In the photo: Sergey Yavushkin and Alexander Bondarchuk

In the photo: Sergey Yavushkin and Alexander Bondarchuk

In the photo: Sergey Yavushkin and Alexander Bondarchuk

Unjust Verdicts

An Appeal in Kemerovo Upheld Aleksandr Bondarchuk's and Sergey Yavushkin's Sentence - Both Jehovah's Witnesses

Kemerovo Region

On February 16, 2022, the Kemerovo Regional Court rejected the appeal of Aleksandr Bondarchuk and Sergey Yavushkin, leaving the sentence unchanged - 4 years of suspended imprisonment.

In the summer of 2021, the Zavodskoy District Court of Kemerovo found Bondarchuk and Yavushkin guilty of extremism. The prosecution presented prayers and the rental of a pool for the rite of Christian baptism as a "crime". The position of the prosecutor's office was based mainly on the testimony of a witness who was covertly filming the services. At one of the hearings, Yavushkin drew the court's attention to the fact that most of the witness' testimonies were false and contradicted each other. The verdict was appealed.

After the decision of the court of first instance, the believers were under house arrest. Prior to that, they spent 700 days under house arrest. Thus, at the time of the appeal decision, their movements had been restricted in total for more than 2.5 years. During the criminal prosecution, Yavushkin suffered a stroke, and his wife was hospitalized with nervous and emotional strain.

The believers vehemently reject the accusations of crimes and can appeal against the decisions of the courts in cassation and international instances. At one of the court hearings, Aleksandr Bondarchuk quoted the words of Russian President Putin: “You can’t force people to go against their faith, their traditions, family pedigree, in the end against truth, justice and just common sense!”

The groundlessness of the criminal prosecution of Yavushkin and Bondarchuk in May 2020 was confirmed by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. In its decision No. 10/2020, it was noted that criminal cases were initiated “only because [the accused] peacefully professed their religious beliefs, including having religious texts and Bibles with them, gathering together for worship with fellow believers.”

Case of Yavushkin and Bondarchuk in Kemerovo

Case History
In January 2018, mass searches were carried out in the homes of civilians in Kemerovo. A year and a half later, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Sergei Yavushkin and Alexander Bondarchuk. They were accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and financing it, the reason for which was the conversations of men with people about God and meetings with fellow believers. The believers were sent to a temporary detention facility for 2 days, and then under house arrest, where they spent 700 days each. As a result, Sergey and Alexander lost their jobs. Their property was seized. While in the temporary detention facility, Sergey was subjected to psychological pressure and ended up in the hospital with a stroke. In April 2020, the case went to court. The accusation was mainly based on the testimony of a witness who kept a secret record of worship. In June 2021, the court sentenced the believers to 4 years of probation. The appeal and cassation upheld the verdict. In September 2023, Sergey Yavushkin received parole.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Kemerovo Region
Locality:
Kemerovo
Suspected of:
According to the investigation they participated in the continuation of activities by conducting conversations, religious meetings aimed at continuing the activities of a liquidated religious organization
Court case number:
11902320035000583
Initiated:
July 19, 2019
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee for Kemerovo Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.3 (1)
Court case number:
1-36/2021 (1-362/2020)
Court:
Заводский районный суд города Кемерово
Judge:
Вера Ульянюк
Case History
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