Inver Siyukhov in the courtroom. February 2024

Inver Siyukhov in the courtroom. February 2024

Inver Siyukhov in the courtroom. February 2024

Unjust Verdicts

Court in Maykop Sentenced Inver Siyukhov to 6 Years in a Penal Colony for Talking About Jehovah God

Adygea

On March 7, 2024, Bella Stash, judge of the Maykop City Court of the Republic of Adygea, sentenced one of Jehovah's Witnesses — Inver Siyukhov, 49, — to 6 years in a penal colony. The court equated exercising the right to practice one's religion with organizing the activity of an extremist organization.

In addition, the court deprived the believer of the right to engage in educational activity and any activity related to leading and participating in religious public associations and organizations for a period of four years, and also imposed restriction of liberty for a period of one year after serving the main sentence.

Inver Siyukhov became a defendant in a criminal case in April 2021, when the local department of the Investigative Committee suspected him of organizing the activity of an extremist organization for discussing the Bible and Christian teachings with others, including via messaging apps. At the same time, a series of searches in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses took place in Adygea; Inver ended up behind bars.

At one of the court hearings, Inver Siyukhov commented on his detention: "For the almost three-year period of my stay [behind bars] (by the day he was sentenced on, he had spent 2 years and 10 months in a pretrial detention center — ed.) I have never been reprimanded or warned. On the contrary, I was held up as an example to other cellmates." According to Siyukhov, letters became a special support for him; his cellmates were surprised that encouraging words came even from complete strangers.

The trial of Inver Siyukhov has been going on since October 2021. "It is evident from the indictment that I am facing imprisonment only because I simply exercised my right to practice a religion," Inver said in court before the verdict was announced.

The prosecutor asked the court to send the believer to a penal colony for 9 years. The prosecution relied on the opinion of the expert R. V. Levinsky, who, as it turned out, did not have the necessary qualification to conduct a psycholinguistic expert study. At one of the hearings, Inver Siyukhov stated: "I believe that the preliminary investigation agencies incorrectly and arbitrarily interpret the decision of the Supreme Court liquidating legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses. And their misinterpretation, and not the crime I allegedly committed, is the reason why I am in the dock today." This opinion regarding the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses for religious activities is shared by human rights activists and the worldwide community.

In the Reoublic of Adygea, this is the third guilty verdict against Jehovah's Witnesses.

The case of Siyukhov in Maykop

Case History
Operational-search measures against Inver Siyukhov from Maykop have been conducted, presumably, since 2018. In April 2021, the believer’s house was searched. The man was arrested and placed in a pre-trial detention center, where he spent 2 years and 10 months. The investigation considered the holding of religious meetings using the Internet to be the organization of the activities of an extremist organization. In September 2021, Siyukhov’s case went to court. At the hearings, several witnesses were confused in their testimonies, their words differed from the information from the interrogation protocols. Also at the hearings it turned out that the psycholinguistic examination, on which the accusation is based, was conducted by expert Ruslan Levinsky, who does not have the proper qualifications. In February 2024, the prosecutor requested a sentence of 9 years in prison for the peaceful believer. The court sentenced the believer to 6 years in a penal colony.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Adygea
Locality:
Maykop
Suspected of:
"committed actions of an organizational nature ... expressed in holding meetings using the Internet through the Internet application "Telegram" and mobile applications "Zoom" and "JW-Library"
Court case number:
12102790010000020
Initiated:
April 15, 2021
Current case stage:
verdict did not take effect
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Republic of Adygea
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-6/2024 (1-15/2023;1-70/2022; 1-603/2021)
Court:
Майкопский городской суд Республики Адыгея
Judge:
Бэлла Сташ
Case History