The case of Shiyan and Matveyeva in Lesosibirsk

A woman who portrays an interest in Bible teachings secretly records worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses and her conversations about the Bible with believers.

Andrey Shiyan is undergoing the first search in the criminal case of Valeriy Shitz.

The materials against Anna Matveeva are separated into separate proceedings from the case of Valery Sheets.

Shiyan's case is separated from the Shitz case into a separate proceeding.

The Lesosibirsk City Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory issues a search warrant for Shiyan.

Investigator Kunko interrogates Anna Matveeva as a suspect and takes a written undertaking not to leave her place.

The investigation involves Anna Matveyeva as a defendant in committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

A second search of the believer is carried out. Data carriers, electronic devices and biblical literature are seized.
The senior investigator of the investigation department for the city of Lesosibirsk, Major of Justice Artem Kunko, chooses a preventive measure for Andrey Shiyan in the form of a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior.

Matveeva's case is submitted to the Lesosibirsk City Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. It will be considered by judge Larisa Burdukovskaya.

Senior investigator of the investigation department for the city of Lesosibirsk, senior lieutenant of justice M. A. Pozdnyakova attracts Andrey Shiyan as an accused and again chooses for him a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior.

Within the framework of Article 217 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, Andrey Shiyan begins to get acquainted with the case materials.

The accused petitions for the termination of the criminal case. He states that he does not plead guilty to the crime, that the charge against him is unclear and that the exercise of constitutional and internationally protected rights cannot be considered a crime. Shiyan considers his involvement as an accused as discrimination and repression on the basis of religious affiliation and believes that the criminal case initiated against him should be terminated due to the absence of corpus delicti in his actions.

Investigator Pozdnyakov refuses to satisfy his request.

The prosecutor of the city of Lesosibirsk, Dmitry Snyatkov, approves the indictment against Andrey Shiyan. The accusation is based, among other things, on the testimony of secret witnesses, as well as Grigory Illarionov, associate professor of the Department of Philosophy at Siberian Federal University, who acts as an expert.

Shiyan's case is submitted to the Lesosibirsk City Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. It will be considered by judge Larisa Burdukovskaya.

At the request of the prosecutor, the judge merges the criminal cases of Andrey Shiyan and Anna Matveeva into one.

The lawyer files a complaint against the merger of the cases of Shiyan and Matveeva.

The defense is petitioning for the recusal of Judge Larisa Burdukovskaya. The court refuses.

The lawyer also submits a motion to provide the defendants with time to familiarize themselves with the case materials after the connection of criminal cases - a total of 22 volumes. For this, the judge allocates 2 days to the defendants.

The case materials are transferred to another judge, Yevhen Zadvorny. The case begins from the beginning.

Andrey Shiyan and Anna Matveeva express their attitude to the charges brought against them: they do not consider themselves guilty.

Andrey Shiyan claims that the investigator substituted concepts and called the usual confession of faith extremist activity. He goes on to say: "I am wrongly accused of not renouncing my religion, but continuing to practice it with other believers. […] It is not clear to me on the basis of what authority the state prosecutor extrajudicially banned the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses."

Anna says: "The indictment shows again and again that my fault was that I prayed with others, sang religious songs with them, listened to sermons. […] Nowhere in the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation does it say that it considered these ways of worship of God as unacceptable and even more so extremist."