Jehovah's Witnesses are under the yoke of repression. Results of 2022

Updated January 24, 2023. All data updated as of December 31, 2022.

In 2022, the ECHR declared the 2017 ban on Jehovah's Witnesses illegal. However, the repression not only did not weaken, but also updated records: in 2022, the courts sentenced 44 believers to a total of 244 years in prison (a year earlier, the figure was 160 years in prison). Other sad records were also recorded: the number of convictions, as well as the number of believers who are simultaneously in colonies and pre-trial detention centers.

How many people were repressed for their faith in 2022? As of December 31, 2022, 674 followers of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses are officially in the status of accused, suspected, indicted, convicted, or acquitted. Of these, 77 learned about the criminal prosecution in 2022. (In 2019, this figure was 213, in 2020 146, and in 2021 - 142.) The total number of criminal cases reached 319 (most often 2 or more defendants in one case).

What is the geographical scope of repression for faith? Criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses have already been initiated in 72 regions of Russia. In 2022, cases were initiated in 2 new regions of Russia - Altai and Buryatia. (In 2019, criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses was initiated in 21 new regions of Russia, in 2020 in 8 new regions, and in 2021 in 10.)

How many convictions for faith were handed down in 2022, and how many have gone into effect? During 2022, 119 believers were found guilty under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and sentenced by the courts of first instance to various punishments. (In 2019, this figure was 18, and in 2020 it was 39, in 2021 it was 111.) Of these, 57 people are still awaiting the decision of the appeal. With regard to 108 believers, appeals were held during 2022 and the sentences entered into force. In some cases, the punishment was mitigated or toughened, but most often it remained unchanged.

In total, as of December 31, 2022, 284 male and female Jehovah's Witnesses have been convicted for their faith in the past 5 years.

What sentences were handed down to Jehovah's Witnesses in 2022? In total, during 2022, 44 believers were sentenced to real imprisonment, which is a sad record (in 2021, 32 believers were sentenced to real imprisonment). The duration of the punishment has also been toughened: in 2022, the average term in a colony imposed on believers was 5.5 years, while in 2021 this average figure was 5.0 years. For 6 years or more, 35 out of 44 believers were sent to a penal colony. In addition, 62 believers were conditionally sentenced to imprisonment (68 in 2021), 12 people were fined (10 in 2021) and 1 person was sentenced to 4 years of correctional labor. The most inhuman is the sentence of 7 years in prison imposed on Andrei Vlasov, a disabled person who cannot do without assistance. Due to strict restrictions in one of the correctional facilities, he developed soft tissue necrosis (bedsores), which he tries to cure.

In 2022, the acquittal of the believer handed down in 2021 was overturned on appeal. In addition, during 2022, 3 acquittals were issued – to three believers in the case of the Bazhenovs and others in Yelizovo (however, this verdict was overturned at the stage of the 2nd cassation in the Supreme Court of Russia), one believer in the case of Khabarov in Porkhov (however, this sentence was overturned on appeal) and three believers in the case of Pryanikov and others in Karpinsk (however, these believers are heard in court another criminal case for faith).

How many Jehovah's Witnesses have passed through temporary detention facilities, pre-trial detention centers or colonies, and how many are still being held there. In 2022, the number of Jehovah's Witnesses who are simultaneously in Russian colonies and pre-trial detention exceeded 100 for the first time. As of December 31, 2022, 113 people remain behind bars. (A year ago, this figure was 76 people; in December 2020, 44 people; in December 2019, exactly the same number was in jail - 44 people.)

A total of 368 believers have been or remain behind bars since May 2017. In 2022, having served his sentence in full, having actually spent 5 years in a pre-trial detention center and a colony, the first convicted Jehovah's Witness, Dennis Christensen, was released and expelled from the country . In addition, Valentina Baranovskaya, the oldest believer at that time, who was sentenced to real imprisonment, was released from the colony on parole. While under investigation, the woman suffered a stroke. Her son, who was convicted for his faith with her, remains behind bars. As of December 31, 2022, there are still 19 Jehovah's Witnesses over the age of 60 in prisons. The oldest of them, 71-year-old Boris Andreev from the village of Yaroslavsky (Primorye Territory), was sent to a pre-trial detention center in July 2022. 70-year-old Vilen Avanesov has been behind bars for more than 3.5 years.

How many searches have been conducted in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses? Since the decision to liquidate registered Jehovah's Witnesses organizations came into force, at least 1876 searches have been conducted in their homes. Of these, 203 searches were carried out in 40 settlements of Russia in 2022. (In 2019, the number of searches was 489 in 75 settlements, in 2020 - 447 in 81 settlements, in 2021 - 382 in 82 settlements.) The largest special operations against Jehovah's Witnesses in 2022 were carried out in Novorossiysk and 5 nearby villages (30 searches in 1 day), in Rybinsk (16), in Simferopol (16), in Chelyabinsk (13), in Novocherkassk (10). A search is a significant restriction of a person's constitutional right to privacy, personal and family secrets, honor, and good name.

Chronicle of the incursions into the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in 2022:

• 16.01.2022 Gorno-Altaisk (Altai Republic): 5 searches carried out
• 01/28/2022 Krasnodar (Krasnodar Territory): 3 searches carried out
• 06.02.2022 Moskvoretskaya Sloboda (Moscow Region): 1 search was conducted
• 13.02.2022 Vyselki (Krasnodar Territory): 13 searches carried out
• 13.02.2022 Novorossiysk (Krasnodar Territory): 9 searches carried out
• 13.02.2022 Zhuravskaya (Krasnodar Territory): 2 searches carried out
• 13.02.2022 Berezanskaya (Krasnodar Territory): 4 searches carried out
• 13.02.2022 Buzinovskaya (Krasnodar Territory): 1 search was conducted
• 02/13/2022 Novodonetska (Krasnodar Territory): 1 search was conducted
• 18.02.2022 Vyselki (Krasnodar Territory): 1 search was conducted
• 25.02.2022 Pregradnaya (Karachay-Cherkess Republic): 1 search was conducted
• 04.03.2022 Tolyatti (Samara Region): 2 searches carried out
• 15.03.2022 Kostroma (Kostroma region): 4 searches carried out
• 16.03.2022 Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan): 1 search was conducted
• 03/18/2022 Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan): 3 searches conducted
• 22.03.2022 Maikop (Republic of Adygea): 1 search was conducted
• 03/23/2022 Balakovo (Saratov Region): 8 searches carried out
• 23.03.2022 Chelyabinsk (Chelyabinsk Region): 1 search was conducted
• 29.03.2022 Sosnovoborsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory): 4 searches carried out
• 06.04.2022 Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan): 2 searches conducted
• 15.04.2022 Yoshkar-Ola (Republic of Mari El): 8 searches carried out
• 15.04.2022 Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod Region): 1 search was conducted
• 19.04.2022 Maikop (Republic of Adygea): 1 search was conducted
• 04/25/2022 Maikop (Republic of Adygea): 1 search was conducted
• 26.04.2022 Maikop (Republic of Adygea): 3 searches carried out
• 05/19/2022 Yaroslavl (Yaroslavl Region): 2 searches carried out
• 05/24/2022 Komsomolsk-on-Amur (Khabarovsk Territory): 1 search was conducted
• 29.05.2022 Sharypovo (Krasnoyarsk Territory): 4 searches carried out
• 06/07/2022 Asha (Chelyabinsk Region): 1 search was conducted
• 14.06.2022 Baley (Trans-Baikal Territory): 4 searches carried out
• 16.06.2022 Kopeysk (Chelyabinsk Region): 1 search was conducted
• 07.07.2022 Surgut (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug): 5 searches carried out
• 13.07.2022 Rybinsk (Yaroslavl Region): 16 searches carried out
• 07/27/2022 Rybinsk (Yaroslavl Region): 1 search was conducted
• 05.08.2022 Sevastopol (Sevastopol): 1 search was conducted
• 11.08.2022 Novocherkassk (Rostov Region): 10 searches carried out
• 11.08.2022 Unecha (Bryansk region): 2 searches carried out
• 24.08.2022 Sevastopol (Sevastopol): 2 searches carried out
• 08.09.2022 Chelyabinsk (Chelyabinsk Region): 13 searches carried out
• 21.09.2022 Tolyatti (Samara Region): 2 searches carried out
• 28.09.2022 Krasnogvardeyskoye (Crimea): 11 searches carried out
• 06.10.2022 Yaroslavsky (Primorye Territory): 12 searches carried out
• 10/14/2022 Rybinsk (Yaroslavl Region): 1 search was conducted
• 17.10.2022 Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Kamchatka Territory): 4 searches carried out
• 20.10.2022 Maikop (Republic of Adygea): 3 searches carried out
• 10/27/2022 Krasnoznamensk (Moscow Region): 1 search was conducted
• 09.11.2022 Ivanovo (Ivanovo Region): 3 searches carried out
• 11/18/2022 Tavrichanka (Primorye Territory): 1 search was conducted
• 06.12.2022 Feodosiya (Crimea): 1 search was conducted
• 08.12.2022 Simferopol (Crimea): 16 searches carried out
• 14.12.2022 Izhevsk (Udmurt Republic): 2 searches carried out
• 26.12.2022 Ussuriysk (Primorye Territory): 1 search was conducted

What steps did the authorities take in 2022 to end the repression of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia? On February 22, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights published judgments in the cases of Cheprunov and Others v. Russia (74320/10) and Zharinova v. Russia (17715/12), in which it found that Russian authorities had violated the right to freedom of religion of Jehovah's Witnesses when they detained them while talking about the Bible or searched their homes.

On June 7, 2022, the ECHR declared illegal the liquidation of all 396 legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia in 2017, the ban on their activities and the seizure of property; ban on printed publications and the official website. The judgment was made in the case of "MRO Taganrog and Others v. Russia" (No. 32401/10). Russia is obliged to pay the applicants 3 million euros for non-material damage, as well as to return the seized property or pay 59 million euros for it. Although Russia ceased to be a member of the Council of Europe in March 2022, in terms of international law, it is obliged to comply with the decisions of the ECHR issued before September 16, 2022, as the Secretary General of the Council of Europe reminded the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia in a letter dated December 9, 2022.