Case of Kruglyakov and Others in Syktyvkar

Alexander Belov, senior investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Komi Republic, chooses a preventive measure against Lydia Nekrasova in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the place and proper behavior. A written undertaking not to leave is taken from Sergey Ushakhin. The decision is issued by investigator I. V. Ovsyannikov.

The investigation believes that the believers "committed active actions aimed at participating in the illegal activities of the Syktyvkar LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses by ... studying the religious norms of the banned organization by reading poems, watching videos, participating in meetings, meetings of the banned organization."

The Syktyvkar City Court of the Komi Republic satisfies the petition of the senior investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee A. Y. Belov and softens the measure of restraint for Andrey Kharlamov. He is prohibited from certain actions.

The Syktyvkar City Court of the Komi Republic changes the measure of restraint for Aleksandr Kruglyakov and Aleksandr Ketov to prohibit certain actions. Aleksandr Kruglyakov spent 57 days in the pre-trial detention center.

Believers are served with orders to bring them as accused.

Investigators Egorov D. Y. and Mitroshin O. S. take a written undertaking not to leave Sergey Ushakhin and Lydia Nekrasova.

The prosecutor's office approves the indictment.

The case goes to the Syktyvkar City Court of the Komi Republic (Syktyvkar, Pushkin St., 20). Maria Lekomtseva was appointed judge in the case.

About 40 people gather outside the courthouse to support the defendants. Only two are allowed into the meeting room with reference to the epidemiological situation.

The hearing was postponed because the defendant Andrey Kharlamov did not receive a summons to appear at the hearing.

About 30 people come to the courthouse.

The prosecutor reads out the charge by mispronouncing the name of God. During the break, the defendant politely asks him to pronounce God's name correctly. The prosecutor takes this request into account and in the future correctly puts the emphasis on the name of God.

The defendant applies for a broadcast of the court session on the Internet. The judge grants the motion despite the prosecutor's objection. However, due to the poor quality of communication, the broadcast cannot be carried out.

Since the meeting room cannot accommodate everyone who wants to attend the hearing, they are allocated a separate room. The meeting is being broadcast there, but due to the poor quality of communication, audibility is poor.

The judge rejects the motions of the two defendants for self-defense.

Judge Maria Lekomtseva notes violations in the indictment: it does not reflect the specific illegal actions of the defendants, does not provide evidence of criminal intent and extremist motives.

For example, the indictment against Lydia Nekrasova states that she watched videos and sang songs at worship services, but does not indicate any signs of extremism.

The judge recalls that in accordance with Art. 220 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the investigator is obliged to indicate the circumstances, place, time, methods, motives, goals and consequences related to the criminal case.

Appealing to the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of October 28, 2021, the judge decides to return the case to the prosecutor.

Preventive measures against believers remain unchanged.

Judge of the Supreme Court of the Komi Republic Dmitry Peshakov considers the appeal of the prosecutor P. A. Sadomsky and the complaints of believers.

The defendants emphasize that they lead a peaceful lifestyle, and due to the absence of corpus delicti and signs of extremism in their actions, they ask for an acquittal. The judge upholds the decision of the first instance.

The materials of the criminal case are re-submitted for consideration to the Syktyvkar City Court of the Komi Republic. Judge Yevgeny Sazhin will listen to him.

The session is in the new composition of the court. In addition to the participants in the case, 24 listeners are present at it.

The judge does not satisfy Kruglyakov's petition to terminate the criminal case, cancel the preventive measure and remove the arrest from his car. Prosecutor Nikolai Egorov reads out the indictment.

The defendants speak with an attitude to the prosecution. Lydia Nekrasova, 70, says her faith is based on biblical teachings. The judge interrupts the believer and demands that she stop quoting the Bible.

Aleksandr Kruglyakov draws the court's attention to the fact that extremism is alien to his religion. He also says: "Propaganda of exclusivity, religious discord, negative assessment of representatives of other religions have not been proven in the case materials. There is even a specialist's conclusion about the absence of extremism in my actions. I consider criminal prosecution to be repression for faith."

Andrey Kharlamov in his speech recalls that the decision of the Supreme Court of 20.04.2017 did not limit the right of people to worship Jehovah God.

Aleksandr Ketov and Sergey Ushakhin also plead not guilty to extremism.

Defendant Alexander Kruglyakov draws the court's attention to the use of words in the case materials that offend his religious feelings: "adept", "Jehovah's Witness", "sect", "propaganda".

The court refuses to soften the measure of restraint to Alexander Ketov, who filed a corresponding petition in connection with his wife's illness.

The case against Sergey Ushakhin has been suspended due to his illness. The court decides to request information about his state of health and ongoing treatment and then determine the course of further proceedings.

The commission of the Ministry of Health of the Komi Republic establishes that Sergey Ushakhin has indications for receiving high-tech medical care. He can receive this treatment only outside the Komi Republic.

It becomes known about the death of Sergei Ushakhin. The day before, his condition deteriorated greatly, and he was hospitalized in the city cardiology center.

The believer maintained a positive attitude to the end and defended his good name, refuting accusations of extremism.

The judge announces the death of Sergei Ushakhin and invites the defendant's wife Natalia to participate in the criminal case. When asked by the judge about the possibility of terminating the criminal case against her husband, she replies that Sergey is not guilty of anything, and asks to continue the consideration of the case in order to achieve an acquittal of her husband's good name. The Court granted her request.

The prosecution is questioning witnesses. Most of them, answering questions, use Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The judge interrogates Aleksandr Kruglyakov. The defendant uses quotations from the Bible in his testimony and receives a remark for this - according to the judge, there is no need for this. The defense objected, explaining that the Bible at one time helped Kruglyakov to change for the better.

The questioning of prosecution witnesses is ongoing. Aleksandr Kruglyakov protests against the leading questions that the prosecutor asks one of the witnesses in order to obtain the testimony necessary for the prosecution. The judge provides.

The state prosecutor files a motion for the disclosure of the testimony of a witness - a representative of law enforcement agencies, since there are a number of significant contradictions regarding the status and date of the search.

A prosecution witness, a former Jehovah's Witness, is being questioned. He says that he has no personal animosity towards the defendants, there were no conflicts with them, but in general he is opposed to believers.

Some of his testimonies do not agree or have significant contradictions with the testimony given during the preliminary investigation. The prosecutor asks that they be read out of the case file.

22 people come to support the defendants.

Alexander Kruglyakov testifies. He reports that his actions, recorded by the investigating authorities during the investigation, have nothing to do with extremism.

The defendant also petitions for the exclusion from the case file of the protocols of interrogations of one of the prosecution witnesses, conducted by two different investigators, since they were drawn up with violations. Kruglyakov points out that in the interrogations of the witness different data are given, although no more than 5 days passed between them. At the same time, there are exactly the same proposals in the protocols. On this basis, Alexander concludes that some passages of the text were copied and there was no actual interrogation of the witness.

In addition, the defendant files a motion to cancel the measure of restraint due to the fact that most of the witnesses in the case have already been questioned at the trial and not a single one has confirmed Kruglyakov's involvement in the alleged crime. The court refuses.

The state prosecutor reads out the conclusion of the religious forensic examination, which was carried out by the expert of the Kazan Interregional Center of Expertise, the head of the Department of Religious Studies of the Kazan Federal University Larisa Astakhova. Alexander Kruglyakov asks to conduct a study of this examination as non-compliant with the requirements and allow him to comment on the results. The judge refuses.

14 people come to support the believers. The prosecution continues to consider the conclusion of the religious forensic examination.

After about an hour, the defendant Lydia Nekrasova becomes ill, and the judge stops the hearing.

The court selectively reads out volumes of the case materials. Among them is a religious examination carried out by Larisa Astakhova. Alexander Kruglyakov draws the judge's attention to the fact that some sheets of this examination do not match. He asks to be excluded from the case file as improperly prepared, but the judge refuses.

Further court hearings scheduled for December are postponed due to the upcoming operation on Andrei Kharlamov.

After the operation, Kharlamov needs rehabilitation. Despite this, he comes to the hearing, but after 40 minutes he feels worse. He asks to postpone the hearings, as doctors recommend that he rest. The judge grants the request. Hearings in the case will not take place until at least the end of March.

The judge postpones the hearing for several reasons: Andrey Kharlamov continues treatment after surgery; Lydia Nekrasova's husband died.

At the next hearing, the state prosecutor plans to continue reading out the case materials.

The public prosecutor continues to read out the materials of the case, including the conclusion of the forensic religious examination, a list of material evidence and documents characterizing the defendants.

Videos of worship services are played. Aleksandr Kruglyakov draws the court's attention to the fact that in the transcript of the video, some words have been replaced with others that distort the meaning.

Interrogation of a prosecution witness who had previously attended worship services. When asked by the judge about what is happening at the services, the witness answers: "We discussed the Bible, communicated, nothing superfluous, an ordinary meeting of the congregation, which is not prohibited."

The witness does not confirm the preliminary testimony because it is partially unreliable. He says that at the time of the interrogation he was serving a sentence in a general regime colony and was pressured before the interrogation. According to him, investigator Belov and FSB Major Ryzhov threatened him with an increase in his sentence if he refused to testify.

The questioning of the prosecution witness is ongoing. The protocols of confrontations between the witness and the defendants are announced. The witness confirms his testimony in part and expresses doubt that he pronounced the name of the defendant Kruglyakov during the interrogation and thinks that he could have been attributed later. The witness states that he did not indicate the roles and status of other participants in the services, although this testimony is recorded in the protocol.

He also says that he attended meetings for worship of Jehovah's Witnesses until 2014, a period not imputed to the defendants.

Next, the court reviews video recordings of worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Aleksandr Kruglyakov petitions to include in the case file the responses from the Prosecutor's Office of the Komi Republic to his appeals to various authorities, including the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation, the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, etc. All documents confirm that the confession of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses by individuals is not a criminal offense. The court dismissed Kruglyakov's petition.

Speaking with written notes, Kruglyakov states: "Peaceful conversations about God in the circle of fellow believers or with other people without calls for violence, discrimination and degrading treatment of any public group cannot have such a degree of public danger [which would correspond to Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation]." He draws the court's attention to the conclusions of the expert examination, according to which no such statements were found in the materials obtained in the course of the operational-search activities.

Aleksandr Kruglyakov is being interrogated. Answering the questions of the judge and the state prosecutor, the believer uses Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Lydia Nekrasova feels bad and an ambulance is called. Due to the elderly woman's poor health, the meeting was postponed.

Lydia Nekrasova testifies in court. She is perplexed: "I am accused of a crime that I did not commit. I did not join any extremist groups, did not incite religious hatred in anyone, and especially did not use any violence against anyone." The believer continues: "I do not understand why I, a peaceful person, am presented today as a dangerous criminal for society. It hurts me a lot."

The court attaches to the case file the positive references of Lydia Nekrasova from the nursing home for the elderly and disabled, where she worked as a nurse for 14 years, as well as from her neighbors.

The next defendant, Andrey Kharlamov, emphasizes during the interrogation: "The prosecution has no facts that I committed any illegal actions." As an argument, he cites the conclusion of the FSB expert Shakhova. After examining the records of 10 worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses in Syktyvkar, she came to the conclusion that "extremism has not been identified."

At the request of the lawyer, the court examines a fragment of a magazine published by Jehovah's Witnesses seized during the search of Ketov's home. "This article and the biblical principles from it encourage us to respect the state, to respect the laws of the country," the believer emphasizes. "I would like to add that I have dedicated my life to God and pledged myself to fulfill his laws and requirements."

The court is clarifying the circumstances of the interrogation of a prosecution witness who had previously stated pressure from the investigation. The law enforcement officer Belov, who conducted the interrogation, denies this. He says that the witness signed the protocol, but did not express any concerns.

Aleksandr Ketov is being interrogated. He states that the testimony of the key prosecution witness is untrue. The witness based his statements on the words of three other people, but at the confrontation their testimony differed.

The hearing is postponed: Lydia Nekrasova is ill, and Andrey Kharlamov is in rehabilitation (in December 2023, he underwent hip replacement surgery).