Case of Mamykina in Arkhangelsk

Case History

Kaleriya Mamykina, a former chief accountant, peacefully professed the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Officers of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation have been tracking her for more than a year. In May 2019, a criminal case was initiated against the 78-year-old pensioner, the “corpus delicti” of which is talking about religion with friends whom she invited to her home. It took 7 months of investigation for Lieutenant Colonel Roman Shagarov and other investigators to be convinced that there was no corpus delicti in the actions of the believer. The criminal case was closed. Kaleriya began to seek the rehabilitation of her good name in connection with the illegal criminal prosecution, but in June 2021 she contracted the coronavirus and died.
Timeline

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    May 7, 2019

    The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Arkhangelsk Region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2); According to the investigation, she continued the illegal activities of the banned local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Arkhangelsk. Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Mamykina Kaleria (born in 1941).

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    November 27, 2019

    Investigator R. Shagarov terminates the criminal case against Kaleria Mamykina, arguing that she "exercised her right to freedom of religion" provided for by the Constitution. Receiving fellow believers in her home, Mamykina "had no intention of participating in the activities of a [banned] religious organization." Thus, the woman's actions do not constitute a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

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    June 18, 2021

    It becomes known that Kaleria Mamykina died from complications caused by COVID-19. She did not wait for the results of her rehabilitation, which would have included an official apology from the prosecutor, compensation for material and moral damage.

    In November 2019, senior investigator Lieutenant Colonel Roman Shagarov dismissed the criminal case against the believer on rehabilitative grounds, considering that she "exercised her constitutional right to freedom of religion, and they [the investigators] did not find corpus delicti under the extremist article."