#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 him visiting a Tashkent mosque to pray for his mother on his way home from hospital. On transfer to conditional release in December 2025, the court-imposed restrictions include a ban on visiting mosques. Former Tashkent imam Fazliddin Parpiyev remains in a Turkish deportation centre awaiting likely return for trial. Alisher Tursunov, a Muslim returned by Turkey in May 2025, was jailed.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3030

#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 criminal drugs charges. He and his supporters say the charges are fabricated. He leads a newly-created independent Orthodox parish. Justice Department officials rejected its first registration application. The parish applied again. The cases are "a result of his wanting to register an independent Orthodox parish, and of his criticism of Russia's war against Ukraine," his lawyer Galym Nurpeisov insists.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3031

#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 Investigator Daniyar Kametov, who is leading the investigation, refused to answer questions. The criminal investigation "appears to be fabricated and ordered", Fr Yakov wrote from prison. His lawyer Galym Nurpeisov described the case as a "frame-up [provokatsiya in Russian]". "We suspect that behind this is the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian FSB," he added. Fr Yakov is trying to register an independent Orthodox parish.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3032

#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, prison authorities released Diarov early on health grounds and by the following evening he was in Uzbekistan. His wife, a Russian citizen, went with him. Interior Ministry authorities have revoked the Russian citizenship of at least 12 Jehovah's Witnesses and 2 Muslims convicted for exercising freedom of religion. The practice "has been gaining momentum over the past year", Jehovah's Witnesses observe.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3033

#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 Ethnic Affairs Sergei Gerasimenya and Head of the Ideology, Religion, and Ethnic Affairs Coordination Department of Minsk City Executive Committee Tatyana Shevchik both refused to say. Minsk Heritage – which controls the building and ordered it closed after a September 2022 suspicious minor fire - refused Catholic requests to visit the tomb of the Church's founder Edvard Vainilovich on 10 April.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3034

#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 senior religious affairs official, Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs Aleksandr Rumak, refused the Bishop's request for the two to continue to be allowed to conduct religious work in Belarus. Andrei Aryayev of the Religious Department of the Plenipotentiary's Office in Minsk and Irina Zakharevich of the Ideology Directorate of Brest Regional Executive Committee both refused to discuss the refusals.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3035

#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.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3036

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 for [nearly] 67 years, now I'm being driven out," he noted. Officials have repeatedly raided the Council of Churches Baptist congregation which the Soviet-era religious prisoner of conscience has led for 30 years in Krasnodon, his birthplace. Courts have repeatedly fined him for "illegal missionary activity" for leading the unregistered congregation.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3037

#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 Court changed his jail term to a fine of 3 months' average wage. Officials have seized his passports. "He has no alternative but to pay the fine," an individual told Forum 18. Muslim prisoner of conscience Asadullo Madraimov was freed from prison on 25 March after completing his sentence for criticising the closure of his mosque.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3038

#BELARUS: Catholic priest arrested – by KGB?

Masked security officers arrested 65-year-old Catholic priest Anatol Parakhnevich in Alkovichi, Minsk Region on 16 March. They have held him since, including over Easter, possibly in Minsk's KGB Investigation Prison. "We know he was detained .. but we don't know where he is being held or what any accusations against him might be," says Catholic spokesperson Fr Yuri Yasevich. Told that Forum 18 was unable to find out why Fr Parakhnevich was arrested, religious affairs official Andrei Aryayev responded: "I don't have any information either." Minsk Region Police did not respond.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3039

#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 the Brother Apostles Saints Peter and Andrew in the city of Brest against its enforced liquidation. Supreme Court press secretary Yuliya Lyaskova refused to answer questions. Pavel Bobruk of Brest Regional Executive Committee refused to say why it had sent suits to court to liquidate all three parishes, and where Greek Catholics should now go to pray.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3040

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

When Guldaria Sherizat's youngest daughter turns 14 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 April for "inciting discord" against Chinese people for a November 2025 demonstration. Sherizat was protesting against her husband's jailing in Xinjiang for his protests against his nephew's jailing in Xinjiang for praying. All 19 will appeal. "None of them uttered a single word against the Chinese people," says lawyer Shinkuat Baizhanov. "They only criticised the actions of the Chinese authorities."

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3041

#RUSSIA: Anti-war Orthodox journalist's 8-year jail term in absentia

On 24 March, a Moscow court handed exiled Orthodox journalist Kseniya Luchenko an 8-year jail term in absentia for an online post condemning a Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian children's hospital. She has lodged an appeal. If she returns to Russia, or visits countries with extradition agreements, she could be jailed. Luchenko is already on Russia's Federal Wanted List, "List of Terrorists and Extremists", and register of "foreign agents". Anti-war Moscow Buddhist Ilya Vasilyev is expecting a verdict shortly in his second trial.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3042

#RUSSIA: Why did "intelligence service" sponsor attacks on French places of worship?

A Serbian court convicted three Serbian nationals in December 2025 of participating in attacks to desecrate 3 Paris synagogues in May 2025 and 9 Paris area mosques in September 2025. "Every time an event like this happens, worshippers wonder if they really are safe when they come to pray," a mosque employee said. The verdicts – seen by Forum 18 – say "structures of the intelligence service of the Russian Federation" gave the group instructions and money. These were the first known Russian-instigated attacks on places of worship in Europe outside Ukraine.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3043

#RUSSIA: Anti-war Moscow Buddhist leader convicted again in re-trial

A Moscow court jailed Buddhist leader Ilya Vasilyev for 6 years and banned him from "administering websites". In custody since June 2024, the 52-year-old was convicted in a re-trial for an anti-war social media post. "Some people want to pressure Buddhists to fight on the side of one leader or another," he told the court. "But there are no soldiers' belt buckles with the inscription 'Buddha is with us'." Moscow City Prosecutor's Office did not respond on why prosecutors requested a custodial sentence and how Vasilyev could be considered dangerous.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3044

#BELARUS: Regime official denies permission for 3 more Catholic priests to remain

Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs Aleksandr Rumak denied permission to Vitebsk Catholic Diocese for three Polish Catholic priests to continue service. Fr Zenon Szcząchor has been serving in Belarus since 1990. Rumak unilaterally decides without giving reasons whether registered religious organisations can have foreign clergy. His deputy, Sergei Gerasimenya, refused to explain the enforced departures. Arrested in March, 65-year-old Catholic priest Fr Anatol Parakhnevich suffered a heart attack. A Minsk KGB official told Forum 18 it would respond on his condition, why he has been arrested and where he is.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3045

#KAZAKHSTAN: Anti-war Orthodox priest "kept in forced, absolute isolation from the world"

On 22 April, an Almaty court extended until 23 May pre-trial detention of 40-year-old independent Orthodox priest Yakov Vorontsov. Arrested on 13 February, he faces drugs charges which he and his supporters reject. "Relatives can't visit Fr Yakov," says lawyer Galym Nurpeisov. "This is the Investigator's decision.. He could allow it." Police investigator Daniyar Kametov refused to discuss the case. Meanwhile, Guldaria Sherizat is appealing against her jail term for demonstrating against China's jailing of her husband Alimnur Turganbay. Her jailing is postponed until February 2027, when her youngest daughter turns 14.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3046

#ARMENIA: Conscientious objector's repeat trial delayed and delayed

Molokan conscientious objector Ivan Mikhailov, refused alternative civilian service in 2018, is on criminal trial for the second time. His original 2-year jail term was eventually overturned. His current case reached court in July 2025 but hearings have been repeatedly postponed. He remains under travel restrictions. Baptist conscientious objector Davit Nazaretyan is due to complete his 2-year jail term in August. His case is at the European Court of Human Rights. The Alternative Service Commission refused one young man in January. It grants alternative civilian service only to Jehovah's Witnesses.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3047

#KYRGYZSTAN: Secret police deport Reform Adventist pastor

National Security Committee secret police deported 66-year-old Pastor Pavel Shreider on 9 April. "They put him in a car, took him to the land border and banned him from re-entering the country," an individual told Forum 18. He "would return if he could". He headed the now-banned True and Free Reform Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kyrgyzstan. He was born in Kyrgyzstan but holds a Russian passport. He is now seeking asylum elsewhere. The NSC secret police did not respond to Forum 18 on why they deported him.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3048

#KYRGYZSTAN: Secret police's latest target: Baptists

The NSC secret police has – with other state agencies – long obstructed the exercise of freedom of religion or belief, especially by communities it does not like. It has targeted Ahmadi Muslims, Falun Gong practitioners, Jehovah's Witnesses, and True and Free Reform Adventists, and now Council of Churches Baptists. Two NSC officers led a 19 April raid on their Bishkek church's Sunday worship for a second time. Major Aleksey Akulich, who led both raids, did not answer questions as to why, and whether the NSC initiated the raids and subsequent fines.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3049

#RUSSIA: Literature confiscation, destruction, fines for lack of full official name

Administrative cases against religious organisations under Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 3 for failing to give their official full names on literature, online, and on their buildings increasingly target literature and online material. Prosecutions for failing to put up signs on buildings are declining. Following Supreme Court guidance, "law enforcement officers began to look for unmarked literature. It's easier. You can always find it. And a wave of cases [based on] unlabelled literature began", a Moscow-based lawyer notes. Courts fine communities and order literature confiscated or – on occasion – destroyed.

https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3050