Case of Ilinych in Ussuriysk

Case History

Vitaliy Ilinykh, a former police officer, overcame bad habits through his study of the Bible. However, for wanting to share his faith with others, he, following his mother, [Olga Opaleva] (/en/prisoners/opaleva.html), found himself under the yoke of criminal prosecution. Searches of the Ilinykhs took place twice: in February and October 2019. The investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Primorsky Territory, E. S. Marvanyuk, opened a criminal case against Vitaly Ilyinykh, charging him with organizing the activities of an extremist organization, and later mitigated the charge to participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Hearings in the Ussuriysk District Court began in December 2020 under the chairmanship of Judge Tatyana Pavlenko, and 4 months later the case was transferred to Judge Anna Zakharova. In April 2022, the court sentenced Vitaliy Ilinykh to 2.5 years of probation. This decision entered into force on July 28, 2022 after an appeal.
Timeline

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    Search

    Vitaliy Ilinykh's house is being searched as part of a criminal case against his mother , Olga Opaleva.

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    The case of Vitaliy Ilinykh is separated into a separate proceeding.

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    Case initiated Art. 282.2 (1) Search

    The Investigative Directorate for the city of Ussuriysk of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (1); According to the investigation, he carried out "organizational actions to disseminate prohibited literature and information, as well as control over the conduct of sermons by members of a local religious organization" (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" and its local religious organizations). Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Ilyinykh Vitaly (born in 1974).

    Vitaliy Ilinykh's apartment is being searched.

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    Health risk

    Vitaly Ilyinykh's mother, 67-year-old Olga Opaleva, who is persecuted for her faith in the same way as her son, is not feeling well in the FSIN convoy car on the way to court. She is hospitalized with an ischemic stroke. She desperately needs her son's help.

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    Search Recognizance agreement

    Vitaliy Ilinykh and his wife, Irina, are being searched again. Vitaliy is taken into custody, but after 2 days the court chooses a preventive measure for him in the form of a written undertaking not to leave.

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    Art. 282.2 (2)

    The investigator reclassifies the charge against Vitaly Ilinykh to a milder article — participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

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    Case went to court

    The case of Vitaliy Ilyinykh is submitted to the Ussuriysk District Court for consideration by Judge Tatyana Pavlenko.

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    Hearing in a court of the first instance

    The first hearing in the Ussuriysk District Court of Primorsky Krai. Judge Tatyana Pavlenko determines the order of the court session. The prosecutor reads out the indictment, the defendant Vitaly Ilyinykh does not agree with the charges.

    Ilinykh filed three motions: to refuse a lawyer; the openness of the meeting; on the study and attachment to the case file of the resolution of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of October 1, 2020. The court granted the last two motions.

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    Hearing in a court of the first instance Interrogation Secret witness

    A secret witness, a woman who attended services of Jehovah's Witnesses in order to gather information about believers, is being interrogated. She admits that she has a negative attitude towards Jehovah's Witnesses and is interested in them ceasing their "activities" in Ussuriysk. At the same time, the woman never heard threats from believers against her, as well as calls for violence, genocide or overthrow of state power.

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    Hearing in a court of the first instance

    The case is referred to Judge Anna Zakharova. The court completes the listening to the audio recordings of the believers' telephone conversations and proceeds to the study of the video recordings of the services.

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    Prosecutor requested punishment

    The debate scheduled for that day was adjourned.

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    Prosecutor requested punishment

    The prosecutor asks the court to give Vitaliy Ilinykh a suspended sentence of 4 years.

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    Final statement In the courtroom
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    First Instance Sentence Suspended sentence Art. 282.2 (2) Secret witness Prosecution of several family members Final statement

    Judge Anna Zakharova finds Vitaliy Ilinykh guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and sentences him to 2.5 years of suspended imprisonment, restriction of liberty for a term of 8 months with a probationary period of 2 years.

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    Court of Appeal Suspended sentence Art. 282.2 (2) Rosfinmonitoring

    The Primorsky Regional Court approves the sentence of Vitaly Ilinykh - 2.5 years of suspended imprisonment.

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