Extra Bio Info:

Fazilhoja Arifhojaev is under house arrest for his religious expression.

On June 28, 2021, authorities arrested Arifhojaev, a blogger known for his criticism of the government's religious policies, following an in-person confrontation with another individual. He was initially charged with petty hooliganism (Art. 183 UAC) and sentenced to 15 days in prison.  During this period, he was reportedly denied access to his lawyer.

On July 13, 2021, the day Arifhojaev was set to be released, authorities revealed that they had opened another criminal investigation into Arifhojaev for allegedly “distributing or displaying materials containing a threat to public security and public order using mass media or telecommunication, or the Internet” (Art. 244-1.3 UCC). This charge reportedly stems from a March 2021 Facebook post Arifhojaev made about congratulating non-Muslims on their religious holidays.

On January 26, 2022, the Olmazor District Court sentenced Arifhojaev to seven years and six months in prison.

In December 2023, Arifhojaev was released from prison and placed under a parole-like sentence at home. In December 2025, Tashkent's Yunusabad District Criminal Court ordered Fazilkhoja Arifkhojayev to be placed under "restricted freedom."

There are reports that Arifhojaev has been subjected to torture and general mistreatment while in custody, including being forced to remain in a stress position for hours and solitary confinement.

Arifhojaev's health has declined while in prison.  He reportedly suffers from hernias, heart-related issues, and a toothache that have all impacted his quality of life. His family says that he has also been denied adequate medical care.

Extra Bio Info:

Mansoor Tahir Ahmad is detained for alleged blasphemy.

In March 2021, authorities arrested Ahmad after he was accused of making negative comments about a religious program. They charged him with "inciting interfaith hatred" (Sec. 11 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016) and "intending to outrage religious feelings" (Sec. 295-A PPC). Authorities denied his requests for bail.

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Gao Zhisheng remains forcibly disappeared for his work defending human rights and religious minorities.

On August 13, 2017, Gao, a human rights lawyer, was forcibly disappeared from his home in Jia County, Yulin Municipality, Shaanxi Province.  His exact whereabouts and condition are unknown.

Gao has previously served time in prison and been subjected to forced disappearance.  He was well known for representing Christians and Falun Gong practitioners and criticizing the state's treatment of them. In August 2006, Gao was forcibly disappeared and then later found guilty of subversion.  He was sentenced to three years in prison; however, the sentence was suspended. In December 2011, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ordered Gao to serve that three-year sentence after he was accused of allegedly violating the terms of his suspended sentence. Up until his most recent disappearance, authorities had placed Gao under home confinement following his release from prison in August 2014.

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA, Ret.) advocated for Gao as part of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission's Defending Freedoms Project.