Aleksandr Votyakov and Yevgeniy Stefanidin on the day of the verdict

Aleksandr Votyakov and Yevgeniy Stefanidin on the day of the verdict

Aleksandr Votyakov and Yevgeniy Stefanidin on the day of the verdict

Unjust Verdicts

Court in Izhevsk Sentences Two Men to Long Suspended Terms for Practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses Religion

Udmurtia

On October 25, 2024, Judge Oksana Nazarova of the Pervomaisky District Court of Izhevsk sentenced Yevgeniy Stefanidin and Aleksandr Votyakov to six and six and a half years suspended, respectively. The court considered reading the Bible with fellow believers as organizing the activities of an extremist organization.

The prosecutor requested real prison terms for Votyakov, 50, and Stefanidin, 35, followed by one and a half years of restricted freedom for each. The believers do not admit guilt and may appeal.

The criminal case against them was initiated in December 2022 by senior investigator Artyom Kholmogorov. At that time, searches were conducted in the families of the believers (for the Stefanidins, it was the second time). The investigation lasted about eight months. The case went to court in August 2023. During the hearings, many witnesses were questioned, including a secret one. They either spoke positively about the defendants or said they knew them too little. Some witnesses stated that they were pressured and threatened during the preliminary interrogation, so they retracted their statements during the trial and gave new ones in court.

Due to the stress experienced, Stefanidin's health deteriorated, and in the fall of 2022, he received a second-degree disability. In his final plea, Votyakov asked the judge to consider his friend's condition and added, "He is raising a young daughter who loves her father very much and needs his tender care. Do not separate the family because of a ridiculous and baseless accusation." Regarding the accusation against him, he noted, "The 'evidence' collected against me is that I was and am a Jehovah's Witness... met with fellow believers, discussed the Bible, sang songs of praise to Almighty God Jehovah." Yevgeniy Stefanidin said in his final plea, "The recordings and transcripts show that these were peaceful worship services among friends and close people in an atmosphere of love and goodwill. There were no extremist statements, not even close."

Three weeks earlier, by the decision of the Supreme Court of Udmurtia, the sentence of three other Jehovah's Witnesses from Izhevsk came into force. The international community regularly condemns the restriction of freedom of religion in Russia. According to the ECHR, "the broad definition of 'extremism'... deprived individuals or organizations of the ability to foresee that their behavior, however peaceful and devoid of hatred or hostility, could be classified as 'extremist' and subjected to restrictions" (§ 158).

Case of Votyakov and Stefanidin in Izhevsk

Case History
In December 2022, searches were carried out in Izhevsk at the homes of local believers. Two men were detained. Aleksandr Votyakov was placed under house arrest, which lasted about six months, and Yevgeniy Stefanidin received a recognizance agreement. The stress he experienced back in April 2021 due to the first search provoked the growth of a tumor in the chest, the young man received a group II disability. The Investigative Committee interprets collective reading and discussion of the Bible as a continuation of the activities of a liquidated extremist organization. In August 2023, the case of the believers went to court. In October 2024, the court handed down six and a half years suspended sentence to Aleksandr Votyakov and a six-year suspended sentence to Yevgeniy Stefanidin.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Udmurtia
Locality:
Izhevsk
Suspected of:
"organized the convening and holding of religious meetings ... carried out preaching activities."
Court case number:
12202940001008601
Initiated:
December 13, 2022
Current case stage:
verdict did not take effect
Investigating:
Department of Internal Affairs of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Udmurt Republic
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-46/2024 (1-504/2023)
Court of First Instance:
Первомайский районный суд города Ижевска
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Оксана Назарова
Case History
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