The head of the World All-Union Church of Faithful and Free Seventh-day Adventists was detained. Lawyer Kristina Dzhamgurchieva, representing the interests of former parishioners — residents of Leninskoye village told journalists.
According to her, the Russian citizen is suspected of inciting racial, ethnic, national, religious and inter-regional hatred. He was placed in the pretrial detention center 1 in Bishkek.
She added that a criminal case initiated under Article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic («Fraud») is being investigated against the Adventist Church.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a worldwide Christian community with 17 million members living in 209 countries.
As of 2019, there were 23 congregations of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kyrgyzstan, six of which are located in Bishkek.
