Yevgeniy Yegorov on the day of the verdict at the courthouse. February 2023

Yevgeniy Yegorov on the day of the verdict at the courthouse. February 2023

Yevgeniy Yegorov on the day of the verdict at the courthouse. February 2023

Unjust Verdicts

In Birobidzhan, the Court Again Imposed a 2.5-Year Suspended Sentence on Yevgeniy Yegorov. He is Considered an Extremist for Continuing to Talk About the Bible

Jewish Autonomous Area

On February 17, 2023, the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, after a retrial of the case, sentenced one of Jehovah's Witnesses, Yevgeniy Yegorov, again to 2 years and 6 months suspended with a 1-year restriction of liberty.

“The respected prosecutor believes that I need to reform. To do this, I must first at least understand in what way, - Yevgeniy expressed his bewilderment to the court. “The reason for the investigation was peaceful Bible discussion, and not a single law of the state and not a single court decision prohibited this.”

“The investigator said that if I prayed to God at home, believed in him only in my soul and did not express my faith in any way, then I would not be persecuted as an extremist. But such a position contradicts the very essence of faith, ” said Yevgeniy.

The criminal prosecution of this peaceful Christian has been going on for almost 5 years now. In 2018, Birobidzhan law enforcement officers searched his house, and a year later they accused the believer of extremism. The first court hearing began in the winter of 2020. Within two years, the case reached the Ninth Court of Cassation in Vladivostok, which sent it for a second appeal, which, in turn, sent it for a new consideration.

During these years, Yegorov faced a number of difficulties. On the very day of Yevgeniy's wedding, the FSB charged his mother and several friends with extremism. Then the believer himself was under a recognizance agreement. “Because of this, my wife and I faced serious financial problems from the start of family life. But we did not lose heart,” said Yevgeniy. Soon the newlyweds learned that they were expecting a baby. The believer recalls: “Friends came to our aid. After the birth of our son, we received parcels with children's goods. And the words of support from fellow believers were very reassuring.”

The June 7, 2022 judgement of the European Court of Human Rights emphasizes that the behavior of the Russian authorities towards Jehovah's Witnesses contains "indications of a policy of intolerance ... designed to cause [believers] to abandon their faith and prevent others from joining it" (§254).

Case of Yegorov in Birobidzhan

Case History
Yevgeniy Yegorov is an aspiring writer from Birobidzhan who, because of being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was accused by the FSB of participating in extremist activities. In May 2018, security forces raided the home where he and his mother lived, and a year later, they initiated a criminal case against him. While under investigation, Yevgeniy got married, but due to a recognizance agreement, he was forced to cancel the honeymoon trip. Also, the young man was included on the Rosfinmonitoring list of terrorists and extremists. The court considered his case for a year and a half and finally gave him a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence in June 2021. This decision was upheld by the appellate court, but the cassation court returned the case to the regional court, which, in turn, sent the case back to the first instance court. Upon reconsideration, the position of the courts did not change—the suspended sentence of two and a half years entered into force in April 2023 after a second appeal.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Jewish Autonomous Area
Locality:
Birobidzhan
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, “in order to extend the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses by improving the skills of preaching and other religious activities, they studied ... the publication of Jehovah's Witnesses ‘The Holy Scriptures / New World Translation’, recognized as extremist”
Court case number:
11907990001000007
Initiated:
July 29, 2019
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Russian Federal Security Office for Jewish Autonomous Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-38/2023 (1-717/2022; 1-11/2021; 1-48/2020; 1-624/2019)
Court of First Instance:
Биробиджанский районный суд Еврейской автономной области
[i18n] Судья первой инстанции:
Станислав Ушаков (судья первой инстанции на повторном рассмотрении)
Case History