KYRGYZSTAN: GOVERNMENT PERSECUTION SPREADS TO PROTESTANTS
Concerns have long been raised by persecution watchdog groups about the persecution of Non-Sunni Muslims and Jehovah’s Witnesses in the small Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan. But an April 19 visit by authorities to a Baptist church in the country’s capital is causing Voice of the Martyrs Korea to sound the alarm that persecution has now spread to Protestants in the country as well.
“On April 19, 2026, officers from the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) and the National Agency for Religious Affairs arrived at the regular Sunday worship service of an Unregistered Baptist church in Bishkek at 1B Kerchensky Lane,” says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley. “Two of the officers had previously attended a worship service last year, after which two of the church presbyters, Dmitry Vasilyevich Golovin and Alexey Viktorovich Demchenko, were each fined 20,000 soms (approximately 342,000 KRW).”
Representative Foley says that on the April 19 visit, one officer asked Golovin questions about military service, participation in elections, and vaccination while another officer secretly recorded video.
“When the presbyter discovered that recording was taking place, he refused to continue the conversation,” says Representative Foley. “The officer then entered the premises and filmed everyone present.”
On April 21, one of the officers filed charges against the presbyters for conducting religious activity without registration. Golovin has filed an appeal.
“Golovin cited the article in the Kyrgyz constitution about freedom of religion and also emphasized that a private home is not a religious-purpose facility,” says Representative Foley.
93 percent of Kyrgyz are Sunni Muslims. 4 percent are Christians, including less than 1 percent evangelicals.
Kyrgyzstan is one of the poorest former Soviet states in Central Asia. It is a remote mountainous nation with a nomadic tribal culture. A significant portion of the population has left to work elsewhere.
Representative Foley says that some churches worship openly, even in small towns, but being a Christian is difficult because of the Islamic culture.
“Christians are persecuted mostly by family members and neighbors, including Muslim religious leaders,” says Representative Foley. “Beatings of Christians aren’t uncommon, and the small Christian minority is generally oppressed by society. For example, buses won’t stop for those known as Christians in small communities, and they have difficulty getting jobs and even purchasing goods. In some communities, Muslim leaders have denied the burial of deceased Christians.”
Believers pray in Kyrgyzstan (VOM Korea file photo)
She says secret police are also known to harass and interrogate believers suspected of evangelism.
Representative Foley says Voice of the Martyrs Korea has been watching the situation of Kyrgyz Christians closely since the passage of a new religion law in 2025.
“The new law requires religious organizations to register with the government, but it requires that they must have at least 500 adult founding members in order to register,” says Representative Foley. “The full list of these members has to be legally notarized and submitted at the time of registration. In order to be approved, the organization has to show that it has a legally acceptable meeting place, which can’t be a home or a building built on land owned by an individual. Organizations have to re-register every 10 years, and leaders have to re-register every year.”
Representative Foley says that almost no Protestant churches in the country can meet those standards.
“Since the law went into effect in February 2025, we’ve expected to see persecution spread to Protestant churches,” says Representative Foley. “This Unregistered Baptist church in Bishkek may be the first of many Protestant churches which face persecution from Kyrgyz authorities under the new religion law. We need to be praying specifically for the Kerchensky Lane church as it appeals the charges against the presbyters, but we also need to be praying for the Lord’s protection over all the churches in Kyrgyzstan.”
More information about Christian persecution in Kyrgyzstan is available from Voice of the Martyrs Korea at https://vomkorea.com/en/country-profile/kyrgyzstan/.