Andrey and Victoria Sazonov near the building of the Urai City Court

Andrey and Victoria Sazonov near the building of the Urai City Court

Andrey and Victoria Sazonov near the building of the Urai City Court

Criminal trial

An Appeal Filed in Khanty-Mansiysk Reversed Andrey Sazonov's Sentence and Ordered the Case to Be Retried

Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area

On May 19, 2022, the collegium of the Court of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Area-Yugra overturned the sentence of Andrey Sazonov and sent the case for a new trial to the Uray City Court by a differently constituted bench.

Two months earlier, Judge Ilnur Gilmanov of the Uray City Court found Andrey Sazonov guilty of organizing and financing extremist activities, despite the fact that the testimony of witnesses and the results of the examination refuted the charge. The believer was fined 500,000 rubles.

Sazonov holds the position of head of one of the departments at the Urayteploenergia enterprise. He was awarded diplomas from the city administration, as well as from the management of the enterprise, where he has been working for many years.

The Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area-Yugra Court granted the convict's petition, removing the appointed lawyer from the courtroom, therefore, as in the city court, Andrey Sazonov defended himself. Addressing the Court of Appeal, he emphasized: “I exercise my constitutional right to believe in Jehovah God and live in accordance with my religious beliefs. And it's not a crime. Therefore, finding me guilty only for my religious beliefs is evidence of discrimination.”

International and Russian human rights activists and public organizations condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. In November 2021, the public committee “Freedom of Conscience” stated: “The decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia must be implemented in judicial practice. The state must admit its mistake, and law enforcement agencies and courts must stop the repressions against Jehovah's Witnesses. The state should apologize to believers.”

The Case of Sazonov in Uray

Case History
In January 2019, Andrey Sazonov, father of two minor children and deputy general director of an energy company, faced persecution for his faith. The investigator of the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against him for organizing extremist activity. After a search and interrogation, the believer was placed in a pretrial detention center for 20 days, then placed under house arrest, and 6 months later under a ban on certain actions. Later, Andrey Sazonov was also charged with financing the activity of an extremist organization. The court considered the case from June 2020 to December 2021. As a result, Sazonov was sentenced to a fine of 500,000 rubles. The court of appeal overturned this decision and sent the case back to the same court for a new trial, but with a different panel of judges. In June 2022, the second hearing began, and in October 2023, the court imposed a fine of 450,000 rubles on the believer. In January 2024, a court of appeal overturned the verdict for a second time and sent the case back for reconsideration.
Timeline

Persons in case

Sazonov
Andrey

Criminal case

Region:
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area
Locality:
Uray
Suspected of:
religious affiliation is deemed as “organising and participating in the activity of an extremist organisation” (with reference to the court decision on the liquidation of the local organization of Jehovah's Witnesses)
Court case number:
11902711001000310
Initiated:
January 31, 2019
Current case stage:
trial in court of first instance
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area-Yugra
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)
Court case number:
1-59/2024
Court:
Uray City Court of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area-Yugra
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Viktor Yarishev
Case History
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