A Birobidzhan prosecutor requested a four-year prison sentence for Tatyana Zagulina for practicing the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses

On March 22, 2021, during a debate in the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, the prosecutor demanded that Tatyana Zagulina, a 36-year-old mother of a minor child, be sentenced to 4 years in a general regime colony and 2 years of restriction of freedom for reading the Bible with her fellow believers. On March 31, the court will issue a verdict.

Fashion designer and manicure master Tatyana Zagulina, following her husband Dmitry, was under investigation because of her faith in Jehovah God. In February 2020, the FSB forensic investigator D. Yankin opened criminal cases against the believer and her fellow believers, accusing her of extremism.

During the trial, which has been going on since August 2020, the inconsistency of the charges became apparent. One of the witnesses did not recognize the believer; another gave her a positive characterization. A police officer summoned to the court as a witness stated that she had not heard any extremist calls from the believer.

To date, 23 believers in the region have become victims of unfounded criminal prosecutions for the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses. 9 of them have already been sentenced.

The Russian and foreign public condemns the persecution of believers in Russia. In January 2021, at a meeting with the Human Rights Council, President Putin re-ordered the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to deal with violations of the legislation on freedom of religion.