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Illustrative photo

Illustrative photo

Criminal trial

A 74-year-old Resident of Chelyabinsk and His Wife Persecuted for Faith. The Investigator Considered the Elderly Couple Extremists

Chelyabinsk Region

Alexander Chepenko, an investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Department of the TFR in the Chelyabinsk region, opened a criminal case against 74-year-old Vladimir Suvorov. The accusations are based on conversations about God with residents of Chelyabinsk and discussion of the Bible among fellow believers.

The criminal case against Vladimir Suvorov was initiated on January 16, 2020 under the article "organization of extremist activity" (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

As stated in the decision to initiate the case, Vladimir organized meetings of fellow believers, during which they prayed to Jehovah together and sang religious songs. The investigator interpreted these actions as a continuation of the activities of the legal entity, the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses "Chelyabinsk", which was actually liquidated back in May 2017 after the Supreme Court decision to ban 396 legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

On February 26, investigator Chepenko summoned Vladimir for interrogation, during which he orally informed the believer that he was under recognizance not to leave. Vladimir himself stated during the interrogation that he had never been engaged in extremist activities, and petitioned for the termination of the criminal case due to the absence of the fact of the crime itself.

Earlier, the same investigator charged Vladimir's wife, 71-year-old Valentina Suvorova, with extremism. Now she is under recognizance not to leave.

The case of Suvorov in Chelyabinsk

Case History
Former theater actor Vladimir Suvorov, following his wife, Valentina, faced persecution by the authorities because of his religious views. In January 2020, Aleksandr Chepenko, an investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Chelyabinsk Region, opened a criminal case against an elderly man. He saw in Vladimir’s actions a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, since he “organized the preaching activity.” Conversations with people about God, holding worship services, singing and praying were regarded by the investigation as the organization of extremist activity, and the presence of literature in electronic form was declared “conspiracy measures”. Since October 2020, the case has been considered by Oksana Mitina, judge of the Metallurgichesky District Court of Chelyabinsk. The prosecutor requested 7 years in prison for the elderly believer. On July 1, 2021, the court sentenced the 75-year-old pensioner to 6 years of suspended imprisonment. In October 2021, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court upheld the suspended sentence handed down to Vladimir Suvorov.
Timeline

Persons in case

Suvorov
Vladimir

Criminal case

Region:
Chelyabinsk Region
Locality:
Chelyabinsk
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, "preaching activities were organized ... for propaganda purposes... and the involvement of citizens in the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses ... In addition, religious meetings have been organized... in the form of a collective religious service, consisting of... performances of songs... and prayers to Jehovah God, study and discuss articles."
Court case number:
12002750030000002
Initiated:
January 16, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-36/2021 (1-550/2020)
Court:
Metallurgicheskiy District Court of the City of Chelyabinsk
Judge:
Oksana Mitina
Case History
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