Viktor Stashevskiy in the courtroom

Viktor Stashevskiy in the courtroom

Viktor Stashevskiy in the courtroom

Inside Penal Colonies and Detention Centers

From Penal Colony to Prison: Court of Appeal Upheld the Decision to Toughen the Punishment for Jehovah's Witness Viktor Stashevskiy

Crimea

On June 24, 2024, the Krasnodar Regional Court upheld the decision to transfer Viktor Stashevskiy from the penal colony to a prison. He became the first convicted Jehovah's Witness to serve his sentence under such conditions.

Viktor Stashevskiy is a former sailor of the Northern Fleet of Russia. In 2019, he faced prosecution because of his religion and was sentenced to 6.5 years in a penal colony. He was sent to penal colony No.9 in the Krasnodar Territory.

The administration of the penal colony, for far-fetched reasons, regularly imposed penalties on him, some of which he did not even know about. These penalties became the formality for keeping Viktor in strict conditions, where he spent a large portion of his term.

Now the believer will go to prison for 3 years to serve the rest of his sentence. Prison conditions are more stringent and allow less freedom of movement.

"A highly moral, law-abiding person is not only imprisoned for crimes he did not commit, but also suffers from toughened conditions of detention simply because he ended up in a penal colony, where the administration is biased against Jehovah's Witnesses as a group," said Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The Case of Stashevskiy in Sevastopol

Case History
In May 2019, an FSB investigator opened a criminal case against Viktor Stashevskiy for organizing the activity of an extremist organization. He was accused of “promoting the ideas of Jehovah’s Witnesses, holding meetings, and carrying out religious performances.” The case involved the testimony of a secret witness. After eight months of court proceedings, the hearings began anew in connection with the resignation of the judge. In March 2021, the court sentenced Stashevskiy to 6.5 years in a general regime colony. The appeal upheld this verdict. Since September 2021, the believer has been in Penal Colony No. 9 of the Krasnodar Territory. There, Stashevskiy was accused of malicious violation of the order due to numerous penalties, most of which he did not even know about. In May 2024, the court ruled to change the type of correctional institution for the believer to prison for the rest of his term (a period of three years), and in June the appeal approved this decision. In September 2024, Viktor Stashevskiy was transferred from the colony to a prison known as Vladimirskiy Central.
Timeline

Persons in case

Stashevskiy
Viktor

Criminal case

Region:
Crimea
Locality:
Sevastopol
Suspected of:
According to the investigation he continued the activities and propagandized Jehovah’s Witnesses’ ideas, conducted meetings and carried out religious speeches
Court case number:
11907350001670005
Initiated:
May 31, 2019
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-23/2021 (1-165/2020)
Court:
Gagarinskiy District Court of the City of Sevastopol
Judge:
Pavel Kryllo
Case History
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