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Raif Badawi was imprisoned for his religious freedom advoacy, expression about religion, and for criticizing religious authorities.
In June 2012, authorities arrested Badawi, a…
Mohammad Roghangir was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
in October 2012, authorities arrested Roghangir, a member of the Church of Iran, after authorities raided a…
Youcef Nadarkhani was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On May 13, 2016, intelligence officials in Rasht…
Sevada Aghasar was imprisoned for his religious activity and being associated with religious converts.
In August 2013, authorities arrested Aghasar at the workplace of a friend in…
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…
Ahmad al-Shamri is imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy.
In 2014, authorities arrested al-Shamri, accused him of using social media to insult or renounce Islam, and charged him…
Liu Junhua is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.
On October 24, 2017, officers from the Heze Public Security Bureau Mudan Branch arrested Liu while he was writing…
Wu Baozhen is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.
On October 24, 2017, officers from the Heze Public Security Bureau Mudan Branch arrested Wu while he was writing scrips for…
Naser Navard Goltapeh is imprisoned for his religious activity.
In February 2025, authorities detained Goltapeh and other Christians without charge and sent him to Evin Prison. …
Abdul Waheed is imprisoned and sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy.
In March 2017, security services detained Waheed and held him incommunicado after he was accused of uploading "…
Mohammad Ali Mosayebzadeh was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On May 13, 2016, authorities arrested Mosayebzadeh, a member of the Church of Iran, and several…
Mohammad Reza Omidi was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On May 13, 2016, authorities arrested Omidi, a member of the Church of Iran, and several others…
Zaman Fadaei was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On May 13, 2016, authorities arrested Fadaei, a member of the Church of Iran, and several others while performing…
Ebrahim Firouzi was detained for practicing his religion as a convert.
On February 8, 2021, authorities arrested Firouzi again after he released videos detailing the authorities'…
Nahid Behshid was imprisoned for her religious expression and public support for a religious figure.
On January 28, 2019, authorities took Behshid into custody after a judge sentenced her…
Mahrokh Ghanbari was imprisoned for practicing her religion as a convert.
In July 2019, authorities reportedly arrested Ghanbari. She was later released on bail. She was reportedly…
Fatemeh Bakhtari was imprisoned for practicing her religion as a convert.
In May 2017, authorities arrested Bakhtari and her husband, Zaman Fadaei, under unclear circumstances.…
Chen Ziquan is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.
On April 14, 2019, police from the Dongxiang District Public Security Bureau in Fuzhou city, Jiangxi province, detained…
Mohammad Nouri is imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy.
In or around October 2015, authorities reportedly arrested Nouri after accusing him of posting anti-Islamic content…
Bolatbek Dyusenbekovich Nurgaliyev was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
On October 27, 2018, authorities arrested Nurgaliyev for participating in a WhatsApp group chat…
Ernar Samatov was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
On October 27, 2018, Kazakh authorities arrested Samatov for participating in a WhatsApp group chat about Islam.…
Beket Mynbasov was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
On October 27, 2018, Kazakh authorities arrested Mynbasov for participating in a WhatsApp group chat about Islam…
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.…
Kamal Naamanian was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On February 15, 2019, authorities arrested Naamanian at a house-church. Other members of the…
Amri Che Mat was forcibly disappeared for his religious activity.
On November 24, 2016, Mat, a Shi'a Muslim convert, was abducted while driving to visit a friend. According to…
Maruf Gul is detained for alleged blasphemy.
In September 2020, authorities arrested Gul, a Sunni Muslim, after he discussed religious…
Abdurehim Heyit is detained for his religious expression and ethnoreligious identity.
In April 2017, public security authorities in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) detained…
Nabeel Masih was imprisoned for blasphemy.
On September 18, 2016, authorities arrested Masih - a minor at the time - after he was accused of posting content on Facebook insulting the Kaaba.…
Sohail Masih is detained for alleged blasphemy.
In August 2020, authorities arrested Masih after he was accused of posting content on Facebook deemed to be blasphemous. Authorities charged…
Yahaya Sharif-Aminu is imprisoned for his religious expression.
In March 2020, authorities arrested Sharif-Aminu, a musician and follower of the Sufi Tijaniyyah Order, for allegedly…
Mubashar Ahmad was imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy-related offenses.
On May 13, 2014, authorities arrested Ahmad alongside three others for allegedly tearing down…
Ehsan Ahmad was imprisoned for blasphemy.
On May 13, 2014, authorities arrested Ahmad alongside three others after they were accused of tearing down posters containing religious…
Hassan Farhan al-Maliki is detained for his religious expression and religious freedom advocacy.
In September 2017, authorities arrested al-Maliki, an…
Abdulazeez Inyass is imprisoned for blasphemy.
In May 2015, Nigerian authorities arrested Inyass for allegedly saying that Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse, the founder of the Tijaniya order to…
Behnam Akhlaghi was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On February 23, 2019, Akhlaghi was summoned to the Revolutionary Guard office and detained…
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…
Reda Abdel Rahman was detained for his religious belief.
On August 22, 2020, security forces arrested Abdel Rahman, a teacher and َQur'anist blogger, alongside several relatives. A few…
Mehdi Khatibi was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On February 23, 2019, authorities arrested Khatibi at a house-church. Other members of the Church of Iran…
Babak Hosseinzadeh was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On February 23, 2019, authorities arrested Hosseinzadeh while he was at a house-church. Other members of…
Shahrooz Eslamdoust was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On February 15, 2019, authorities arrested Eslamdoust at a house-church. Other members of the Church of Iran in…
Khalil Dehghanpur was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On January 29, 2019, authorities arrested Dehghanpur at a house-church. Other members of the Church of Iran…
Mohammed Vafadar was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On February 15, 2019, authorities arrested Vafadar at a house-church. Other members of the Church…
Hossein Kadivar was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
On January 29, 2019, authorities arrested Kadivar at a house-church. Other members of the Church of Iran in…
Abdolreza Ali Haghnejad is detained for practicing his religion as a convert.
On January 15, 2022, authorities reportedly arrested Haghnejad, a church leader, in Bandar Anzali for a…
Nazim Abdrakhmanov was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
On October 27, 2018, authorities arrested Abdrakhmanov for participating in a WhatsApp group chat about Islam…
Samat Adilov was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
On October 27, 2018, authorities arrested Adilov for participating in a WhatsApp group chat about Islam.
On…
Zhasulan Iskakov was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
On October 27, 2018, authorities arrested Iskakov for participating in a WhatsApp group chat about Islam.…
Esim Suleimenov was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
On October 27, 2018, authorities arrested Suleimenov for participating in a WhatsApp group chat about Islam.…
Azamat Umbetaliyev was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
On October 27, 2018, authorities arrested Umbetaliyev for participating in a WhatsApp group chat about…
Zhuldyzbek Taurbekov was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
On October 27, 2018, authorities arrested Taurbekov for participating in a WhatsApp group chat about…
Dilmurat Sultanmuratovich Makhamatov was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
On December 19, 2018, Kazakh authorities arrested Makhamatov after reportedly forcing…
Nariman Seytzhanov was imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
On January 15, 2017, authorities arrested Seytzhanov reportedly over a meeting he had in a coffeeshop in…
Ghulam Ahmad was imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy-related offenses.
On May 13, 2014, authorities arrested Ahmad alongside three others after they were accused of tearing…
Milad Goudarzi was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
In November 2020, authorities raided Goudarzi's home and confiscated his personal belongings, including…
Ameen Khaki is imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
In November 2020, authorities raided Khaki's home and confiscated his personal belongings, including…
Alireza Nourmohammadi is imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
In November 2020, authorities raided Nourmohammadi's home and confiscated his personal belongings,…
Raja Waris was detained for alleged blasphemy.
In December 2020, authorities arrested Waris, a pastor, after he was accused of committing blasphemy on Facebook. They charged him with "…
Anwaar Ahmad is imprisoned for alleged blasphemy.
In 2017, authorities arrested Ahmad, a professor at the Islamabad Model College, after he was accused of committing blasphemy during a…
Joshua Hilmy was forcibly disappeared for his religious belief and activity.
On November 30, 2016, Hilmy, who is a pastor, and his wife, Ruth Sitepu, were disappeared at the hands…
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…
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…
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…
Hadi Rahimi was imprisoned for practicing his faith as a convert.
On May 14, 2020, Rahimi, a member of the Church of Iran, was taken into state custody after being unable to pay bail.…
Sakineh Behjati is imprisoned for practicing her faith as a convert.
On May 14, 2020, authorities took Behjati, a member of the Church of Iran, into custody after being unable to pay…
Marco Girgis is imprisoned for blasphemy.
On June 14, 2021, authorities arrested Girgis for having pictures on his phone deemed to be offensive to Islam. During interrogation, he was…
Umar Gautam is detained for his religious activity.
In June 2021, authorities arrested Gautam, a Muslim convert, Islamic scholar, and founder of the Islamic Da’…
Indriyanto is imprisoned for his religious expression.
In March 2020, police in Probolinggo Regency, East Java, arrested Indriyanto for sharing photos online that were considered offensive…
Parizad Hamidi Shafagh is imprisoned on blasphemy-related charges.
In February 2020, intelligence agents arrested Shafagh reportedly in relation to her social media activities.
In…
Shakila Monfared is imprisoned for blasphemy.
In August 2020, security forces arrested Monfared as she was leaving home, reportedly in relation to her social media activism.
In…
Fariba Dalir was imprisoned for practicing her religion as a convert.
In July 2021, authorities arrested Dalir and five other converts from Islam to Christianity, including her at the time…
Ayub Pour Rezazadeh was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
In September 2021, authorities arrested Rezazadeh, a member of the Church of Iran, and others in Rasht…
Ahmad Sarparast was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
In September 2021, authorities arrested Sarparast, a member of the Church of Iran, and others in Rasht…
Morteza Mashhood Kari was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
In September 2021, authorities arrested Kari, a member of the Church of Iran, and others in Rasht…
Sulaiman al-Dowaish was forcibly disappeared for his religious expression.
In April 2016, al-Dowaish, a religious scholar, was forcibly disappeared after posting tweets summarizing a…
Omar Abdullah al-Saadoun is detained for her religious freedom advocacy.
In July 2021, authorities arrested Omar Abdullah al-Saadoun, a cleric and legal advisor, after he wrote an article…
Omar al-Muqbil is imprisoned for his religious expression and religious freedom advocacy.
In September 2019, authorities arrested al-Muqbil, a cleric, for a sermon criticizing concerts…
Gholamreza Keyvanmanesh is detained for practicing his religion as a convert.
On June 26, 2022, authorities arrested Keyvanmanesh and three others in Neyshabur as they gathered…
Reza Radmanesh is detained for practicing their religion as a convert.
On July 17, 2022, security forces arrested four Christians, including Radmanesh, in Neyshabur City…
Homayoun Zhaveh was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.
In June 2019, authorities arrested Zhaveh and his wife, Sara Ahmadi, as they were on vacation with some…
Sara Ahmadi was imprisoned for practicing her religion as a convert.
In June 2019, authorities arrested Ahmadi and her husband, Homayoun Zhaveh, as they were on vacation with…
Mohammad Golbaz is detained for practicing his religion as a convert.
On July 30, 2022, authorities arrested Golbaz at his motorcycle repair shop reportedly after raiding his parents' home…
Saleh Al Talib is imprisoned for his religious expression leadership.
In August 2018, authorities arrested Talib, an imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, following a sermon he gave criticizing…
Joseph Shahbazian is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.
On June 30, 2020, authorities arrested Shahbazian, a house-church leader, following raids targeting house-churches…
Malihe Nazari was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.
On June 30, 2020, authorities arrested Nazari following raids targeting house-churches across several cities…
Ioann Kurmoyarov was imprisoned for his religious beliefs.
On June 7, 2022, authorities arrested Kurmoyarov, a hieromonk, after he posted several videos on his YouTube channel outlining…
Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim was detained in relation to his religious leadership role and religious expression.
On October 15, 2022, authorities arrested Tsalim, the Catholic bishop of…
Mihretab Stefanos was detained in relation to his religious leadership role and religious expression.
On October 11, 2022, authorities arrested, Stefanos, the priest of St.…
Abraham Habtom Gebremariam was detained in relation to his religious leadership role and religious expression.
In October 2022, authorities arrested Gebremariam, a Capuchin abbot. …
Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo was detained for his religious conversion.
On December 15, 2021, authorities arrested Abdo, a Yemeni refugee, from his Cairo home. Abdo's arrest followed his…
Aleksandr Gabyshev is detained for his religious expression, belief, and activity.
On January 27, 2021, authorities arrested Gabyshev and sent him to a psychiatric hospital after…
Abdul Majeed Al-Arkani is imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.
In 2020, authorities arrested Al-Arkani, an imam, for being friendly with a prominent Turkish figure, Yasin…
Khaled Al-Rashed is imprisoned for his religious expression and association.
In March 2006, Saudi authorities arrested Al-Rashed, a cleric, for his membership in the Movement of Reformers…
Anahita Khademi was detained for practicing her religion as a convert.
On January 3, 2023, authorities in Bandar Anzali reportedly arrested Khademi after summoning her. She was…
Anwar Kenneth was imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy.
In 2001, authorities reportedly arrested Kenneth after he was accused of writing letters perceived as blasphemous towards…
Mikhail Simonov is imprisoned for criticizing Russia's war in Ukraine with religious language.
On November 9, 2022, authorities in Moscow arrested Simonov over two social media posts he…
Bakhrom Khamroev is imprisoned for his human rights work for religious communities and his alleged religious expression.
On February 24, 2022, authorities arrested Khamroev, a human…
Nikolai Bogoslavsky is imprisoned for his religious affiliation.
In April 2023, the City Court of Anapa sentenced Bogoslavsky, pastor of the Evangelical Christ the Savior Church, to 1…
Ahmad Al Malahi was detained for his religious activity.
On May 25, 2023, armed Houthi forces detained 17 Baha’is, including Al Malahi, after raiding a private residence in Sana’a where…
Ahmed Mohamed was detained for blasphemy.
On May 9, 2022, security officials arrested Mohamed at his home in a village in the Fayoum Governorate. He reportedly remained forcibly disappeared…
Badr Nader Al-Mashari is detained for his religious belief and activity.
In July 2023, authorities detained Al-Mashari, a prominent cleric who criticized the Saudi government's sponsorship…