Source: www.forum18.org
Date: August 14, 2025
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18
On 4 August, a panel of three Judges at Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court in
Bishkek, headed by Abylai Mukhamedjanov, rejected the appeal against the
ban on the True and Free Reform Adventist Church as "extremist". The
Supreme Court upheld the ban permanently, and there is no possibility of
challenging it in Kyrgyzstan. Church members say they intend to lodge a
complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva.
Alamudin District Court in Chuy Region banned the Church as an "extremist"
religious organisation in a decision from 19 March. The civil case had been
brought by Chuy Region Prosecutor's Office with the close involvement of
the National Security Committee (NSC) secret police (see below).
The panel of three Supreme Court Judges "were so swift to go through the
case materials without giving proper attention to arguments" brought by
Akmat Alagushev, the defence lawyer, Church members who were at the hearing
told Forum 18 (see below).
"The Judges even pronounced their own names so quickly and quietly that we
could not hear them." Church members tried to get the names of the Judges
and other details from Court officials. "But no one talked to us or wanted
to give any information," they complained. "Everything about the case is so
secretive" (see below).
"The 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 (see below).
The Assistant to Judge Mukhamedjanov several times asked Forum 18 to call
back since the Judge "is busy". Finally, she told Forum 18 that the Judge
will "not discuss it with you since the Court has made its final decision".
Asked whether Courts could re-hear the case, if the United Nations Human
Rights Committee requests it, she responded: "No, we will not since the
decision is final" (see below).
NSC secret police officer Alinur Tursunov, who led the investigation in the
case and participated in the Supreme Court hearing, introduced himself to
Forum 18. But when it asked about the case, he claimed that it is a "wrong
number". He then did not answer subsequent calls that day (see below).
National Agency for Religious Affairs and Interethnic Relations Deputy
Director Kanatbek Midin uuly promised to respond to Forum 18's questions
about the Supreme Court decision. However, he did not respond and did not
answer his phone each time Forum 18 called (see below).
Indira Aslanova, Senior Expert of the Centre for Religious Studies, an
independent organisation in Bishkek, said the Supreme Court decision to
uphold the ban "raises serious concerns" over the situation of freedom of
religion or belief in the country. "Such precedents can lead to the
criminalisation of peaceful forms of religious practice and the narrowing
of religious diversity," she told Forum 18. "Moreover, this case
demonstrates that a broad interpretation of extremism can result in holding
groups accountable that have no connection to violent actions" (see below).
Aslanova warned that such conflation of concepts "undermines the
effectiveness of measures to counter genuine threats of violent extremism
and creates a risk of unwarranted restrictions in the religious sphere"
(see below).
The list of 21 banned organisations on the website of the National Agency
for Religious Affairs and Interethnic Relations, as of 14 August, does not
include the True and Free Reform Adventist Church. Nor does it include
Ahmadi Muslims or the Falun Gong movement, which have also been banned (see
below).
Meanwhile, defence lawyer Akmat Alagushev lodged an appeal to Bishkek City
Court on 7 August over the 3-year jail term handed down in July to the head
of the True and Free Adventist Church, 65-year-old Pavel Shreider. Since
his arrest in November 2024, Pastor Shreider has been kept for 9 months
under NSC secret police supervision at an Interior Ministry Investigation
Prison in Bishkek (see below).
If Pastor Shreider loses his appeal, he would be due to be transferred to a
labour camp to serve his term. At the end of the prison term, he would be
due to be deported to Russia at his own cost (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. He is now due for release in February 2026.
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.
Officials ban, target religious communities
Officials banned Ahmadi Muslims as allegedly "extremist". They have not
been able to publicly meet for worship
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
the NSC secret police told the then State Commission for Religious Affairs
(now the National Agency for Religious Affairs and Interethnic Relations)
that they are a "dangerous movement and against traditional Islam".
"We do not meet publicly or privately for worship together," Ahmadi
Muslims, who asked not to be identified for fear of state reprisals, told
Forum 18 in May 2025 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
"We stopped our common worship ever since we were banned. Our believers
have been threatened several times in the past by local police in various
localities of the consequences if we meet for worship."
An association of the Falun Gong spiritual movement was registered in July
2004, but - under Chinese pressure - was liquidated as "extremist" in
February 2005. In January 2018 the Chuy-Bishkek Justice Department in the
capital Bishkek registered a Falun Gong association. However, in March
2018, less than eight weeks later, the Justice Department issued a decree
cancelling the registration
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
The NSC secret police opened a criminal case
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
against so far unspecified representatives of the Jehovah's Witness
national centre in Bishkek on charges of inciting hatred. In November 2021,
the then Deputy General Prosecutor Kumarbek Toktakunov sent a suit to
Bishkek's Birinchi May (Pervomaisky) District Court asking for it to ban 13
Jehovah's Witness books and 6 videos as "extremist". The court dismissed
the suit (https://www.forum18.org/archi
following month on technical grounds.
Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18 in August 2025 that they do not know if
the criminal case opened in 2019 is still active, "but have no reason to
believe that it has been closed".
The list of 21 banned organisations on the website of the National Agency
for Religious Affairs and Interethnic Relations, as of 14 August, does not
include Ahmadi Muslims, the Falun Gong movement or the True and Free Reform
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
True and Free Reform Seventh-day 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.) 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 Church previously met in its place of worship in the village of Lenin
in Alamudun District of Chuy Region, just north of Bishkek.
March 2025 Reform Adventist ban
Judge Ayke Musayeva of Chuy Region's Alamudun District Court on 19 March
recognised the True and Free Adventist Church as an "extremist" religious
organisation (https://www.forum18.org/archi
civil case had been brought by Chuy Region Prosecutor's Office with the
close involvement of the National Security Committee (NSC) secret police
(whose representative Alinur Tursunov was present in court).
The 19 March decision, seen by Forum 18, said that the hearing was open,
but it appears that only four people were present (the Judge, her
secretary, the prosecutor and the NSC secret police officer).
No Church members were present. The decision claims that the Church's
leader Pastor Pavel Shreider was notified about the hearing "in the
appropriate manner" but did not appear. It makes no mention that he had
been under arrest in Bishkek since November 2024. Also invited but failing
to attend were representatives of the Interior Ministry.
Supreme Court upholds ban
On 17 June, the Reform Adventists' defence lawyer Akmat Alagushev lodged a
cassation appeal against the March ban on the True and Free Adventist
Church to the Supreme Court in the capital Bishkek, according to court
records. The case was heard in its Civil and Economic Judicial College.
Judges Abylai Mukhamedjanov, Dilbar Kulmatova and Bakyt Usubaliyev heard
the cassation appeal on 4 August. Participating in the case were a General
Prosecutor's Office representative (whose name was not given to the
defence) and Alinur Tursunov, officer of the National Security Committee
(NSC) secret police, who led the investigation in the case.
The Supreme Court upheld the ban permanently, and there is no possibility
of challenging it in Kyrgyzstan.
The panel of three Judges "were so swift to go through the case materials
without giving proper attention to arguments" brought by Akmat Alagushev,
the defence lawyer, Church members who were at the hearing told Forum 18 on
5 August.
"The Judges even pronounced their own names so quickly and quietly that we
could not hear them." Church members tried to get the names of the Judges
and other details from Court officials. "But no one talked to us or wanted
to give any information," they complained. "Everything about the case is so
secretive."
Lawyer Alagushev was only able to find out on 7 August, three days after
the hearing, that Judge Mukhamedjanov chaired the hearing, and that
Kulmatova and Usubaliyev were the other judges in the panel.
Supreme Court reaches decision in 20 minutes
During the Supreme Court hearing, the General Prosecutor's Office
representative (whose name was also not given to the defence) and Alinur
Tursunov, an officer of the National Security Committee (NSC) secret police
who led the investigation in the case, presented no new evidence or
arguments. "They just repeated the charges brought against the Church in
the case materials," Church members told Forum 18.
Tursunov "laughed" at the arguments of Lawyer Akmat Alagushev. The NSC
secret police officer described the True and Free Adventists as
"separatists". "They separated from the Adventist [mainline] confession and
made their own secret society," Church members quote him as telling the
Court. "They ban their members to eat meat, get married, work for the
government or carry guns in the army."
The Judges did not respond to Lawyer Alagushev's arguments that the
"experts" who produced the "expert analysis" on the Church should be
summoned to the Court in order to be evaluated and that a new independent
"expert analysis" should be undertaken.
"The 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.
Zhyldyz Isakova, Assistant to Judge Mukhamedjanov, between 7 and 12 August
several times asked Forum 18 to call back since the Judge "is busy".
Finally on 12 August, she told Forum 18 that the Judge will "not discuss it
with you since the Court has made its final decision". Asked whether Courts
could re-hear the case, if the United Nations Human Rights Committee
requests it, she responded: "No, we will not since the decision is final."
NSC secret police officer Tursunov introduced himself to Forum 18 on 7
August. But when it asked about the case, he claimed that it is a "wrong
number". He then did not answer subsequent calls that day.
National Agency for Religious Affairs and Interethnic Relations Deputy
Director Kanatbek Midin uuly promised to respond to Forum 18's questions
about the Supreme Court decision to uphold the ban on the True and Free
Adventist Church. He had not responded by the end of the working day in
Bishkek of 14 August. Nor did he answer his phone each time Forum 18 called
that day.
No possibility of further appeals within Kyrgyzstan, possible appeal to UN
True and Free Adventist Church should receive the Supreme Court decision
within 10 days, by 14 August, Lawyer Akmat Alagushev told Forum 18. "But it
may take up to one month as is usual in other cases with the Supreme
Court." However, the Supreme Court had not issued the written decision by
the end of the working day in Bishkek of 14 August.
Alagushev told Forum 18 that the ban is "permanent now as this decision was
final, and there will now be no possibility of challenging it in
Kyrgyzstan".
Church members told Forum 18 that they have complained to the United
Nations Regional Office in Central Asia. Representatives of the UN Office
have participated in court hearings.
Church members told Forum 18 that they now intend to lodge a complaint to
the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva.
"Such precedents can lead to the criminalisation of peaceful forms of
religious practice"
Indira Aslanova, Senior Expert of the Centre for Religious Studies, an
independent organisation in Bishkek, described accusing the True and Free
Adventists of "extremism" as "absurd".
"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 in July
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Supreme Court would during the cassational appeal "demonstrate greater
objectivity, review the case fairly, and take into account the alternative
expert assessment".
Aslanova expressed concern that if the organisation is not removed from the
list of banned extremist organisations, "the relevant articles of the
Criminal Code will automatically apply to its members".
Following the Supreme Court decision to uphold the ban on the True and Free
Adventist Church, Aslanova said it "raises serious concerns" over the
situation of freedom of religion or belief in the country. "Such precedents
can lead to the criminalisation of peaceful forms of religious practice and
the narrowing of religious diversity," she told Forum 18 from Bishkek on 14
August. "Moreover, this case demonstrates that a broad interpretation of
extremism can result in holding groups accountable that have no connection
to violent actions."
Aslanova warned that such conflation of concepts "undermines the
effectiveness of measures to counter genuine threats of violent extremism
and creates a risk of unwarranted restrictions in the religious sphere".
Appeal in the case against jailed Pastor Shreider filed on 7 August
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 ordered
his jailing.
On 10 July, Birinchi May (Pervomaisky) District Court convicted Pastor
Shreider under Criminal Code Article 330, Part 1. This punishes "Incitement
of racial, ethnic, national, religious, or regional enmity" with a fine or
a jail term of up to 5 years.
The court had earlier changed the charges from 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"
with a 5 to 7 year jail term.
Judge Ubaydulla Satimkulov jailed Pastor Shreider for 3 years
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
labour camp. The Judge ordered his deportation at the end of the prison
term. Pastor Shreider was born in Kyrgyzstan but is a Russian citizen.
The court handed the written verdict to Pastor Shreider's lawyer only on 28
July. Lawyer Alagushev lodged an appeal to Bishkek City Court on 7 August.
The case has not yet been assigned to a judge or panel of judges and no
date has yet been set for a hearing.
If Pastor Shreider loses his appeal, he is expected to be sent to a labour
camp to serve his sentence. Under Article 80 of the Criminal Code, each day
of his detention in Investigation Prison from his arrest until the appeal
court decision comes into force would count as two days of his sentence.
If Pastor Shreider loses his appeal, under Article 65-2 of the Criminal
Implementation Code he would be deported at the end of his prison term at
his own cost.
Pastor Shreider remains in pre-trial detention
Since his arrest on 13 November 2024, Pastor Pavel Shreider has been kept
for 9 months under NSC secret police supervision at an Interior Ministry
Investigation Prison in Bishkek.
Pastor Shreider's address in Investigation Prison:
720005 Bishkek,
Oktyabr District,
Geologicheskiy pereulok 2,
Uchrezhdenie No. 21 Ispolneniya Nakazaniy,
Pavel Davidovich Shreider
(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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