A Seversk Court Sentenced Aleksey Yershov, a Retiree, to Three Years in Prison for Participating in Christian Meetings

On January 19, 2022, Yalchin Badalov, Judge of the Seversk City Court of the Tomsk Region, found 68-year-old Jehovah's Witness Aleksey Yershov guilty of participating in extremist activities and sentenced him to 3 years in a penal colony. He is taken into custody in the courtroom.

At the court hearing that preceded the sentencing, Aleksey Ershov stated that he had not committed anything extremist. Faith helped him keep his family together and lead a respectable life: “The facts … prove that Jehovah's Witnesses do not resort to violence, work conscientiously, pay taxes honestly, as a rule, have strong friendly families.”

Aleksey Ershov was brought up without a father in a large family. He worked as an engineer and teacher, held a position of a local deputy.

In the summer of 2020, a series of searches took place in Seversk, including at Aleksey’s home. A few months later, the local department of the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against him, accusing him of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), undermining the foundations of the constitutional order and state security, which was expressed in "active participation in meetings" where local believers peacefully discussed the Bible. Aleksey did not commit any real crimes.

The accusation is based on the testimony of Kira Klisheva, who collaborates with the FSB. When asked on what grounds she determined that Jehovah's Witnesses were extremists, Klisheva replied in court: "Because they pronounce the name of God - Jehovah." Similar testimonies of this witness are the basis for accusations against 5 other believers from Seversk.

The guilty verdict of the Seversky City Court against Aleksey Ershov has not entered into force and can be appealed. In November 2021, the same court sentenced 80-year-old Yelena Savelyeva, a teacher with forty years of experience, to four years suspended, also for talking about the Bible. In total, since last years, 7 criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses have been initiated in the Tomsk Region.

The repression of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is carried out despite repeated assurances from the authorities that the religion is not banned.