie No. 21 Ispolneniya Nakazaniy,
Pavel Davidovich Shreider
Family appeal to regime-appointed Human Rights Ombudsperson
Family members appealed to the regime-appointed Human Rights Ombudsperson
Jamilya Jamanbayeva in April about the criminal prosecution of Pastor Pavel
Shreider. They were able to meet several staff to raise concerns about his
case.
"Officials monitored several hearings of the trial and visited him in
Investigation Prison," family members told Forum 18. "However, they noted
that no serious violations had occurred and they will simply monitor the
case."
Telephones at the regime-appointed Human Rights Ombudsperson's Office in
Bishkek went unanswered each time Forum 18 called on 14 July. Forum 18
asked in writing what further action the Ombudsperson is planning to take
in response to the family's appeal. Forum 18 received no immediate
response.
The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) has
found that the Human Rights Ombudsperson does not comply with the Paris
Principles (https://ganhri.org/accreditat
institutions, as among other problems it is not independent of the regime.
The authorities "since 2022 were looking into closing our Church and
seeking any excuses"
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.) One of its leaders, prisoner of
conscience Vladimir Shelkov, died in a Soviet labour camp in 1980
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
The Church – which is led by Pastor Pavel Shreider - chooses not to seek
state registration. Exercising freedom of religion or belief without state
registration is illegal and punishable
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
The authorities "since 2022 were looking into closing our Church and
seeking any excuses", church members, who asked not to give their names for
fear of state reprisals, told Forum 18 in May 2025. They noted a case
brought in 2021 against two church members. "Allegedly under instructions
of Pastor Shreider, they manipulated an old woman, another member of the
Church, into selling them a house she owned."
Supreme Court appeal against church banning
On 19 March, in a civil case opened by the NSC secret police and brought to
court by Chuy Regional Prosecutor's Office, Judge Ayke Musayeva of Alamudun
District Court declared the True and Free Seventh-day Adventist Church an
"extremist" religious organisation
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
activity throughout the country.
On 28 March, the NSC secret police announced the raids and criminal case
(without identifying Pastor Pavel Shreider) and the ban on the True and
Free Seventh-day Adventist Church on its Instagram page.
On 17 June, the community appealed against the ban to the Supreme Court in
Bishkek. Its Civil and Economic Judicial College is due to hear the appeal.
No date has yet been set for the hearing, the lawyer Akmat Alagushev told
Forum 18 on 14 July.
"Although the ban has entered into force, our Church has not been listed
publicly as banned," a church member told Forum 18. They expect the Supreme
Court hearing in about 3 or 4 months' time.
Indira Aslanova, Senior Expert of the Centre for Religious Studies, an
independent organisation in Bishkek, had earlier described accusing the
True and Free Adventists of "extremism" as "absurd"
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"The ban on the organisation is based on highly questionable expert
assessments, in which the experts overstepped the boundaries of their
professional competence," Aslanova told Forum 18 on 14 July. "I sincerely
hope that this time the judge will demonstrate greater objectivity, review
the case fairly, and take into account the alternative expert assessment."
Aslanova added that although she is not a lawyer, "I believe the problem
won't be resolved until the organisation is removed from the list of banned
extremist organisations," she said. "As long as it remains on that list,
the relevant articles of the Criminal Code will automatically apply to its
members."
Other criminal prosecutions planned?
Officials have not said whether they have launched or are expecting to
launch any other criminal cases against True and Free Adventists.
"Officially, no one else is in the frame," one of those present in court
told Forum 18 on 14 July. "Officials want, plan and threaten to launch
further cases. But so far it is only words."
The Pastor's daughter Vera Shreider lamented to Forum 18 in May
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
police officers threatened her father and Pavel Yantsen, who owns the house
where the Church met for worship, that their homes will be confiscated. "We
will make sure that you lose everything," officers told them.
Pastor Shreider's arrest, multiple house searches
Officers of the National Security Committee (NSC) secret police arrested
Pastor Pavel Shreider (https://www.forum18.org/archi
of the True and Free Reform Seventh-day Adventist Church at his home in
Bishkek on 13 November 2024.
Also on 13 November 2024, officers searched Shreider's Bishkek home. They
then took him handcuffed to the village of Lenin in Alamudun District of
Chuy Region, just north of the city, to the church's place of worship.
There they conducted another search. The home belongs to Pavel Yantsen,
Shreider's relative and a citizen of Kyrgyzstan.
The officers on the same day conducted searches
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
other church members in Bishkek. They confiscated in total more than 2,000
books, including nearly 200 by Ellen White, a founder of the Adventist
faith, as well as more than 50 Bibles. Also confiscated were computers and
other technical equipment, as well as cash and mobile phones, and the
ownership documentation for five homes and two cars.
NSC secret police tortures Adventists
Members of the True and Free Reform Adventist Church told Forum 18 that NSC
secret police officers tortured Pastor Pavel Shreider and church member
Igor Tsoy (https://www.forum18.org/archi
interrogations.
On 13 November 2024, the day of his arrest, officers took Pastor Shreider
to the NSC secret police building in Bishkek. "I was given blows on my
head, chest and given kicks in my spine from behind by five officers,"
Pastor Shreider wrote in a 20 November 2024 complaint
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Centre for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment in Bishkek, seen by Forum 18. Officers also kicked
him in the stomach and "hit me with an iron pipe to force me to confess
that I committed crimes".
On 13 November 2024, NSC secret police officers used a stun gun
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
church member Tsoy to write a statement against Pastor Shreider, causing
multiple injuries on his body. However, Tsoy refused to do so. He was
released in the early hours of the following day.
"During the interrogation, the investigator called several operatives who
started beating me with their hands," Tsoy told Forum 18 in May
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
to another office, where they put a bag over my head and beat me with their
hands, used a stun gun and choked me. All this was accompanied by swear
words and threats to make things even worse for me and even to abuse me.
They threatened to bring a gun."
Kyrgyzstan is a party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(https://www.ohchr.org/en/inst
This defines torture as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether
physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such
purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a
confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or
is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a
third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when
such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the
consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an
official capacity."
Under the Convention, Kyrgyzstan is obliged both to arrest any person
suspected on good grounds of having committed, instigated or acquiesced to
torture "or take other legal measures to ensure his [sic] presence", and
also to try them under criminal law which makes "these offences punishable
by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature".
An official (who did not give her name) of the National Centre for the
Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment claimed to Forum 18 in May
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
responded in writing on 8 January to Pastor Shreider's complaint both to
him in the prison and to his Lawyer Aybek Omurov. (Akmat Alagushev took
over as Pastor Shreider's lawyer in February.)
Asked what the official answer was and whether the Centre conducted its own
investigation, the official declined to discuss this with Forum 18. "You
can send us an email," she responded
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Officials told a family member
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Centre in early January that "it forwarded the complaint to Bishkek City
Prosecutor's Office and that it received an answer that the claims of
Shreider [about the torture] could not be corroborated".
Interior Ministry official Azim Kurmanbekov, who participated in the arrest
of Pastor Shreider, refused to comment on the case in May 2025. "I only
accompanied the NSC officers in their operation. They arrested and
questioned him," he told Forum 18. "I am not aware of it," he claimed when
asked why Pastor Shreider and church member Igor Tsoy were tortured during
interrogations.
Operative Kurmanbekov appears to have lied to Forum 18 since the Indictment
includes in the list of evidence the records of questioning by him of
Shreider and other Church members. When confronted, Kurmanbekov declined to
talk further to Forum 18. "Please, talk to the NSC," he said.
Siymyk Bolotov, Investigator of Bishkek City Division of the NSC secret
police, adamantly denied to Forum 18 in May that he or other officers
tortured Pastor Shreider and church member Tsoy during the investigations.
The Officer who answered the phone of the NSC secret police headquarters in
Bishkek on 15 May refused to answer Forum 18's questions or put it through
to any officials.
NSC secret police opens criminal case
The National Security Service (NSC) secret police opened the criminal case
against Pavel Shreider on 1 November 2024 and investigated it. It brought
charges against the pastor under Criminal Code Article 330, Part 2, Point
3. This punishes "Incitement of racial, ethnic, national, religious, or
regional enmity" when "committed by a group of individuals". Punishment is
a five to seven year jail term.
Kanat Birimkulov, Deputy Prosecutor of Bishkek, endorsed the charges on 25
December 2024 before the case was handed to the city's Birinchi May Court.
Bishkek City Prosecutor's Office refused to put Forum 18 through to
Prosecutor Birimkulov in May. Prosecutor Aybek Japarov refused to answer
Forum 18's questions.
Multiple NSC secret police claims in the indictment
The indictment against Pastor Pavel Shreider (seen by Forum 18) was
prepared and signed on 25 December 2024 by Alaibek Nurgaziyev, Chief of the
Investigation Department of Bishkek City Division of the NSC secret police,
as well the NSC secret police Investigator Siymik Bolotov. It was endorsed
by Prosecutor Kanat Birimkulov.
The indictment claims that "Shreider, being a citizen of the Russian
Federation, having all the conditions for leading a normal life, being on
the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic and being obliged to comply with the
legislation of the host country, embarked on the path of committing a
deliberate grave crime against the foundations of the constitutional order
and state security under the following circumstances."
Vera Shreider and her father are indeed citizens of the Russian Federation.
"I was born in Russia but we decided to move to Kyrgyzstan in 2013 since my
father was born in Talas district of Kyrgyzstan and we as a family liked
Kyrgyzstan," she told Forum 18 in May
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
good place for living and keeping our Christian morals."
The indictment reads that "Shreider, with all his unidentified criminal
accomplices, knowing that the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic
guarantees the equality of human and civil rights and freedoms regardless
of race, nationality, attitude to religion, ethnicity, deliberately
encroaching on the honour and dignity of citizens, including
representatives of state power, their constitutional rights and freedoms,
which they can use and protect regardless of national, ethnic or racial
affiliation, conceived of inciting religious hatred to undermine the
integrity and security of the state."
Vera Shreider told Forum 18 in May
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
as their proof are the two false witnesses that they use in this case and
some Christian books that we used where there are some critical statements
about Islam and other religions." She added that "my father has not done or
said anything dishonouring the state authorities."
The indictment continues, "Shreider, being the head of an underground
religious society called the 'Reformation Movement of World Union of True
and Free Seventh-day Adventists', which conducted its activities based on
independent doctrine with categorical religious nature and principles among
the population of the Kyrgyz Republic, in particular in the city of Bishkek
and Chuy Region, since 2013 to the present time, has illegally organised a
religious cell based on the fundamentals of the Protestant Christianity,
where he manipulated [church members], as well as through [religious]
literature which manifests a negative-aggressive nature in relation to
other religions."
"This underground group is not registered in Kyrgyzstan Republic as a
religious organisation, and the books of this religious organisation have
not been permitted by the State Commission for Religious Affairs," the
indictment notes. (All religious literature needs to undergo state
censorship (https://www.forum18.org/archi
can be distributed.)
(On 13 April 2025, President Sadyr Japarov renamed the State Commission for
Religious Affairs – which controls religious activity
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Agency for Religious Affairs and Interethnic Relations.)
"Shreider, together with his associates, determined where his
organisation's members should work and who they should marry," the
indictment adds. It said that "to convince his associates", Pastor Shreider
gathered every Saturday "in an unregistered church" in the village of Lenin
in Chuy Region. It noted that the place "is registered with government
agencies as a private house where Shreider, together with the unidentified
leaders of the underground religious movement, taught religion using the
[confiscated] literature."
The indictment adds (https://www.forum18.org/archi
"According to the conclusion of the forensic religious and linguistic
examination of the Justice Ministry experts, [the literature] promotes
superiority, exclusivity of the adherents of the Adventist Church, and vice
versa, inferiority, hostility, harmfulness of other religions and
confessions, especially the Islamic religion, as well as Buddhism and
Judaism."
It concludes: "This literature arbitrarily interprets canonical and ancient
religious texts [Bible and Koran]. Shreider by his deliberate actions
[usage of these books], committed a crime under Article 330, Part 2, Point
3 of the Criminal Code".
Among the "evidence" against Pastor Shreider are records of police
interrogations of two witnesses who wrote statements against him. The
testimony is contradictory
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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
Follow us on Bluesky @Forum18
(https://bsky.app/profile/foru
Follow us on Facebook @Forum18NewsService
(https://www.facebook.com/Foru
Follow us on Telegram @Forum18NewsService
(https://t.me/s/forum18newsser
Follow us on WhatsApp Forum 18
(https://www.whatsapp.com/chan
Follow us on X/Twitter @Forum_18 (https://x.com/forum_18)
All Forum 18 material may be referred to, quoted from, or republished in
full, if Forum 18 is credited as the source.
All photographs that are not Forum 18's copyright are attributed to the
copyright owner. If you reuse any photographs from Forum 18's website, you
must seek permission for any reuse from the copyright owner or abide by the
copyright terms the copyright owner has chosen.
© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855.