Mustofokul Boymurodov and Sadridin Fatkhuddinov were sentenced on Friday 13 July. Both were former students of the Islamic Institute in Dushanbe. The court decided that their motive for the attack was religious extremism.

Despite the devastation and loss the community has endured since last October, most of the congregation of the Grace Sonmin church do not want the death sentence. One member commented, "Christian believers are in favour of life and generally oppose the death penalty."