Photo: Raid on believers (Orenburg, May 16, 2018)

Photo: Raid on believers (Orenburg, May 16, 2018)

Photo: Raid on believers (Orenburg, May 16, 2018)

Criminal trial

Criminal prosecution of Yevgeny Aksyonov for reading the Holy Scriptures in Khabarovsk

Khabarovsk Territory

On July 24, 2019, a decision was issued to bring Yevgeny Aksenov, a native of Khabarovsk, as an accused. The "guilt" of Aksenov, according to the investigation, is that in April 2018, he and his friends met in the conference hall of the hotel complex and read the Holy Scriptures.

On the evening of August 6, 2019, 4 FSB officers with witnesses came to the apartment of Yevgeny Aksyonov and his family in Khabarovsk. During the search, they turned over all the belongings and seized the hard drive.

Law enforcement officers regard reading the Bible as a continuation of extremist activity. The decree was signed by D. Pozdnyakov, senior investigator-criminalist of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia in the Khabarovsk Territory. A written undertaking not to leave was taken from the believer.

Case of Aksenov in Khabarovsk

Case history
Yevgeny Aksyonov is the father of two minor children, an employee of the Khabarovsk water utility. In April 2018, he gave a speech in a conference room about faith in Jehovah and the value of the Bible’s commandments to strengthen marriage. The investigation considered it a “socially dangerous crime.” The experts involved found in Aksyonov’s words signs that he was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which the believer never hid. The case is based on the testimony of a secret witness, as well as a video recording of the worship service. Despite the fact that there is not a single victim in the case, on February 18, 2020, Judge Tatyana Kalganova from the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Khabarovsk sentenced the believer to 2 years of suspended imprisonment with restriction of liberty for 6 months. The Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation upheld the verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Aksenov
Yevgeniy

Criminal case

Region:
Khabarovsk Territory
Locality:
Khabarovsk
Suspected of:
According to the investigation he conducted worship service together with others and read from the Holy Scriptures, which is interpreted as “organizing the activities of an extremist organization” (with reference to a court decision on the liquidation of a local organization of Jehovah's Witnesses) 
Court case number:
41907080001000029
Initiated:
July 24, 2019
Current case stage:
The verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Khabarovsk Territory
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-723/19
[i18n] Рассматривалось судом первой инстанции:
Железнодорожный районный суд г. Хабаровска
Judge:
Калганова Татьяна Федоровна
Background