Ivan Matsitsky was detained for his religious activity and religious leadership role.

In June 2017, authorities detained Matsitsky, the director of the Church of Scientology in St.…

Bahram Hemdemov was imprisoned for his religious activity.

On March 14, 2015, authorities arrested Hemdemov following a raid on his home coinciding with a large worship meeting he was…

Vyacheslav Boronos was detained for his religious belief and activity.

On February 15, 2019, authorities arrested Boronos after raiding the homes of several Jehovah's Witnesses in …

Yevgeniy Fedin was detained for his religious belief and activity.

On February 15, 2019, authorities detained Fedin after raiding the homes of several Jehovah's Witnesses in Surgut,…

Saveliy Gargalyk was detained for his religious belief and activity.

On February 15, 2019, authorities briefly detained Gargalyk after raiding the homes of several Jehovah's Witnesses in…

Yevgeniy Kayryak was detained for his religious belief and activity. 

On February 15, 2019, authorities arrested Kayryak after raiding the homes of several Jehovah's Witnesses in…

Artem Kim was detained for his religious belief and activity.

On February 15, 2019, authorities briefly detained Kim after raiding the homes of several Jehovah's Witnesses in Surgut,…

Majid Kashan was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

On November 18, 2017, authorities arrested Kashan at a house-church. Kashan is believed to have been originally…

Aramais Avakian was imprisoned in relation to his religious identity.

On September 4, 2015, authorities arrested Avakian, a Christian fish farmer, after being accusing him of being an…

Deng Chuangjiu was imprisoned for his religious activity. 

In October 2017, authorities arrested Deng from his workplace after accusing him of using WeChat to disseminate…

Xu Zhaoling was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On August 9, 2014, officers from the Public Security Bureau of Wulian county, Rizhao city, Shandong province, detained Xu…

Fang Ronghua was imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.

On October 30, 2015, authorities detained Fang in Fuzhou City Dongtai city, Jiangsu province, reportedly in…

Wu Binrong was imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.

On May 18, 2013, officers from the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau Jiangning Branch detained Wu reportedly…

Javad Khomeis Abadi was imprisoned for his religious association and for protesting religious freedom conditions.

In February 2018, authorities arrested Abadi following a violent crackdown…

Khayriddin Dostakov was detained for his alleged religious belief and activity. 

On December 29, 2019, authorities arrested Dostakov at the Dushanbe Airport following his return…

Li Tianhua was imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.

On April 9, 2015, authorities in Wanzhou district, Chongqing municipality detained Li, a leader of the Church of…

Kianoush Abbaszadeh was imprisoned for his religious association and for protesting religious freedom conditions.

In February 2018, authorities arrested Abbaszadeh following a violent…

Li Anqun was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On February 11, 2014, police arrested Li reportedly in relation to her religious beliefs. She had reportedly been…

Jovidon Bobojonov was imprisoned for refusing to serve in the military on religious grounds.

In October 2019, military personnel detained Bobojonov and reportedly tortured him for not…

Gao Shengzhi was imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.

On July 14, 2015, police from the Taixing Public Security Bureau detained Gao after he came out of a church gathering place…

Yuan Hongfen was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On August 11, 2014, officers from the Fanlou Town Police Station in Feng county, Xuzhou city, arrested Yuan reportedly…

Hu Xinnü was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On April 27, 2016, police from the Xiqiao Town Police Station in Taixing city detained Hu reportedly in relation to her…

Deng Cuiping was imprisoned for her religious activity.

On July 24, 2016, officers from the Public Security Bureau in Chengjiang County detained Deng and four others for distributing Falun…

Yao Guofu was imprisoned for distributing religious materials.

On December 5, 2015, plainclothes police officers detained Yao and his wife, Liang Xin, from their home in Nanyang…

Patras Masih was detained for blasphemy.

On February 19, 2018, authorities arrested Masih after he was accused of posting a perceived-blasphemous image on Facebook a few days before.…

Wang Shan was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On September 7, 2016, officers from the Gulou District National Security Brigade in Xuzhou and Jiuli District Police Station…

Chen Xiaoying was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity. 

On March 20, 2014, authorities detained Chen for allegedly organizing religious assemblies and being in possession…

Gao Xiuhong was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On July 25, 2014, police detained Gao while she was attending a religious service. Gao was reportedly tortured while…

Lu Huan was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On September 18, 2014, police detained Lu at her home reportedly in relation to her religious belief. Lu was reportedly tortured…

Yan Shihua was imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.

On October 27, 2014, authorities detained Yan in Yaohai District, Hefei City, Anhui Province, reportedly in relation to his…

A Dao was imprisoned for his religious activity and religious freedom advocacy.

On August 18, 2016, authorities arrested Dao, the pastor of the Montagnard Evangelical Church of Christ…

Wang Fang was imprisoned for her religious activity. 

On October 3, 2018, authorities arrested Wang and several of her colleagues after accusing them of talking to people about Falun…

Bai Xia was imprisoned for her religious activity. 

On October 3, 2018, authorities arrested Bai and several of her colleagues after accusing them of talking to people about Falun…

Wang Fuhua was imprisoned for her religious activity. 

On October 3, 2018, authorities arrested Wang and several of her colleagues after accusing them of talking to people about Falun…

Zhao Tingting was imprisoned for her religious activity.

On October 3, 2018, authorities arrested Zhao and several of her colleagues after accusing them of talking to people about Falun…

Lei Xiuxiang was imprisoned for criticizing religious freedom conditions. 

In July 2015, authorities arrested Lei for sending a letter to a high-ranking former official, protesting…

Wang Lei was imprisoned for her religious activity.

In February 2014, authorities arrested Wang reportedly for practicing Falun Gong.

In November 2015, the Fangshan District…

Zafar Bhatti was imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy.

On July 22, 2012, authorities arrested Bhatti, a pastor, after he was accused of sending text messages insulting the Prophet…

Usman Darvyshov was imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.

On February 18, 2009, Uzbek security services detained Darvyshov, a boxing coach at an athletics school and resident…

Tohir Djumanov was imprisoned for his religious activity.

On August 6, 1999, authorities arrested Djumanov in Tashkent after accusing him of distributing Hizb ut-Tahrir literature.

Ravshan Kosimov was imprisoned for his religious identity and activity.

In 2008, security services arrested Kosimov, a soldier who studied on an exchange program at the U.S. military…

Avaz Tokhtakhodjaev was imprisoned for his religious activity. 

On November 26, 1999, security service agents arrested Tokhtakhodjaev, an economist, from his home in Tashkent…

Nematullo Ibragimov was imprisoned for his religious activity.

On an unspecified date, authorities arrested Ibragimov, a resident of Namangan, after accusing him of being a “Wahhabi” due…

Sanat Salimov was imprisoned for his religious belief and activity. 

On an unspecified date, police from the Navoi Department of Internal Affairs Division of Terrorism and Extremism…

Jahongir Kamolov was imprisoned for an alleged religious affiliation.

On May 18, 2000, police arrested Kamolov in Tashkent for allegedly being a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir. He was reportedly…

Ibrohim Kholmatov was imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.

In 2000, authorities arrested Kholmatov and charged him with “attempts to overthrow the constitutional order” (Art.…

Ubaydulla Murtazoyev was imprisoned for discussing his religion on social media.

On September 5, 2019, authorities detained Murtazoyev for allegedly storing with the purpose of distributing…

Azimjon Abdusamatov was imprisoned for discussing his religion on social media.

Between August and October 2019, authorities originally arrested Abdusamatov alongside seven others for…

Iskandar Iskandarov was imprisoned for gathering to discuss his religion.

In January 2020, authorities reportedly arrested Iskandarov for meeting with others to talk about Islam. …

Farrukh Yuldashev was imprisoned for his religious activity.

In 2000, authorities arrested Yuldashev during waves of arrests of Muslims following the February 1999 Tashkent bombings.…

Ali al-Nimr was imprisoned for his religious identity and for protesting religious discrimination.

In July 2012, authorities detained Al-Nimr, the nephew of prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-…

Dawood al-Marhoun was imprisoned for his religious identity and for protesting religious discrimination.

On May 21, 2012, authorities arrested al-Marhoun, who was 17 years old at the time…

Abdullah al-Zaher was imprisoned for his religious identity and for protesting religious discrimination.

In March 2012, authorities detained al-Zaher, 15 years old at the time, for…

Mohammed al-Rabiah is imprisoned for his activism against state imposed religious systems.

On May 15, 2018, authorities arrested al-Rabiah amid a statewide crackdown on women's rights…

Sardorbek Irgashev was imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.

For several years prior to their arrest, Irgashev, his father, Mukhitdin Irgashev, and his brother, Otabek…

Otabek Irgashev was imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.

On April 1, 2015, officers arrested Irgashev and his father in Bukhara, charging them first with administrative…

Kadyr Yusupov was mistreated in prison for fighting for prisoner religious freedom rights and his religious activity. 

In or around December 2018, authorities arrested Yusupov, who…

Suleiman Bouhafs was imprisoned for his alleged expression about religion.

On August 25, 2021, three men in a black vehicle abducted Bouhafs –  Chairman of the St. Augustine…

Patrick George Zaki was imprisoned for his expression about his religious identity.

On February 7, 2020, authorities arrested Zaki, a graduate student and human rights researcher, at…

Abdukhalil Abduzhabbarov was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.

On February 18, 2017, Kazakh authorities arrested Abduzhabbarov, an imam, after extraditing him from Saudi…

Guo Yanda was imprisoned for his religious activity. 

On April 18, 2012, authorities in Zhanqian District, Yingkou Municipality, Liaoning Province, arrested Guo alongside eight other…

Elshan Mustafaoglu was imprisoned for his religious expression and activism.

On December 17, 2014, authorities arrested Mustafaoglu, a Muslim scholar and former department head at the…

Murtaja Qureiris was imprisoned for his religious identity and for protesting religious discrimination.

On September 20, 2014, authorities arrested Qureiris, who was 13 years old at the…

Dadash Mazhenov was imprisoned for posting online religious content.

On April 23, 2018, authorities arrested Mazhenov in relation to posts he made online containing religious sermons in 2015…

Aimidoula Waili was detained for his ethnoreligious identity.

In November 2020, Saudi Arabian authorities arrested Waili, a Uyghur Muslim and religious scholar, following an extradition…

Seyed Fariborz Shah-Ebrahimi was detained for their religious activity.

On November 18, 2022, authorities in Sahneh county, Kermanshah province, arrested at least 30 Yarsanis,…

Seyed Farhad Zalnouri was detained for their religious activity.

On November 18, 2022, authorities in Sahneh county, Kermanshah province, arrested at least 30 Yarsanis, including…

Sonam Gyatso was imprisoned for his adherence to a religious figure.

On April 3, 2021, authorities in Aba (Ngaba) county, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture (T&QAP), Sichuan,…