BELOVODSKOE, Kyrgyzstan — A Protestant man in Kyrgyzstan has completed his six-month jail term for social media posts sharing his faith and questioning the region’s religious policy.
Forum 18 News Service reports that Aytbek Tynaliyev of Belovodskoe was released from jail in September. He had been convicted in a court in Chuy Region in July for “inciting religious enmity” in a post referencing the Quran. Two religion “experts” who testified for the prosecution said Tynaliyev’s comments constituted “disinformation” about Islam.
Tynaliyev told Forum 18 that he chose not to appeal his sentence because he was afraid of receiving a harsher penalty.
After Tynaliyev’s release, a police investigator went to Tynaliyev’s home to warn him “to be careful and not post religious materials or statements on social media.”
Tynaliyev told Forum 18 that he no longer shares his faith on social media.
In August 2022, Tynaliyev was deemed guilty of incitement for three other media posts that the region’s Justice Ministry labeled as “extremist” and “negative” toward Islam. For that conviction, a Moscow District Court judge fined Tynaliyev approximately eight months of wages.
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