Case of Makhnev and Kuzin in Kaluga

A group of armed masked militants invades the apartment of 87-year-old believer Olga Verevkina. In Kaluga, the FSB raids at least 6 apartments until late at night. Electronic devices, Bibles, scientific books on religious studies are seized from Kaluga residents.

43-year-old Roman Makhnev claims that banned literature was planted in his house, his 15-year-old daughter is taken outside and forced to stand barefoot in the rain while the house is searched. Roman Makhnev was taken to the FSB building, where he was handcuffed to a pipe and left in this position until the next morning.

It becomes known that the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Kaluga Region is initiating a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (1) against local Jehovah's Witnesses.

After a sleepless night, Roman Makhnev is subjected to investigative actions. Neither on June 26, nor on June 27, nor on June 28, he was presented with any food. It was not until June 29 that he was fed breakfast for the first time.

The Kaluga District Court elects Roman Makhnev and Dmitry Kuzin a measure of restraint in the form of detention for a period of 2 months. The court stubbornly ignores the atrocities committed by the FSB and evades assessing the circumstances of the detention of believers. It becomes known that 53-year-old Eduard Petrushin became another defendant in the criminal case for his faith; No preventive measure was chosen against him.

Dmitry Kuzin and Roman Makhnev are charged with committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Galina Gobrusenko, judge of the Kaluga District Court, extends the arrest of believers for another 2 months. At the same time, the judge commits gross violations and reveals a biased attitude towards believers. The decision is appealed to the Kaluga Regional Court.

Believers who are being held in pre-trial detention are writing an open letter to the governor of the Kaluga region, Anatoly Artamonov. Dmitry Kuzin in his letter reports on abuses by FSB officer E. Beijing, who led the search in his apartment.

Roman Makhnev informs the governor that printed publications were planted in his house, that he demanded to conduct a sweat study of these publications (to identify fingerprints) in order to prove that he or his relatives were not involved in them, but this was not done by the investigation. In addition, Roman Makhnev reports that during the search, which lasted until half past three at night, he was constantly handcuffed, and in the FSB building he was handcuffed to a radiator until the morning and was not fed for two days.

The Kaluga Regional Court acknowledges that during the hearing on 26.08.2019, the lower court did not allow the believers to defend themselves and actually mocked them. For example, according to the audio recording of the hearing, Judge Galina Gobrusenko told Kuzin: "You are not a prisoner of conscience and have nothing to do with the first Christians, you are not called to gladiatorial fights. And as a follower of Jehovah, you also raise many questions." The Court of Appeal notes: "With such data, it is impossible to talk about the objectivity of the presiding judge." The court decided to return the case to the same court for a new trial, but with a different composition. Believers remain in detention.

The court extends the detention of believers until 26.12.2019.

About 30 believers are helping the family of Roman Makhnev, eliminating the consequences of a fire in his mother's house.

The head of the investigation department of the FSB extends the term of the preliminary investigation of the case until 04/26/2020.

By the decision of the judge of the Kaluga District Court of the Kaluga Region, Viktor Potapeiko, house arrest for Dmitry Kuzin is replaced by a ban on certain actions. The initiative to change Kuzin's measure of restraint is made by senior investigator E. Pavshenko. The reason for this is the deteriorating health of the accused, as well as the elderly age of the parents who need care. The investigator also claims that Kuzin does not violate the restrictions imposed on him and is "characterized satisfactorily."

Now he is forbidden to leave the house at night, communicate with other defendants in the criminal case (with the exception of Dmitry's wife and mother), use communications and the Internet, as well as send and receive postal and telegraph items.

With regard to Dmitry Kuzin, the ban on leaving the house at night (from 22:00 to 6:00) ceases. The remaining restrictions remain in force.

Senior investigator of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia in the Kaluga region, Major of Justice E. G. Pavshenko decides to suspend the preliminary investigation of the criminal case due to the spread of coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in the region.

It becomes known that the investigation into the case of Makhnev and Kuzin has been resumed.

After 5 and a half years of preliminary investigation, the case is submitted to the Kaluga District Court for consideration by Irina Tarelicheva.

The judge changes the measure of restraint for Dmitry Kuzin - from a ban on certain actions to a recognizance not to leave.

Witnesses are being questioned in court for several sessions. The testimonies of two more people are read out, since they have already died. Many of those interrogated have known Roman and Dmitriy for more than 20 years and have never heard extremist statements from them. In particular, one of the witnesses characterizes the defendants as decent, benevolent and moral people without bad habits.

Another witness states that he does not know Makhnev and Kuzin, and during the search, law enforcement officers at gunpoint forced him to sign blank forms of the interrogation protocol.

The prosecutor reads out the indictment. Defendants Roman Makhnev and Dmitry Kuzin do not admit guilt and express their attitude to the criminal case.

Three prosecution witnesses who are familiar with the religious beliefs of the defendants are being questioned. They emphasize the fundamental difference between the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses and its legal form, LRO, insisting that the religion is not associated with an organization recognized as extremist and does not contain any calls for violence or violation of the law.

One of the prosecution witnesses characterizes the defendants as follows: "They are sympathetic people, law-abiding, always ready to help." Two witnesses retract their testimony given during the investigation, citing severe stress during the interrogation. One of them declares: "Now I am speaking in my right mind and clear memory - this is the truth."

40 people came to support the believers, but 13 are allowed into the courtroom. Court staff are surprised by the size of the support group.

A 70-year-old prosecution witness is interrogated, who tells how the night interrogation in the FSB went. "My blood pressure rose, the letters blurred," the man recalls. "One asks, the other walks, handcuffs him over his head and says: 'Stop messing with him, pack him up and take him, there he will tell you everything - what is necessary and what is not necessary.'"

The court asks the witness to characterize the accused. He answers: "In my life, I have met very few such people. They are highly moral people. I know very well how they treat their parents, how they take care of their families. This is rare."

The interrogation of prosecution witnesses continues. The woman says that she was not allowed to tell her relatives where she was: "I came home [from the interrogation] at 4 am, my relatives called the ambulance, the police, and whatever they could."

Another woman characterizes Roman Makhnev as a sympathetic person: "My sockets sparkled, I could not use electrical appliances. I asked him, and he did everything."

Despite the objections of the defense, the court reads out the testimony of two prosecution witnesses who are no longer alive.

Kuzin's 88-year-old mother is interrogated. She says: "Dima is an exemplary son for me, whom one can only dream of, attentive, ready to do everything for me. After a major operation, I became a disabled person of group II, I have many chronic illnesses, and I have a very big memory problem. All this only worsened after suffering from covid twice. For health reasons, I need care, Dima visits me every day, does everything around the house, goes to the store, takes me to the doctors. And all year round after work, he goes every day to the village, where we have a house, a garden, chickens, and he does all this alone. The criminal case against my son was a tragedy for me and for my husband. My husband could not survive this and died last year."

Regarding her son's religious beliefs, the woman says: "Even under torture, I will never say that he made me believe something."

During the interrogation, Svetlana Kuzina says about her husband, Dmitriy: "He is a very kind, sympathetic person, honest and absolutely respectable." She also states that the believers, on their own initiative, supported the authorities by participating in community clean-up days.

The defense motions to exclude the expert study from the evidence. It was conducted by a theologian who graduated from Saint Tikhon's Orthodox University of Humanities. The qualification of the specialist raises doubts about his impartiality in the defense. Furthermore, the expert arbitrarily changed the amount and the wording of the questions put to him.

Roman Makhnev and Dmitry Kuzin testify to the court.

"For me, as a Christian, extremism, humiliation of human dignity, undermining of the foundations of the constitutional order are unacceptable," Roman emphasizes, noting that he has been adhering to this position for more than 30 years.

The man talks about violations during the search. "The operative almost without looking put his hand under the sofa and took out a pack," Makhnev notes, recalling the act of planting banned literature. He also describes the harsh treatment he faced: the handcuffs on his hands were tightened so tightly that bruises remained, and he was taken at night to the FSB building, where he was strapped to a heating radiator and left in this position until morning. "I was chained like a dog," he recalls.

Kuzin states that the prosecution witness avoided direct questions and gave false information about the defendants. "I have never seen her, met her anywhere, and have not talked about anything," he emphasizes.

Dmitriy also talks about his position: he loves relatives who do not share his beliefs, maintains good relations with people regardless of their nationality, race or faith. "I am a non-conflict person and willingly communicate on various topics, so I have no enemies," he says. According to him, the Bible teaches to love all people, and he follows this principle. Kuzin mentions that neighbors, colleagues and even the district police officer gave him positive characteristics.

The prosecutor requests the court sentence Kuzin and Makhnev to 7.5 years in a penal colony.