List of political prisoners persecuted for religion

About the people on the list

You can read about our criteria for classifying people as political prisoners here.

We also maintain separate lists of people prosecuted on charges of involvement in the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami organisation, which is recognised in Russia as a terrorist organisation and banned on this basis, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are recognised as extremists.

This list contains the names of those convicted or accused under articles about extremism and terrorism, but in reality there is no reason to accuse any of them of violent actions or calls for them. All of them carried out peaceful activities in connection with their religious beliefs or did not carry out any at all.

Currently, the list includes hundreds of Muslim names. Under the pretext of fighting Islamic terrorism in the Russian Federation, hundreds of people have been deprived of their freedom, whose only guilt lies in not being controlled by the authorities and official religious structures, or who simply became victims of falsification.

In 2017, Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose organisations were groundlessly declared extremist and banned, were added to the list of victims of religious persecution.

People who have found themselves under the pressure of politically motivated state persecution need our support and solidarity. We have no right to leave them alone with the machine of political repression.

• Our support and solidarity can take many forms. Sharing information and drawing attention to specific fates and cases is the least we can do, and yet it is a real opportunity to help political prisoners. Investigators who fabricate political cases, unjust prosecutors and judges are afraid of publicity. Lawlessness, even when carried out by higher political power structures, tends to be carried out secretly and feels uncomfortable to them in the spotlight of public attention.
• A possible way to support prisoners is to sign collective petitions and appeals. Even if they are formally addressed to those who are ultimately responsible for political repression, in essence, they appeal to society and demonstrate to it and to the prison guards the level of our support for political prisoners. We post links to such petitions and appeals on the Internet.
• Another incredibly important way of help is sending letters to those who are illegally deprived of their liberty. Letters make them feel our support, allow them to understand that they are not alone. For most of the prisoners, our website has addresses for paper letters and letters via Internet postal services, in cases where it is possible.
• Finally, financial assistance to the prisoners themselves and their families is very important. Payment for legal assistance, parcels in pretrial detention centres and colonies, support for families left without a breadwinner is the most effective manifestation of solidarity. You can help a specific prisoner in the ways that are indicated on our website for each political prisoner separately, or you can donate any amount to help political prisoners in general by clicking on the link “Support political prisoners“.