The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief
20 January 2026
KAZAKHSTAN: Wife to be jailed for advocating for husband jailed in Xinjiang?
Guldaria Sherizat, an ethnic Kazakh originally from Xinjiang, is among 19 people on trial in Taldykorgan on 23 January for "inciting national discord against the Chinese people". At a demonstration she called for freedom for her husband Alimnur Turganbay, jailed in Xinjiang since July 2025. He had called in a 2019 video for freedom for his nephew and two other Muslims jailed in Xinjiang for 17 years for praying. Sherizat's family say this is a freedom of religion case, as she advocated for her husband who had defended his nephew jailed for exercising freedom of religion or belief.
9 January 2026
KAZAKHSTAN: Complaint against church "under pressure and dictation from police"
In November, police raided a Baptist church's worship meeting in Balpyk-Bi, blocking the doors. Those present rejected pressure to write statements. When church leaders refused to register the church, police took administrative cases to court, but a judge dismissed them in December. In September, police visited a Baptist church in Shu. A woman who complained that the church was teaching children later admitted she wrote the complaint "under pressure and dictation from the police". Police interrogated a pastor's child in school in the parents' absence. Police in both cases refused to comment.
8 December 2025
KAZAKHSTAN: Fined, ordered deported, but torture unpunished
On 21 November, Kentau Town Court fined and ordered deported Jehovah's Witness Daniyar Tursynbayev – an Uzbek citizen - for posting on Telegram about his faith. Deportation is suspended, pending his appeal. "Deportation will separate Daniyar Tursynbayev from his wife and infant daughter - citizens of Kazakhstan - or force them to leave the country," Jehovah's Witnesses complain. "The conviction is based solely on testimony obtained under torture." Lieutenant Colonel Baglan Yankin – one of four police officers suspected of the torture – denies it. Tursynbayev "invented it all", he claims.
14 November 2025
KAZAKHSTAN: Prosecutors stall criminal investigation into police torture of Jehovah's Witness
A court had to order Kentau Prosecutor's Office to begin a criminal investigation into police torture of and murder threats to Jehovah's Witness Daniyar Tursynbayev on 13 August. But prosecutors stalled the investigation, insisting that Tursynbayev – who fled to Almaty fearing for his safety – must testify in person. "This can't be done appropriately by video," says an official. No one has been arrested or tried. Lieutenant Colonel Baglan Yankin, who denies leading the torture, remains in post. "On what basis should I be removed from duty?" he asks.
12 November 2025
RUSSIA: Exiled Orthodox journalist facing criminal charges added to Wanted List
Russia's Interior Ministry Wanted List includes: 4 opponents of Russia's war against Ukraine on religious grounds; 7 Muslim Nursi readers from Russia; 15 Jehovah's Witnesses from Russia, 4 from Russian-occupied Crimea; 4 people wanted by Belarus; 3 wanted by Kazakhstan; 2 wanted by Tajikistan; 6 wanted by Uzbekistan. Most recently added was exiled Orthodox journalist Kseniya Luchenko. The Interior Ministry did not say why it includes people who peacefully exercised their right to freedom of religion or belief. Interpol would not say for how many of them Russia had sought Red Notices.
11 September 2025
KAZAKHSTAN: Kentau Police use torture, murder threats
On 13 August, Kentau Police tortured Jehovah's Witness Daniyar Tursynbayev and threatened him with death until he admitted "illegal missionary activity". Freed after six hours, friends took him to hospital to document his fractured rib and other injuries. If the court finds him guilty of "illegal missionary activity" on 15 September, he would be due for a fine and – as an Uzbek citizen - deportation. Baglan Yankin, Deputy Chief of Kentau Police Department, denied anyone had tortured Tursynbayev. "This is not true. It is disinformation," he told Forum 18.
15 May 2025
KAZAKHSTAN: Released prisoner banned from attending mosque
An official banned a released prisoner from attending mosque, threatening punishment for doing so or congratulating fellow Muslims after Friday prayers. The individual is the only one Forum 18 has found specifically banned from visiting places of worship. However, bans on "membership or participation in" religious organisations are common. Officials have not explained whether such bans include attending places of worship. Muslim prisoners of conscience Dadash Mazhenov and Abdukhalil Abduzhabbarov have completed jail terms. After 16 months, Almaty Police closed its criminal investigation into anti-war Orthodox priest Fr Yakov (Vorontsov).
9 April 2025
KAZAKHSTAN: 15-month criminal investigation of anti-war priest
Orthodox priest Yakov (Vorontsov) faced difficulties with his diocese after criticising Russia's war against Ukraine in March 2022. After an "emotional" August 2023 Facebook post saying the Russian Orthodox Church "has long had nothing in common with Christianity", police summoned him after an anonymous denunciation and call for him to be prosecuted for inciting religious and ethnic hatred (with a maximum 7-year prison sentence if convicted). Police Investigator Samat Atakhan opened an investigation in December 2023 and – despite one "expert analysis" clearing Fr Yakov – commissioned another and has not closed the case.
15 November 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: Court bailiffs burn book seized at border, owner fined
On 12 July, 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." Under the strict religious censorship system, travellers can import only one copy of any religious book.
14 November 2024
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 from the Koran online.
7 November 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: Constitutional challenge to sharing faith ban
Courts have twice fined Zhangazy Biimbetov, a Jehovah's Witness from Oskemen, 2 months' average wages for sharing his faith. In July he challenged the constitutionality of the ban on and punishments for sharing faith. The Constitutional Court accepted the case on 4 October but has not yet set a date for a hearing, which will be held in public. No one was available at the regime's Religious Affairs Committee to explain why individuals continue to be punished for talking to others about their faith. Regime-sponsored warnings against so-called "destructive religious movements" and sharing faith are widespread in advertisements – including on bills for utilities and on public transport.
27 May 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: Regime ignores UN alternative service recommendations
"The law does not directly recognise the right of an individual to refuse to carry out military service on religious or other grounds," Kazakhstan told the UN Human Rights Committee on 2 April in response to questions about progress on an alternative to compulsory military service. The regime did not explain why it does not recognise this right. The regime's Human Rights Commissioner Artur Lastayev did not answer Forum 18's questions. Conscription Offices often pressure young men who refuse to serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience.