A Kirov court finds Anatoliy Tokarev, a peaceful believer, guilty of extremism. He was fined 500 thousand rubles.

On October 23, 2020, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Kirov announced the verdict in the case of 61-year-old Anatoliy Tokarev, one of Jehovah's Witnesses. He was found guilty of organizing the activities of the banned organization and fined 500 thousand rubles. He pleaded not guilty and will appeal the court decision.

The verdict caught former software engineer Anatoly Tokarev and his family in the midst of an illness that they endure without hospitalization. Judge Sergei Skorobogaty did not postpone the announcement of the verdict.

The trial showed that there were no victims in the case and no one had ever heard anything similar to extremism from Anatoliy Tokarev and other believers, although he was charged under two articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation at once: organization (part 1 of article 282.2) and financing (part 1 of article 282.3) of an extremist organization. The whole essence of Tokarev's "crimes", uncovered by investigators of the Investigative Committee, boiled down to "joint singing of biblical songs and the study of religious literature," as well as to covering the utility costs of an empty worship building. But even in order to bring these accusations, the investigators had to resort to falsifying the testimony of witnesses, which was revealed during their interrogation in court.

None of this deterred Judge Skorobogaty from convicting. A large fine imposed is a heavy punishment for a believer who lives on a pension and a janitor's salary. The verdict has not entered into force.