Additional Name(s): Elahe Mohammadi, الهه محمدی

Gender: Female

Perpetrator: Iran

Religion or Belief: Unspecified

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Date of Detainment: September/29/2022

Date of Release: January/14/2024

Current Status: Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Reporting on Religious Freedom Conditions or Documenting Religious Freedom Violations Women’s Rights

Nature of Charges: Illegal Assembly Spreading Propaganda & False or Misleading Ideas, Information, or Materials Treason & Sedition

Elaheh Mohammadi

Extra Bio Info:

Elaheh Mohammadi was imprisoned for reporting on religious freedom conditions.

On September 29, 2022, authorities arrested Mohammadi in relation to her reporting on the funeral of Mahsa Amini, who died at the hands of morality police for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly. Amini’s funeral sparked the beginning of nationwide protests against the state's policy of mandatory religious veiling. Security forces reportedly attacked the funeral after mourners began shouting slogans against the government and women removed their headscarves.

On October 28, 2022, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and the intelligence agency of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard accused Mohammadi and another journalist of planning to orchestrate nationwide protests with their reporting as agents of foreign intelligence agencies.

In November 2022, a government official revealed that Mohammadi had been charged with "colluding with the intention of acting against national security and propaganda against the state."

On May 29, 2023, the judiciary began Mohammadi's trial. 

In October 2023, it was reported that the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Mohammadi to six years in prison for "collaborating with the hostile U.S.," five years in prison for "acting against national security," and one year in prison for "propaganda against the regime." Following appeal, Mohammadi would serve six years in prison as the sentences run concurrently. 

On January 14, 2024, Mohammadi was granted temporary release from Evin Prison on bail pending an appeal for her sentence. Iranian state media reports that she is barred from leaving the country. 

Related Cases: Niloofar Hamedi, Mahsa Amini

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Nov 10, 2022

Tajikistan’s population is majority Sunni Muslim, with a small Shi’a Muslim community which primarily consists of ethnic Pamiris located in the mountainous eastern part of the country known as the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO). The latest crackdown on civil society in the GBAO followed protests initially sparked in mid-May of this year. Since then, over 200 residents in the GBAO have been arrested and detained, including at least 90 activists. Journalists have been rounded up and Pamiris have been forcibly repatriated from Russia and given lengthy prison sentences.

Religious freedom has declined in Tajikistan since 2009 after the adoption of several highly restrictive laws. In 2011 and 2012, administrative and penal code amendments set new penalties, including large fines and prison terms, for religion-related charges such as organizing or participating in “unapproved” religious meetings. A 2011 law on parental responsibility banned minors from any organized religious activity except for funerals. Since 2012, USCIRF has recommended that the State Department designate Tajikistan as a “Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, which the State Department has done every year since 2016.

Visiting Scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and retired Associate Professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, Suzanne Levi-Sanchez, joins us today to discuss the persecution of Muslims in Tajikistan and specifically highlights the increasing crackdown on Shi’a Muslims.

Additional Name(s): Aleksander Gabyshev, Габышев Александр Прокопьевич

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: Russia

Ethnic Group: Yakut

Religion or Belief: Shaman

Reports of Torture: Yes

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Date of Detainment: January/27/2021

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Other

Reason for Persecution: Pilgrimage Religious Activity Religious Belief Religious Expression

Nature of Charges: Assault & Battery Extremism Incitement to Commit Crime & Violence

Aleksandr Gabyshev

Extra Bio Info:

Aleksandr Gabyshev is detained for his religious expression, belief, and activity. 

On January 27, 2021, authorities arrested Gabyshev and sent him to a psychiatric hospital after Gabyshev renewed his calls to “exorcise” President Vladimir Putin from power. Gabyshev was charged with “public calls for extremist activity” (Art. 280-1 RCC) and “using violence dangerous to the life or health of a representative of authority” (Art. 318-2 RCC). Gabyshev allegedly injured a police officer during his arrest.

On July 26, 2021, the Yakutsk City Court ruled Gabyshev be confined to a psychiatric hospital indefinitely.

In September 2021, an appeals court reportedly upheld Gabyshev’s indefinite psychiatric confinement, declaring him “insane.”

In October 2022, the Ussuriisk District Court extended Gabyshev’s psychiatric confinement after the Primorye Regional Court the month before ruled in favor of Gabyshev’s appeal and ordered a new hearing with the Ussuriisk District Court.

On November 30, 2022, the Primorye Regional Court rejected Gabyshev’s appeal against the extension of his forced hospitalization.

In February 2023, a court extended Gabyshev’s psychiatric confinement to June 2023.

In June 2023, a court ordered the transfer of Gabyshev to a general psychiatric hospital with lighter detention conditions in Yakutsk.

In July 2023, the Primorsky Regional Court overturned Gabyshev's court-ordered transfer to a general psychiatric hospital with lighter detention conditions.

Gabyshev has previously been subjected to forced psychiatric hospitalization for his religious expression. In 2019, Gabyshev began a cross country trek from Yakutsk to Moscow with the goal of using his shaman powers to cast out President Putin’s "demons." In September 2019, police abducted him and placed him in a psychiatric hospital for “public calls for extremist activity” (Art. 280-1 RCC).

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