An Appeal in Krasnoyarsk Left Unchanged Vitaliy Sukhov's Six-Year Suspended Sentence for Belief in Jehovah God

On March 1, 2022, Krasnoyarsk Territory court rejected the appeal of Vitaliy Sukhov, father of many children and confirmed the conviction — suspended sentence for "organization of religious speeches and worship".

In spring 2020, Sukhov's house was searched only because of his religion, his car was arrested, and he has been seeking justice in courts for almost 2 years. The testimony of the secret witness "Kuzmin," as well as other prosecution witnesses, could not confirm Sukhov's criminal intent. The criminal prosecution of the 55-year-old believer jeopardized his ability to care for his wife and 8 children, three of whom are minors. On December 21, 2021, Judge of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Krasnoyarsk Svetlana Patsalyuk sentenced Vitaliy Sukhov to 6 years of suspended imprisonment.

The verdict came into force. The believer still insists on his innocence and can appeal the verdict on cassational basis.

The Krasnoyarsk region has already charged 25 Jehovah's Witnesses with crimes against society and the state, even though they have not committed anything unlawful. In addition to Vitaliy Sukhov, four other believers have already been convicted for their faith.

According to a clarification by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia, religious meetings and conversations about the Bible cannot be considered extremism by itself. On 9 February, 2022, Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev further emphasized this idea: "Actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely of the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including through the performance of religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime."