Shestakov was tried in February and March 2007 – he was acquitted of inciting religious hatred but found guilty of organizing an "illegal" religious organization and distributing materials containing "religious extremism". The judge sentenced him to four years in an open work camp. The verdict complained that "more than 100 individuals of various ethnicity not having an independent religious conviction from the ranks of inexperienced youth" attended his church and said his re-education is "impossible without isolation from society". The prison authorities in Andijan confiscated his New Testament and banned him from praying.

In May 2007 Shestakov was transferred to a camp in Pskent near Tashkent, but the day after his arrival he was sent to the camp punishment cell for alleged "violation of camp regulations". On May 25, 2007 a court changed his punishment to four years in a closed labor camp. "He does not repent for the crime he has committed," the verdict complained. In June, 2007 Shestakov was transferred to a camp in Navoi with a reputation as a violent and unsanitary environment. There he was again pressured to renounce his faith and his Bible was taken from him. In December, 2007 Uzbek Protestants called for his release in the presidential amnesty the following month. "His wife is resolutely enduring all the difficulties and she and their three daughters are expecting his return home," they wrote. "We find it sad that he is still being detained but our hearts are full of certainty that the Lord will give him strength and power." However, Pastor Dmitry was not included in the amnesty.

Uzbekistan has the most repressive religious policy of all the former Soviet republics.  Any religious activity without state approval is illegal and subject to heavy penalties, including fines or imprisonment.  Similar penalties are imposed on those who share their faith with others.  Religious meetings in private homes are often raided by the police and secret police that threaten, beat and interrogate believers and confiscate any religious literature they can find.  Courts have ordered confiscated Bibles and other literature be burned.  Parents have been warned not to allow their children to attend mosques and churches. Television programmes and newspaper articles regularly brand religious communities as "dangerous" and a "threat". More detailed information can be found on Forum 18’s Religious Freedom Survey at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1170.