For the second time in less than a year, a large group of Muslims are on trial facing criminal charges of membership of the banned Muslim missionary movement Tabligh Jamaat. An Almaty Region court jailed 12 Muslim men in December 2025 for between 1 and 5 years. The trial of 9 more Muslim men began in Taldykorgan in neighbouring Zhetisu Region in June 2026. The trial under Judge Alibek Abdikhayev is due to resume on 25 September. The men face up to two years' imprisonment if convicted.

The 9 men are being tried under Criminal Code Article 405, Part 2. This punishes "participation in the activity of a social or religious association or other organisation after a court decision banning their activity or their liquidation in connection with extremism or terrorism they have carried out". An Astana court banned Tabligh Jamaat in 2013 (see below).

Four of the 9 men now on trial have faced earlier prosecutions to punish them for exercising freedom of religion or belief (see below).

Those on trial are:
Zhakipbek Ormanov
Aidos Alpiyev
Nariman Amanov
Estai Dzhakayev
Dubek Bozov
Duman Kabdoldanov
Zheneskali Nuralin
Zhomart Bigozhanov
Alpysbai Tleubayev

The prosecution case is based on recordings of conversations in the Taldykorgan home of 49-year-old Ormanov using a hidden camera and microphones installed as part of National Security Committee (NSC) secret police "special measures". The men were discussing religious and other matters (see below).

The 30 May indictment – seen by Forum 18 – was prepared by NSC secret police Investigator Lieutenant Colonel Nurbol Zhananov. He based the indictment on "expert analyses" of the conversations he had commissioned. A judicial religious studies "expert analysis" concluded on 20 February 2026 that "in the given conversations, propaganda was carried out of the religious ideology of the Tabligh Jamaat organisation". This consisted of using terms for religious meetings and sharing faith often used in the movement (see below).

One of those conducting the "expert analyses", Roza Akbarova, earlier provided "expert analyses" which helped jail Seventh-day Adventist, Jehovah's Witness, and Muslim prisoners of conscience (see below).

Lieutenant Colonel Zhananov did not answer his phone or respond to Forum 18's written questions asking why he considered the nine Muslims against whom he prepared the indictment "extremists" and who they might have harmed (see below).

"We .. believe that no conversation can be interpreted as extremist activity," the defendants' lawyer Agisbek Tulegenov told a 21 September press conference at the Almaty office of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law (see below).

The Deputy Director of the Research Centre for Religious Issues and Rehabilitation attached to Zhetisu Region's Religious Affairs Department said she was familiar with the trial but had not seen the indictment or attended any hearings. Asked who the defendants might have harmed, she responded: "They didn't kill anyone. They didn't call for anyone to be killed." She insisted she and her colleagues are theologians who "don't interfere in the judicial process" (see below).

Asked whether she believes Tabligh Jamaat is a dangerous movement and whether the 2013 court ban is justified, the Deputy Director responded: "We can't say if the movement is dangerous or not. We don't say if it was right to ban the movement or not" (see below).

Galym Ageleuov, a religious expert and president of the Liberty Public Foundation, told the 21 September press conference that the 2013 court ban on the Tabligh Jamaat movement "raises many questions" and should be lifted. "Under this decision, people are being arrested and tried for belonging to it and assisting it, essentially for their words." He speculated that such criminal cases were launched to boost statistics on crime detection (see below).

Muslim movement banned, alleged members sentenced, books banned

A court in the capital Astana banned Muslim missionary movement Tabligh Jamaat in Kazakhstan as "extremist" in February 2013.

Until the movement was banned, it used to send members on short-term missions to other towns and villages where they slept in mosques and addressed local Muslims, both door to door and in the mosque, a close observer of the movement in Central Asia told Forum 18. Male adherents are often identified by their beards and wearing of South Asian clothing.

If Muslims are thought by the authorities to agree with some of Tabligh Jamaat's teachings or practices, possess religious books often used in the movement, or meet others close to the movement, this can be enough to trigger a criminal prosecution.

Prison and restricted freedom sentences, book bans and seizures

Numerous alleged members of Tabligh Jamaat have been convicted. Forum 18 found 41 Sunni Muslims known to have been sentenced in Kazakhstan on criminal charges of involvement between December 2014 and October 2016. Of these, 27 received prison terms, while the remaining 14 received restricted freedom sentences. All the cases were launched by the National Security Committee (NSC) secret police.

At least two more alleged Tabligh Jamaat members were given restricted freedom sentences in Zhetisu Region in February 2024. A group of 12 Muslim men were jailed at a trial in Almaty Region in December 2025 (see below).

In August 2016, a court in Almaty Region banned as "extremist" three Muslim books by members of the Kandhlawi family, which has played a leading role in the Tabligh Jamaat movement. A court in the city of Karaganda banned a further three books in May 2019. A court in the capital declared another book "extremist" in April 2020.

In July 2024, border guards seized "Selected Hadiths" by Muhammad Yusuf Kandhlawi from Russian-based Kyrgyz citizen Sardor Abdullayev. The same day a court fined him 6 weeks' average wages for the book containing "social, national, clan, racial, or religious discord" and ordered it confiscated "with subsequent destruction". Asked what had happened to Abdullayev's book, Raikhan Nurzhalpova, head of North Kazakhstan Regional Justice Department's Implementation of Court Decisions Department, responded: "It was burnt."

Criminal Code Article 405

Prosecutors generally bring cases against Sunni Muslims accused of Tabligh Jamaat membership under Criminal Code Article 405.

Article 405, Part 1 punishes "organising the activity of a social or religious association or other organisation after a court decision banning their activity or their liquidation in connection with extremism or terrorism they have carried out" with a fine or up to six years' imprisonment.

Article 405, Part 2 punishes "participation in the activity of a social or religious association or other organisation after a court decision banning their activity or their liquidation in connection with extremism or terrorism they have carried out" with a fine or up to two years' imprisonment.

Those convicted under Article 405 are added to the Finance Ministry Financial Monitoring Committee List of individuals "connected with the financing of terrorism or extremism", thus blocking all their bank accounts. They remain on the List for up to 8 years after the prison part of their sentence is completed as they are deemed still to have a criminal record.

Mass 2025 trial, jailings

On 22 December 2025, a court in Konayev in Almaty Region found 12 Muslim men guilty of Tabligh Jamaat membership under Criminal Code Article 405. The court handed down jail terms of 1 to 5 years.

Among the 12 Muslims, Saken Peisenovich Tulbayev (born 16 June 1969) was convicted under Criminal Code Article 405, Part 1. The court jailed him for 5 years, his lawyer Agysbek Tulegenov told Forum 18. His sentence remained unchanged on appeal at Almaty Regional Court. Tulegenov is now preparing an appeal to the Cassational Court.

Almaty's Bostandyk Court No. 2 had sentenced Tulbayev on 2 July 2015 under Criminal Code Article 174, Part 1 ("Incitement of social, national, clan, racial, or religious hatred or antagonism") and Article 405, Part 2. It jailed him for 4 years 8 months and banned him from exercising freedom of religion or belief until the end of 2022, three years after his release.

Tulbayev is being held in a high security labour camp in East Kazakhstan Region. His address:

071813 Vostochno-Kazakhstanskaya Oblast
Shemonaikhinsky raion
Poselok Ust-Talovka
s. Polovinka
ul. Dostyk 8
Uchrezhdenie No. 18

"Explanatory conversations"

A variety of officials held "explanatory conversations" with Taldykorgan-based Sunni Muslim Zhakipbek Ormanov over 12 years. (Taldykorgan was in Almaty Region before Zhetisu Region was set up in 2022.) Officials warned him not to engage in Tabligh Jamaat, according to the subsequent indictment.

Police in Tekeli in Almaty Region held such conversations with him in August 2014, officers of Almaty Region NSC secret police in September 2017, and "theologians" from Almaty Region Religious Affairs Department in March 2018. NSC secret police officers also "issued [Ormanov] an official warning on the unacceptability of carrying out criminal violations", the indictment added.

However, the indictment claimed that, "with deliberate intent", Ormanov continued his "criminal activity", aiming to "spread widely the ideology of this extremist organisation in Zhetisu Region, perfecting its activity, and increasing the number of its adherents". It noted that he had travelled extensively for religious purposes from 2011, including to the United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, India, Bangladesh, Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.

"Special measures" to investigate Ormanov

Zhetisu Region's Prosecutor approved "special measures" to investigate Zhakipbek Ormanov, according to the subsequent indictment. These included covert video surveillance and recording of conversations in Ormanov's home in Taldykorgan.

Such covert recordings appear to have begun on 8 July 2025 "from 14 hours, 17 minutes and 18 seconds to 14 hours, 31 minutes and 20 seconds". Recordings continued until late 2025.

The NSC secret police Investigator Lieutenant Colonel Nurbol Zhananov commissioned a complex judicial religious studies and psychological/philological "expert analysis". It concluded on 17 November 2025 that "in the content of the given conversations are indications of the Tabligh Jamaat organisation".

Lieutenant Colonel Zhananov commissioned a further judicial religious studies "expert analysis". It concluded on 20 February 2026 that "in the given conversations, propaganda was carried out of the religious ideology of the Tabligh Jamaat organisation".

Among those conducting the "expert analyses" was Roza Akbarova in Astana. She has provided "expert analyses" which helped jail Seventh-day Adventist, Jehovah's Witness, and Muslim prisoners of conscience for speaking about their beliefs with NSC secret police informers. The Moscow Patriarchate Russian Orthodox Astana and Almaty Diocese – which has defrocked Fr Yakov (Vladimir Vorontsov) – commissioned its own "expert analysis" from her of one of his online posts. Fr Yakov – who is now on criminal trial in Almaty on drug-related charges - was not given this analysis, but believes it maintains he incited hatred.

On 27 November 2025, officials - apparently from the National Security Committee (NSC) secret police - searched Ormanov's home in Taldykorgan. They found one copy of a book by a member of the Kandhlawi family which had been banned in August 2016.

Other local Sunni Muslims who would subsequently be charged had also been subjected to "explanatory conversations", warning them not to engage in Tabligh Jamaat.

Lieutenant Colonel Zhananov did not answer his phone on 23 and 24 September despite Forum 18's repeated calls. Forum 18 sent written questions on 23 September, asking why he considered the nine Muslims against whom he prepared the indictment "extremists". It also asked who they might have harmed, such as by killing anyone or inciting others to kill. Forum 18 had received no response by the end of the working day in Taldykorgan of 24 September.

Four sentenced earlier for religious activity

Several of the nine Muslims under investigation had served prison terms in their youth. Four of them had faced court cases more recently to punish them for exercising freedom of religion or belief:

Nariman Amanov had been freed under amnesty by Taldykorgan City Court in 2012 for possession of religious literature.

Estai Dzhakayev had been sentenced by Alakol District Court on 11 March 2016 under Criminal Code Article 405, Part 1 and Part 2 to 3 years' imprisonment.

Aidos Alpiyev had been sentenced by Taldykorgan City Court on 12 February 2024 under Criminal Code Article 405, Part 2 to one year of restricted freedom with a 3-year ban on public, teaching or religious activity with use of the internet.

Alpysbai Tleubayev had been sentenced by Taldykorgan City Court on 12 February 2024 under Criminal Code Article 405, Part 2 to one year of restricted freedom with a 3-year ban on public, teaching or religious activity with use of the internet.

The subsequent indictment complained that, despite these convictions, the four men "had not put themselves on the path of correction and, ignoring the court decision, had deliberately continued to support the ideology of the Tabligh Jamaat religious extremist organisation and participate in its activity".

Nine Muslim men charged

On 30 May 2026, NSC secret police Investigator Lieutenant Colonel Nurbol Zhananov completed the indictment (seen by Forum 18) in the case of Zhakipbek Ormanov and the other eight Muslim men alleged to be members of the Muslim missionary movement Tabligh Jamaat. The Deputy Prosecutor of Zhetisu Region, Ilyas Beskempirov, counter-signed the indictment.

All nine Muslims were charged under Criminal Code Article 405, Part 2. This punishes "participation in the activity of a social or religious association or other organisation after a court decision banning their activity or their liquidation in connection with extremism or terrorism they have carried out" with a fine or up to two years' imprisonment. Courts can also impose a subsequent ban on specific activity for up to three years.

Those charged are:
Zhakipbek Zhanibekovich Ormanov (born 8 December 1976)
Aidos Toktarkhanovich Alpiyev (born 15 September 1978)
Nariman Amanovich Amanov (born 15 March 1972)
Estai Kanatbekovich Dzhakayev (born 17 May 1978)
Dubek Khasenovich Bozov (born 21 December 1974)
Duman Abayevich Kabdoldanov (born 28 January 1985)
Zheneskali Sagingaliyevich Nuralin (born 9 May 1972)
Zhomart Rakhatovich Bigozhanov (born 6 February 1977)
Alpysbai Aldabergenovich Tleubayev (born 1 March 1972)

Eight of the nine accused Muslims live in Zhetisu Region, five of them in Taldykorgan. The ninth lives in neighbouring Almaty Region.

The nine Muslims were not taken into custody. They remain at home, and are banned from leaving the country, one of those on trial told Forum 18.

Trial begins

Prosecutors handed the criminal case against the nine Sunni Muslims to Taldykorgan City Court, where it was assigned to Judge Alibek Abdikhayev. The trial began in June, but hearings have been postponed or delayed several times over the summer. The next hearing is due on the afternoon of 25 September. The men are not held in the defendants' cage in the court room during hearings, one of the defendants told Forum 18.

All nine men are on trial under Criminal Code Article 405, Part 2. The nine "categorically deny" the prosecution accusations that they are members of Tabligh Jamaat, Agisbek Tulegenov, the defendants' lawyer, and Galym Ageleuov, a religious expert and president of the Liberty Public Foundation, told a 21 September press conference in Almaty at the office of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law.

"The defence lawyers for the nine defendants are calling for a thorough review of this case," Andrey Sviridov of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law noted the same day.

"The entire indictment is based on the findings of a complex expert analysis commissioned by the investigation, which found evidence of the suspects' affiliation with a banned organisation in several words uttered in an overheard and audio-recorded conversation between two of my clients," the lawyer Tulegenov said.

"We, however, believe that no conversation can be interpreted as extremist activity," Tulegenov insisted. "The authors of the expert analysis point out that the coincidence of several words uttered by the defendants in a private conversation, and not publicly in a sermon or anywhere else, in no way constitutes a crime under Article 405."

Ageleuov also criticised the prosecution. "The charges in this case make no mention of any actions by the defendants, or even of extremist calls," he told the press conference. "The people were simply chatting, discussing current events, sometimes touching on religious topics, which is not prohibited by law. Passing off a short fragment of a private conversation as evidence of the speaker's, and especially the listeners', affiliation with an extremist group is completely unacceptable."

State official: "They didn't kill anyone. They didn't call for anyone to be killed"

Officials at Zhetisu Region's Religious Affairs Department in Taldykorgan did not answer the phone each time Forum 18 called on 24 September.

On 20 September, the day before the lawyers' press conference in Almaty, local television in Zhetisu Region broadcast a 28-minute programme (also posted on YouTube) describing the Tabligh Jamaat Muslim missionary movement as "destructive". The Director of the Research Centre for Religious Issues and Rehabilitation attached to the Religious Affairs Department, Daulet Kazykenov, contributed to the programme.

(The Research Centre often awards contracts to media and podcasters, including in 2026, to promote its views on religion, according to the state procurement website. Many such contracts are worth 2 million Tenge.)

Kazykenov was not in the office when Forum 18 called the Research Centre on 24 September. His Deputy, who did not give her name, told Forum 18 that she was informed about the trial of the nine Muslims in Taldykorgan. Asked who the defendants might have harmed, she responded: "They didn't kill anyone. They didn't call for anyone to be killed."

The Deputy Director said the case against the 9 Muslims was not a state secret, "but I can't tell you anything else by phone". She said she had not read the indictment or attended any of the trial hearings.

"The Prosecutors have all the case documents. We don't interfere in the judicial process. We're theologians. Our role is to explain who they are," the Deputy Director told Forum 18. Asked why so many Muslims accused of Tabligh Jamaat membership get long jail terms, she responded: "I don't know. It's not within our competence."

Asked whether she believes Tabligh Jamaat is a dangerous movement and whether the 2013 court ban is justified, the Deputy Director responded: "We can't say if the movement is dangerous or not. We don't say if it was right to ban the movement or not."

Calls to lift Tabligh Jamaat ban

At the 21 September press conference in Almaty at the office of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, Galym Ageleuov, a religious expert and president of the Liberty Public Foundation, said the 2013 court decision banning the Tabligh Jamaat movement "raises many questions".

Ageleuov insisted that the court banning order "contains no indication of the extremist nature of this jamaat's activities, yet a ban on the religious association's activities was imposed. Under this decision, people are being arrested and tried for belonging to it and assisting it, essentially for their words." He speculated that such criminal cases were launched to boost statistics on crime detection.

The defence lawyers for the nine defendants on trial in Taldykorgan also called for "a reconsideration of the designation of the Tabligh Jamaat religious organisation as extremist", Andrey Sviridov of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law noted. (END)

More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Kazakhstan

For background information, see Forum 18's Kazakhstan freedom of religion or belief 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.