On January 27, 2025, the Shabat District Court sentenced 20-year-old Brother Agabek Rozbayev to one year and six months of correctional labor. This means that while Agabek does not have to go to prison, he must pay the State 20 percent of his salary from his secular employment during that period. Agabek’s case marks the second time this year that one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Turkmenistan has been convicted for conscientious objection to military service. A few weeks earlier, Brother Arslan Vepayev was sentenced to two years of correctional labor for conscientiously refusing military service.

Since 2022, Agabek has repeatedly received summonses to appear at the military enlistment office. Each time he was summoned, he respectfully explained his Bible-based beliefs and why he refused to perform military service. In December 2024, Agabek learned that the authorities had initiated a criminal case against him. This led to his conviction and sentencing in late January 2025.

We are confident that Jehovah will continue supplying Agabek with wisdom and support as he ‘goes on walking worthily of God.’—