Court in Izhevsk Toughens Sentence Against Two Jehovah's Witnesses from Votkinsk — Believers Sentenced to 6 Years in Penal Colony

At the beginning of the year, Sergey Gobozev and Mikhail Potapov received large fines for their faith, however, on December 19, 2024, the Supreme Court of the Udmurt Republic imposed a harsher punishment on them - imprisonment. Potapov was arrested in absentia, and Gobozev was detained in the courtroom.

The case was heard in various courts over a period of 3 years and 3 months. The convicted persons believe that the prosecutor's office was not able to prove their guilt in organizing the activity of an extremist organization. During the court hearings, witnesses spoke about psychological pressure from investigators, among them Sergey Gobozev's wife, Olga. At the trial, she called part of her testimony fabricated by the investigation.

Searches in the homes of believers took place in January 2021. After that, Potapov was sent to a pretrial detention center for 4 months, and Gobozev was placed under house arrest; later the preventive measure was changed to a ban on certain actions for both of them. The Votkinskiy District Court issued a guilty verdict in their case in March 2024. Even at the first stage of the proceedings, the prosecutor's office sought a prison term for the believers, however, Judge Tamara Makarova imposed fines on them. The first court of appeal agreed with this decision, but the court of cassation sent the case back for reconsideration.

Sergey Gobozev became the 34th Jehovah's Witness over the age of 60 to be sentenced to imprisonment. In his appeal, he noted: "The court found that in my actions there were 'no calls for extremist or terrorist activity.' Therefore, bringing me to justice under the incriminated article is groundless and contradicts the facts established during the preliminary and judicial investigation." Eight more believers in Udmurtia were prosecuted on similar grounds.