Tohar Haydarov

Update August 10, 2011

A judge recently confirmed Tohar's ten year prison sentence, for charges church members say are false. "The court correctly stated the criminal act of Tohar Haydarov, and the punishment was given in proportion to the act, taking into account the public danger of the act," the judge wrote.

Prison authorities recently showed Tohar some of the many letters sent to him, but he is not allowed to read them, because "there are too many citations from the Bible in them."

Prisoner Details

On March 9, 2010, a criminal court in Uzbekistan sentenced 27-year-old Tohar Haydarov to 10 years in prison for the “Illegal sale of narcotic or psychotropic substances in large quantities,” according to Forum 18 News Service. Members of the Baptist church in Uzbekistan insist that the charges are fabricated and that Haydarov’s sentence was punishment for his religious activity. It is unclear why Haydarov received a 10-year sentence.

According to Forum 18 News, Baptists insist that police planted drugs on Haydarov, and church members insist that he is “a man with a pure conscience and an honest Christian.” Haydarov has appealed his sentence.