{"id":59137,"date":"2026-05-26T10:13:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T01:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=59137"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T01:30:15","slug":"vomk-report-399","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2026\/05\/26\/vomk-report-399\/","title":{"rendered":"KYRGYZSTAN: GOVERNMENT PERSECUTION SPREADS TO PROTESTANTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”59140″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Concerns have long been raised by persecution watchdog groups about the persecution of Non-Sunni Muslims and Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses in the small Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan. But an April 19 visit by authorities to a Baptist church in the country\u2019s capital is causing Voice of the Martyrs Korea to sound the alarm that persecution has now spread to Protestants in the country as well.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left|color:%23111111″ google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\u201c<\/span><\/span>On April 19, 2026,\u00a0<\/span>officers from the\u00a0<\/span>State Committee for National Security (SCNS) and the National Agency for Religious Affairs<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>arrived at<\/span>\u00a0the regular Sunday worship service of an Unregistered Baptist church in Bishkek at 1B\u00a0<\/span>Kerchensky<\/span>\u00a0Lane,\u201d says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley. \u201c<\/span>Two of the officers<\/span>\u00a0had previously attended a worship service<\/span>\u00a0last year, after which two of the church\u00a0<\/span>presbyters<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Dmitry Vasilyevich Golovin and Alexey Viktorovich Demchenko<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0were each fined 20,000\u00a0<\/span>soms<\/span>\u00a0(<\/span>approximately 342,000 KRW<\/span><\/span>).<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says that on th<\/span>e April 19 visit,\u00a0<\/span>one officer<\/span>\u00a0asked Golovin questions about military service, participation in elections, and vaccination while\u00a0<\/span>another officer<\/span>\u00a0secretly recorded video.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cWhen the\u00a0<\/span>presbyter<\/span>\u00a0discovered that recording was taking place, he refused to continue the conversation,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>The officer<\/span>\u00a0then entered the premises and filmed everyone present.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]On April 21, o<\/span>ne\u00a0<\/span>of the\u00a0<\/span>officer<\/span>s filed charges against the presbyters for conducting religious activity without registration.\u00a0<\/span>Golovin\u00a0<\/span>has<\/span>\u00a0filed an appeal.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201c<\/span><\/span>Golovin\u00a0<\/span>cited the article in the Kyrgyz constitution about freedom of religion and also emphasized that a private home is not a religious-purpose facility,\u201d says Representative Foley.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”59144″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]93 percent of Kyrgyz are Sunni Muslims. 4 percent are Christians, including less than 1 percent evangelicals.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Kyrgyzstan is one of the poorest former Soviet states in Central Asia<\/span>. It is\u00a0<\/span>a remote mountainous nation with a nomadic tribal culture.\u00a0<\/span>A significant portion<\/span>\u00a0of the population has left to work elsewhere<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says that s<\/span>ome churches worship openly, even in small towns, but being a Christian is difficult because of the Islamic culture.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cChristians are persecuted mostly by family members and neighbors, including Muslim religious leaders,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>Beatings\u00a0<\/span>of Christians\u00a0<\/span>aren\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0uncommon, and the small Christian minority is\u00a0<\/span>generally oppressed<\/span>\u00a0by society. For example, buses\u00a0<\/span>won\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0stop for those known as Christians in small communities, and they have difficulty getting jobs and even\u00a0<\/span>purchasing<\/span>\u00a0goods. In some communities, Muslim leaders have denied the burial of deceased Christians.<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”59148″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Believers pray in Kyrgyzstan (VOM Korea file photo)” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13|text_align:center|color:%23111111″ css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]She says secret police are also known to harass and interrogate believers suspected of evangelism.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]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<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cThe 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,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cThe full list of these members\u00a0<\/span>has to<\/span>\u00a0be legally notarized and\u00a0<\/span>submitted<\/span>\u00a0at the time of registration.\u00a0<\/span>In order to<\/span>\u00a0be approved, the organization\u00a0<\/span>has to<\/span>\u00a0show that it has a legally acceptable meeting place, which\u00a0<\/span>can\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0be a home or a building built on land owned by an individual. Organizations\u00a0<\/span>have to<\/span>\u00a0re-register every 10 years, and leaders\u00a0<\/span>have to<\/span>\u00a0re-register every year.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says that almost no Protestant churches in the country can meet those standards.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cSince the law went into effect in February 2025, we\u2019ve expected to see persecution spread to Protestant churches,\u201d says Representative Foley.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThis 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\u00a0<\/span>Kerchensky<\/span>\u00a0Lane church as it appeals the charges against the presbyters, but we also need to be praying for the Lord\u2019s protection over all the churches in Kyrgyzstan.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]M<\/span>ore information<\/span>\u00a0about C<\/span>h<\/span>ristian persecution in Kyrgyzstan\u00a0<\/span>is available from Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u00a0<\/span>at<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/country-profile\/kyrgyzstan\/<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”59140″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Concerns have long been raised by persecution watchdog groups about the persecution of Non-Sunni Muslims and Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses in the small Central Asian nation of …","protected":false},"author":1959,"featured_media":59148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1959"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59137"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59151,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59137\/revisions\/59151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}