Kyrgyzstan Convicts and Fines Five Members of Banned Church After Deporting Its Pastor
Police raided 10 homes and held five believers for months over Saturday worship in private homes. Prosecutors had sought up to seven years in prison; the courts handed down fines instead.
See where this is ›BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan —
Courts in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, have convicted and fined five members of a banned church for meeting to worship in private homes, Christian Daily International reported Nov. 9, citing the rights group Forum 18. The five were convicted of taking part in a banned “extremist” organization after police opened a new case just four days after the church's leader was deported.
See where this is ›The congregation is the True and Free Reform Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Soviet-era pacifist movement that the report says is separate from the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist denomination. The church refuses on principle to seek state registration, which makes its worship illegal under Kyrgyz law. The Alamudun District Court in Chuy Region banned it as “extremist” in March 2025, and the Supreme Court rejected its appeal that August, after which the congregation stopped meeting in its hall in the village of Lenin, north of Bishkek.
Its leader, Rev. Pavel Shreider, was arrested by the National Security Committee secret police in November 2024 and sentenced to three years in prison. The Supreme Court changed that sentence to a fine in March 2026, and he was deported on April 9. Shreider was born in Kyrgyzstan but holds Russian citizenship.
Four days after he was deported, investigator Adilet Asanbayev of the Birinchi May District Police opened a new criminal case over Saturday worship in homes in Bishkek and nearby villages, according to the report. Police raided 10 members' homes on June 6 and seized religious books, church papers and mobile phones. A Justice Ministry expert report said the church's literature promoted “insubordination” because it teaches refusal of military service. On June 17 the Birinchi May District Court ordered five members held in pre-trial detention.
District Prosecutor Bakytbek Toktogonov charged the five with producing and spreading extremist materials, which carries up to seven years. At trial the judges changed the charge to taking part in a banned extremist group. Judge Iskander Sargaldakov convicted Olga Selova on Aug. 18 and fined her 20,000 soms, about $229. Judge Tilek Turdukulov convicted Igor Kozlov on Sept. 9, fining him 20,000 soms, and Yevgeny Zhuravsky eight days later, fining him 10,000 soms, about $115. Valeriya Yantsen was convicted and fined in mid-September. Judge Madamin Azimzhanov convicted Sergey Kozlov on Sept. 28 and fined him 20,000 soms after more than three months in detention. All five were released.
“I would keep them in prison if it depended on me,” Asanbayev told Forum 18 on Oct. 13. Birinchi May District Court Chair Chyngyzbek Berdymuratov declined to explain the fines, writing to Forum 18 that “no one has the right to demand from judges an account on any concrete case.” The report said officials did not explain how Christian pacifism or reading religious books at home amounted to extremism.
The five have appealed to the Bishkek City Court and signed travel restrictions while the appeals are pending.
What we don't know yet: The account comes from Forum 18 as reported by Christian Daily International, and Watchman News has not independently confirmed it. The amount of Yantsen's fine was not reported, and her family has withheld details for fear of retaliation. No date has been reported for the appeals.
