Name: Sakhib Aliev Country/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 Arrest: On June 6, 2017, FSB police and SWAT teams raided the Scientology religious group in St. Petersburg and arrested several …
Name: Konstancia Esaulkova Country/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 Arrest: On June 6, 2017, FSB police and …
Name: Ivan Matsitsky Country/Area of Origin: Russia 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 Arrest: On June 6, 2017, …
Name: Galina Shurinova Country/Area of Origin: St. Petersburg, Russia Background: Director of the religious group in St. Petersburg, born in 1954. She has been volunteering with the St. Petersburg Scientology religious group since its founding and was one of the original Scientology missionaries in Russia. She is divorced with one adult son. She lives with …
Name: Anastasia Terentyeva Country/Area of Origin: St. Petersburg, Russia Background: External Affairs Director of the Scientology religious group in St. Petersburg, born in 1979. She has been volunteering with the St. Petersburg Scientology religious group since 1998. She is divorced with no children. Reason for Arrest: On June 6, 2017, FSB police and SWAT teams …
Name: Mubarak Bala Country/Area of Origin: Nigeria Background: Mubarak Bala is the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria. Formerly a chemical engineer and Muslim, in 2014, Bala renounced Islam and became an atheist. Bala’s family was extremely critical of this conversion, and his father had him arrested and eventually put into a psychiatric institution …
Name: Raymond Koh Country/Area of Origin: Malaysia Background: Pastor Raymond Koh is a Christian pastor of Evangelical Free Church and has been on the receiving end of some threats before: in 2011, he was accused of evangelism and had received a death threat. Reason for Arrest: CCTV recordings revealed that Pastor Raymond Koh was abducted …
Name: Leah Sharibu Age: 16 Country/Area of Origin: Nigeria Incident: On February 19, 2018, a separate faction of Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), abduced 110 schoolgirls from Government Girls Science and Technical College. Five of the girls were killed during the kidnapping, and 104 were returned safely to their homes. However, Leah …
Name: Qin Defu (also known as Qin Derfu) Age: 37 Country/Area of Origin: Sichuan Province, China Background: Qin Defu’s father was a preacher, and in 1989, Qin adopted Christianity and participated in the Three Self Patriotic Movement for many years before leaving the Movement and focusing instead on the house-church system, becoming a member of …
Name: Shagufta Kausar (F) and Shafqat Emmanuel (M) Country/Area of Origin: Pakistan Background: Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel are a Pakistani Christian couple who, prior to their arrest, lived with their four young children in a Christian community in Gojra, Punjab. Shagufta has been the sole breadwinner of the family since her husband Shafqat became …
