Additional Name(s): Anatoli Pavlovich Zernichenko
Gender: Male
Current Location: Investigation Prison No. 11, Shymkent
Perpetrator: Kazakhstan
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Sunni
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Sentence: 7 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: October/15/2021
Date of Sentencing: June/20/2022
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Discussing Religion & Religious Texts Online Activity Possession of Religious Materials Religious Activity Religious Belief
Nature of Charges: Incitement to Commit Crime & Violence Terrorism
Anatoli Zernichenko is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.
On October 15, 2021, authorities in Arys arrested Zernichenko for posting religious texts on Instagram and Telegram in 2020. He was accused of promoting terrorism. After the arrest, authorities searched Zernichenko’s home and another property and confiscated phones and religious books.
On June 20, 2022, the Arys District Court sentenced Zernichenko to seven years in prison for “promotion of terrorism or public calls for making of the act of terrorism…with use of mass media or networks of telecommunications” (Art. 256-2 KCC). He was also ordered to pay 55,560 tenges.
Zernichenko has reportedly not been allowed a Qur’an or other religious literature while in prison.
Zernichenko is married with one child.
Photo attributed to ©Anna Tukova [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] via Forum 18
USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel, Tweet, June 20, 2023
“KAZAKHSTAN: Seven years' jail for online Muslim posts” Forum 18