FaithfulNews

AZERBAIJAN: Yet another conscientious objector case set for Strasbourg?

On 8 June, Azerbaijan's Supreme Court rejected Jehovah's Witness Seymur Mammadov's final appeal against his conviction for refusing compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. Initially jailed, he is now halfway through a one-year suspended sentence. He is considering an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, which found in favour of seven conscientious objectors jailed or given suspended sentences earlier. The ECtHR judgments "called for legislative action on civilian service a

RUSSIA: 42 on wanted list for exercising freedom of religion or belief

Russia's Interior Ministry wanted list includes: 3 opponents of Russia's war against Ukraine on religious grounds; 6 Muslim Nursi readers from Russia; 16 Jehovah's Witnesses from Russia, 4 from Russian-occupied Crimea; 3 people wanted by Belarus; 3 wanted by Kazakhstan; 2 wanted by Tajikistan; 5 wanted by Uzbekistan. The Interior Ministry did not respond to Forum 18's question why it includes people who peacefully exercised their right to freedom of religion or belief. Interpol would not say for

RUSSIA: Who ordered torture of Jehovah's Witness prisoner of conscience?

Fellow medical facility prisoners tortured prisoner of conscience Rinat Kiramov over four days in April after he refused to give names of fellow Jehovah's Witnesses in his home town. They punched, kicked, waterboarded, threatened with rape, and shocked him with a stun gun. It is unclear how the prisoners had access to a stun gun. Kiramov's lawyer lodged a complaint to the Prosecutor's Office, which passed it to police. Whether police investigators have decided to open a criminal case is unknown.

BELARUS: Threatened with criminal prosecution for sharing faith in public

Prosecutor Fyodor Mikhovich refused to explain why he threatened Baptist Vladimir Burshtyn with criminal prosecution if he continues to share his faith in public. "I do not know who you are," he told Forum 18. The threat came after a court fined Burshtyn a month's average pension for sharing his faith. Border guards detained Greek Catholic Boris Khamaida as he travelled to a pilgrimage. A jail term prevented him from attending. A draft new Religion Law is set to reach Parliament in September.

UZBEKISTAN: Former prisoner of conscience rearrested, another given 10 more years jail

<div>In the first half of June, the regime arrested former prisoner of conscience Khayrullo Tursunov and about 100 other Muslim men in Kashkadarya Region. It is not known when he will face criminal trial and on what charges. Also, a Tashkent Region court added 10 years, on apparently fabricated charges, to the existing 11 year prison term of existing prisoner of conscience Fariduddin Abduvokhidov. His father thinks that "the authorities just want my son to end his years in prison".</div>

OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Protestant woman on trial for Melitopol prayer meeting?

In early 2024, Russian occupation forces arrested a Protestant in her fifties for participating in a July 2023 prayer meeting in the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol. Prosecutors handed her criminal case to Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Regional Court. In the same court is the criminal case against Ukrainian Orthodox Church priest Kostiantyn Maksimov for alleged "espionage". On 27 April, Krasnodon's Russian-controlled court fined Pastor Vladimir Rytikov 5,000 Russian Roubles on charges of

AZERBAIJAN: Will State Committee return religious books seized in 2007?

Shukran Mammadov is still waiting for the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations to return books by Muslim theologian Said Nursi seized in a police raid in 2007. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in his favour in 2020, and on 1 March 2023 Baku Appeal Court ordered the books to be returned. "The government should have ensured that Shukran's property was returned, but few European Court of Human Rights decisions are fully carried out," Mammadov's lawyer Asabali Mustafayev tol

UZBEKISTAN: Planned new punishments for parents allowing children's religious education

The regime's non-freely-elected parliament has adopted in the first reading a draft law to allegedly "further strengthen the rights of children". The draft Law would ban and introduce punishments for parents or guardians who allow their children to receive "illegal" religious education before the age of 18. Many of the people the regime rules have expressed strong opposition to the draft Law. The regime is also planning to tighten the existing state censorship with a new Information Code.

KYRGYZSTAN: Two Muslim men jailed for mosque closure protest

On 26 February, Kara-Suu District Court jailed prisoners of conscience Asadullo Madraimov and Mamirzhan Tashmatov for three years and two years respectively for protesting against the regime's closure of their mosque, Al-Sarakhsi Mosque. Some mosques and madrassahs, though not the Al-Sarakhsi Mosque, are known to be still closed. An appeal against the two men's jailing, filed on 27 March, should be heard by the end of May. The two prisoners of conscience remain in Osh's Investigation Prison, whe

BELARUS: Officials warn clergy not to violate strict state restrictions

Olga Chemodanova, Head of Minsk City Executive Committee's Ideology Department, warned a Minsk Orthodox Diocese clergy meeting not to violate the state's strict restrictions. "Her address contained open threats towards priests who are ideologically alien," Christian Vision noted. "Chemodanova gave them to understand that they should expect prison." Religious affairs official Aleksandr Rumak warned that there should be no politics in church and no "non-religious symbols". The warnings echo provis

RUSSIA: Another trial of Muslims meeting to study Nursi's works

Seven months after a Moscow court handed prison terms to six Muslims who met to study their faith using the works of Turkish theologian Said Nursi, the same court is hearing the case of two more. 45-year-old Zurab Dzhabrailov and 53-year-old Dzheykhun Rustamov have so far made two court appearances. The two have been held at Butyrka prison since August 2023. Investigative Committee and FSB security service documents seen by Forum 18 reveal the investigation – which has involved covert surveill

OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Espionage trial for "disappeared" Ukrainian Orthodox priest

The Russian occupation forces in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Region disappeared Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) priest Fr Kostiantyn Maksimov in May 2023. On 29 March 2024, more than 10 months later, the occupation forces' Zaporizhzhia Region Prosecutor's Office said a criminal case against him on espionage charges had been handed to court. If convicted, the 40-year-old priest faces a prison term of 10 to 12 years. "This is terrible!" said another UOC priest, Fr Vladimir Saviisky, who knew Fr Kostian

UKRAINE: Army rejects conscientious objector alternative service transfer

Christian conscientious objector Andrii Vyshnevetsky has been refused transfer to alternative civilian service, despite from his mobilisation onwards asking for this. On 22 May the Supreme Court will hear his case that the President must lay down a procedure to allow individual conscientious objection to military service. Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, told Forum 18 he has been pushing for all conscientious objectors to be allowed to do al

KAZAKHSTAN: Religious Affairs Department "fighting against a quote from the Koran?"

Astana's Religious Affairs Department is seeking to punish Nurtas Adambay for quoting from the Koran in a video discussion on Islam on Instagram. "Frankly, I didn't know that in our country it is not allowed to quote a translation of the Koran," he wrote. Astana Inter-District Specialised Administrative Court has not yet heard the case. Department Head Kairolla Keshkali would not say why Adambay should be punished. Courts in Atyrau Region fined two people 3 weeks' average wage each for quoting f

OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Orthodox priest's "espionage" verdict due 2 August

Ukrainian Orthodox priest Kostiantyn Maksimov faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted on Russian "espionage" charges. His trial began on 6 June, with the final presentation of arguments due on 31 July and the verdict on 2 August. Seized by occupation forces in May 2023, Fr Kostiantyn is in Investigation Prison No. 2 in the Crimean capital Simferopol. On 7 June, Russian FSB officers raided Fr Feognost Pushkov's home in occupied Luhansk Region with a court-ordered search. Officials questioned

RUSSIA: Pacifist Christian musician fined, banned from internet posting

Musician and teacher Anna Chagina has been handed a fine and a ban on internet posting for opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She stood accused of “discrediting" the Russian armed forces more than once in a year. “I also want to remind you of a simple ethical rule – do to others as you would have them do to you," Chagina said in her final statement. Elsewhere, Mikhail Simonov, the first person to be sentenced to jail for opposing the war from a religious perspective, has lost his app

OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Orthodox priest handed 3-year restricted freedom sentence

Officials in Russian-occupied Luhansk Region freed Fr Feognost (Pushkov) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) on 4 October after pre-trial detention he called "107 days of hell". After house searches and examination of his writings and electronic devices, a court convicted him of "large-scale" drug trading after finding a small amount of cannabis. His 3-year restricted freedom sentence came into force after the prosecutor chose not to appeal. On 14 November, Moscow's First Appeal Court hears t

TAJIKISTAN: Decree bans funerals for alleged "terrorists", denies relatives bodies

President Emomali Rahmon has signed a Decree denying the families of those killed in alleged "anti-terrorism operations" the possibility of, among other things, burying their dead with the religious or other rites they would have chosen or even knowing where they are buried. A human rights defender said this is to "publicly threaten that people who protest against the government will die and will not be buried as Muslims". Another human rights defender, journalist Anora Sarkorova, noted that "th

TAJIKISTAN: Criminal cases against human rights defenders, relatives threatened

Exiled human rights defenders Anora Sarkorova and her husband Rustamjon Joniyev face criminal charges, and have been placed on Russia's Federal Wanted List. Officials have threatened relatives with arrests. Both have written about the regime's multiple serious violations of human rights, including freedom of religion or belief, committed against Ismaili Muslims in Mountainous Badakhshan Region. "This will not break us, and we will continue reporting on human rights violations," Sarkorova told Fo

ARMENIA: Appeal court upholds conscientious objector's jail term

On 7 February, Yerevan's Criminal Court of Appeal rejected 20-year-old Baptist conscientious objector Davit Nazaretyan's appeal against a two-year jail term imposed in October 2023 for refusing military service. The judges ignored European Court of Human Rights judgments, including against Armenia. Nazaretyan's applications for alternative civilian service were repeatedly denied. He is considering a further appeal and will not be required to go to jail until any further appeal is heard. The last