Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian denomination known for their door-to-door proselytizing, were legally registered in newly-independent Tajikistan in 1994 and re-registered in 1997. Khakimov’s case highlights the opaqueness and arbitrary nature of the Tajik justice system and the lack of religious freedom in Tajikistan.

“Based on the consistently cruel way the Tajik authorities have treated Shamil, it’s not out of the realm of possibility they will refuse to release him.” “We are holding our breath, hoping Shamil will be released on May 16,” Jarrod Lopes, a spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses, told The Diplomat in early May. Although his sentence was reduced under an amnesty law in 2021, there are concerns that he will not be released on May 16 as planned. Shamil Khakimov, now 72, has been in prison for more than four years. In 2019, an elderly Jehovah’s Witness was arrested in Tajikistan for “inciting religious hatred” and being in possession of religious materials published by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Home Tribune Premium Content Opinion International The Diplomat Will Jehovah’s Witness Shamil Khakimov Be Released From Prison in Tajikistan? Will Jehovah’s Witness Shamil Khakimov Be Released From Prison in Tajikistan? The Diplomat May 4, 2023

Jehovah witness crisis of conscience