Tahir Ahmad Naseem
While standing on trial in a courtroom in Peshawar, Pakistan, Naseem was shot six times by a man whose name has not been released to the public.
Prisoners of Conscience
Gulmira Imin
Name: Gulmira Imin Country: China Background: Prior to her arrest, Imin held a local government position in the capital of Xinjiang, Urumqi. In 2009, Imin established the website Salkin, which focused on Uyghur culture and news in Xinjiang, and which took on a critical perspective of the Chinese government. Reason for Arrest: In July 2009, …
Hu Shigen
Name: Hu Shigen Age: 64 Country: China Background: Hu is a famous democracy activist, and in 1989 he was active in the Tienanmen Square Protests prior to founding the China Free Democratic Party and the China Free Labor Union. Reason for arrest: In July 2015, Hu was disappeared by CCP officials during a nationwide crackdown …
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima
Name: Gedhun Choekyi Nyima Age: 31 Background: In 1995, following the death of the 10th Panchen Lama- the Buddhist spiritual leader one level below the Dalai Lama, Gedhun Nyima was chosen to be the 11th Panchen Lama on May 14. Reason for arrest: Only three days following Gedhun Nayima’s selection as the 11th Panchen Lama, …
Artem Gerasimov
Name: Artem Gerasimov Country: Russia Background: Gerasimov is originally a Danish citizen, though he was living in Crimea at the time of his arrest. Reason for arrest: On March 20, 2019, the Federal Security Service detained Gerasimov following their ambush on private homes in Yalta and Alupka, Crimea. Security officials searched through his belongings and …
Dennis Christensen
photo by Newsweek Name: Dennis Christensen Country: Russia Background: Dennis Christensen is a practicing Jehovah’s Witness. Since 2017, the government of Russia has embarked on a campaign to target and detain Jehovah’s witnesses and shut down their churches in different localities. Reason for arrest: In 2017, the Federal Security Service ambushed a worship service for …
Gennady Shpakovsky
Picture by Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia Name: Gennady Shpakovsky Age: 61 Country: Russia Background: Gennady Shpakovsky, along with his wife and daughter, are practicing Jeahovah’s Witnesses. Jehovah’s Witnesses have historically been persecuted by the Russian government, and in 2017 the religious sect was determined to be an extremist ideology. Handfuls of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been …
Sakhib Aliev
Name: Sakhib Aliev Area of Origin: St. Petersburg, Russia Background: Religious official with Scientology religious group St. Petersburg , born in July 1984. Member of the Scientology religious order, the Sea Organization. Reason for his arrest: On June 6, 2017, FSB police and SWAT teams raided the Scientology religious group in St. Petersburg and arrested …
Konstancia Esaulkova
Name: Konstancia Esaulkova Area of Origin: St. Petersburg, Russia Background: Legal Officer of the Scientology religious group in St. Petersburg, born in 1970. She has been volunteering with the St. Petersburg Scientology religious group since 2006. She is a single mother and supports her daughter. Reason for her arrest: On June 6, 2017, FSB police …
Ivan Matsitsky
Name: Ivan Matsitsky Background: Leader of Scientology religious group in St. Petersburg, born in 1975. Scientology is a relatively new religion in Russia. He is one of the earliest members of the Church in Russia and has been a Scientologist for over 25 years. Reason for his arrest: On June 6, 2017, FSB police and …