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. Exercising freedom of religion or belief without state registration is illegal and punishable.

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 under this Article.

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 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.

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, 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 at the Bishkek Bir 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 that if she 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 throughout Kyrgyzstan 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.

Then-SCRA Head Ormon Sharshenov, asked by Forum 18 in December 2011 how the SCRA concluded that Ahmadi Muslims are dangerous, replied: "I received it from 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.

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 in December 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.

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 against so far 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 at the time.

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. The NSC secret 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. They seized 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 for three years, to 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. 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. "They put him in a 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 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".

On 4 August 2025, Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court in Bishkek rejected the appeal against the ban. "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. 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) 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 (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 to the UN Special 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

For more background, see Forum 18's Kyrgyzstan religious freedom survey

Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments

Follow us on Bluesky @Forum18

Follow us on Facebook @Forum18NewsService

Follow us on Telegram @Forum18NewsService

Follow us on WhatsApp Forum 18

Follow us on X/Twitter @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.