Photo source: londondeposit / depositphotos.com

Photo source: londondeposit / depositphotos.com

Photo source: londondeposit / depositphotos.com

Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

Searches and detention of believers in Ugra

Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area

On February 6, 2019, in the city of Urai (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug), searches were conducted in 8 houses of citizens who are suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. 38-year-old Andrey Sazonov was arrested, the court must choose a measure of restraint for him within 2 days.

Recently, believers have noticed surveillance of themselves from cars with tinted windows, so they were even forced to file a complaint with the police on the helpline.

The Case of Sazonov in Uray

Case History
In January 2019, Andrey Sazonov, the father of two minor children and deputy general director of an energy company, faced persecution for his faith. The investigator of the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against him for organizing extremist activity. After a search and interrogation, the believer was placed in a pretrial detention center for 20 days, then placed under house arrest, and 6 months later under a ban on certain actions. Later, Andrey Sazonov was also charged with financing the activity of an extremist organization. The court considered the case from June 2020 to December 2021. As a result, Sazonov was sentenced to a fine of 500,000 rubles. The court of appeal overturned this decision and sent the case for a new trial to the same court, but with a different panel of judges. In June 2022, the second hearing began, and in October 2023, the court imposed a fine of 450,000 rubles on the believer. In January 2024, a court of appeal overturned the verdict for a second and sent the case back for reconsideration.
Timeline

Persons in case

Sazonov
Andrey

Criminal case

Region:
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area
Locality:
Uray
Suspected of:
according to the investigation, together with others he conducted religious services, which is interpreted as “organising the activity of an extremist organisation” (with reference to the decision of the Russian Supreme Court)
Court case number:
11902711001000310
Initiated:
January 31, 2019
Current case stage:
trial in court of first instance
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khanty-Mansi Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)
Court case number:
1-59/2024
Court:
Урайский городской суд ХМАО-Югра
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Виктор Ярышев
Case History