Source: Forum 18, January 28, 2025
On January 21, President Sadyr Japarov signed two new laws that continue to restrict freedom of religion or belief, the presidential website announced. The new religion law continues to ban all unregistered exercise of freedom of religion or belief, making it impossible for communities with fewer than 500 adult citizen members to gain legal status (up from 200). For the first time, it requires places of worship of registered religious organizations to also register and bans sharing faith in public and from door to door. Among the Violations Code changes are sharply increased fines for violating the Religion Law.
The new Religion Law [came] into force on February 1, 2025.
“The Law is very strict, particularly to Muslims,” a religious expert told Forum 18 in January. “The State has chosen one school of thought and has made it the official version of Islam. The authorities want to control all Muslims through this and especially the growing young generation of Muslims.”
Read the full story. Also from Forum 18, read a more thorough report on the state of religious freedom in Kyrgyzstan. Recently Human Rights Watch described the regime as “relentless in its crackdown on civil and political rights.”