On Sept. 25, an imprisoned Kyrgyzstan pastor was transferred to the medical unit of the prison to receive treatment for injuries from his arrest 10 months earlier. The transfer delayed his court date to appeal his sentence. 

Pavel Shreider, 65, served as the pastor of True and Free Reform Adventist Church in the capital city, Bishek. On July 10, the pastor was sentenced to three years in a labor camp, immediately followed by deportation to Russia. In November 2024, Kyrgyzstan’s National Security Committee (NSC) secret police stormed into his home. They arrested him, accusing him of “inciting racial, ethnic, national, religious or regional hatred” to his church — an unregistered gathering now banned from meeting together for being “extremists.”  

Officials who arrested Shreider allegedly beat him to elicit a forced confession to the crimes he was accused of. The pastor submitted a complaint to the National Center for the Prevention of Torture in Bishek, officially shut down last month, to report the abuse. 

“I was given blows on my head, chest, and given kicks in my spine from behind by five officers,” he wrote. They “hit me with an iron pipe to force me to confess that I committed crimes.” 

While police have denied the incident, members of the church contradicted their story. They reported to Forum 18 that they were also tortured; some were allegedly strangled with cellophane bags and shocked with electric tasers to testify against the pastor. 

Still dealing with the effects of the beating, Shreider’s health deteriorated as he suffered from the ongoing stress of prison. Medical documents given to his family diagnosed the pastor with “encephalopathy” or brain damage. Vera Shreider, his daughter, appealed to Prison No. 21 to give her father medical care in September. Two weeks later, Shreider’s condition worsened, and he was transferred to the prison’s medical facility. 

Authorities planned to move the pastor back to his cell on Oct. 14, but his health pushed back the date. The transfer has also delayed his appeal hearing at the Bishkek City Court against his sentence. 

Kyrgyzstan is ranked 47 on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch Ranking. Communities of believers experience torture, expulsion from their communities, and imprisonment. Persecution continues to grow, making it increasingly difficult for believers to gather in worship and practice their faith. 

Story by Bella Agnello