Anton Kokovin

Anton Kokovin

Anton Kokovin

Unjust Verdicts

A Court in Yaroslavl Fined a Believer 75,000 Rubles for Practicing the Religion of Jehovah's Witnesses

Yaroslavl Region

On September 23, 2024, the judge of the Dzerzhinsky District Court of Yaroslavl, Marina Chipilenko, convicted Anton Kokovin, 34, and fined him for participating in the activities of an extremist organization. The decision has not entered into force and can be appealed.

About 2.5 years ago, Investigative Committee investigator Aleksandr Grigoriyev opened a criminal case against a believer for participating in an online conference where religious issues were discussed. A day later, Anton was detained on the street, the apartment of his friends, where he was staying, was searched, and after interrogation he was released on recognizance agreement. Rosfinmonitoring added him to the list of terrorists and extremists, and his bank accounts were blocked.

In May 2023, Anton Kokovin's case went to court. During the hearings, the defense noted that there were serious errors in the case materials, especially in the phonoscopic examination. Despite this, the prosecution requested 3 years in a penal colony for the believer.

In total, 11 Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to religious persecution in the Yaroslavl region. Four of them have already served their sentences.

The case of Kokovin in Yaroslavl

Case History
In May 2022, on the central street of Yaroslavl, law enforcement officers detained communications engineer Anton Kokovin. After a search at his place of residence and in the apartment where he was visiting, the believer was interrogated. They put him under recognizance agreement. A criminal case was opened on participation in the activities of an extremist organization—this is how the investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation regarded participation in peaceful worship via video link. As it turned out, since March 2019, hidden audio recordings of worship services of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been kept. In May 2023, the case went to court, and in September 2024, the believer was sentenced to a fine of 75,000 rubles.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Yaroslavl Region
Locality:
Yaroslavl
Suspected of:
«... knowingly knowing about the ban on the activities of the religious organization "Jehovah's Witnesses", participated in the meetings of the said banned organization via the Internet by means of video conferencing
Court case number:
12202780014000016
Initiated:
May 18, 2022
Current case stage:
verdict did not take effect
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Yaroslavl Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-6/2024 (1-257/2023)
Court of First Instance:
Дзержинский районный суд г. Ярославля
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Марина Чипиленко
Case History