Valery Maletskov with his wife and Marina Chaplykina before their conviction, Novosibirsk, December 2023

Valery Maletskov with his wife and Marina Chaplykina before their conviction, Novosibirsk, December 2023

Valery Maletskov with his wife and Marina Chaplykina before their conviction, Novosibirsk, December 2023

Unjust Verdicts

Court in Novosibirsk Sent Valeriy Maletskov and Marina Chaplykina to a Penal Colony for Their Faith in Jehovah God for 6 Years and 4 Years, Respectively

Novosibirsk Region

On December 18, 2023, Oleg Karpets, judge of the Novosibirsk District Court, sentenced Marina Chaplykina to 4 years in a penal colony, and Valeriy Maletskov to 6 years in a penla colony just because of practicing their religion. They were taken into custody in the courtroom. The believers do not admit their guilt and can appeal the verdict.

In April 2019, FSB investigator Selyunin initiated a criminal case against the believers, charging them with extremism. On the same day, searches were carried out at a total of 12 addresses. In one case, the planting of banned literature was noticed. The home of Valeriy Maletskov, who lives with his wife and young child, was invaded by armed security forces, breaking down the front door. He was charged with organizing the activity of an extremist organization, and Marina Chaplykina was charged with participating in and financing it. He was placed under house arrest, and she was placed under a recognizance agreement.

After three years of investigation, the case was submitted to the Novosibirsk District Court. The charges were based on recordings of conversations with believers made by a secret witness "Ivan", who attended meetings for worship of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The support of friends helped the believers cope with what was happening. Marina recalls: "When they found out that I had lost my job, [fellow believers] immediately put together a food parcel and gave me the money. They sent messages with words of encouragement. I felt part of a big family. When it was especially difficult emotionally, I unexpectedly received letters from Belarus and later from Japan. They were beautiful words of assurance of love. These letters came always at the right time!"

Valeriy said: "Under house arrest, I could not work, so I lost the source of income for my family. But, most interestingly, our family received help from fellow believers in the first 2 months; when we ciunted how much we received in total, it turned out that this isit was exactly the amount that I would have earned if I had been working at my job for 2 months".

The believers were among 8 Jehovah's Witnesses prosecuted for their faith in the Novosibirsk Region. Aleksandr Seredkin, whose case was separated the case proceedings of Maletskov and Chaplykina, is serving 6 years in a penal colony for his believes.

The Case of Maletskov and Chaplykina in Novosibirsk

Case History
Even before the prosecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses began in Russia, a certain “Ivan” attended meetings for worship in Novosibirsk and studied the Bible. In 2018, he began to cooperate with the FSB and collect information about the believers. In April 2019, FSB officers invaded the homes of residents, and planted banned books in some of them. A criminal case was initiated, Aleksandr Seredkin and Valeriy Maletskov were placed under house arrest. Marina Chaplykina was placed under a recognizance agreement. Later, the case of Seredkin was made into a separate proceeding, Maletskov was charged with organizing extremist activity, and Chaplykina was accused of participating in and financing it. After 3 years of investigation, the case went to court. In December 2023, the court sentenced Maletsky to 6 years and Chaplykina to 4 years in a penal colony.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Novosibirsk Region
Locality:
Novosibirsk
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, he "organized meetings and supervised the reading and discussion of literature recognized as extremist" (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses)
Court case number:
11907500001000015
Initiated:
April 19, 2019
Current case stage:
verdict did not take effect
Investigating:
SO UFSB of Russia in the Novosibirsk region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.3 (1), 282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-16/2023 (1-181/2022)
Court of First Instance:
Новосибирский районный суд Новосибирской области
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Олег Карпец
Case History