Six Years in Penal Colony for Faith. Court Sentences Engineer From Kaltan, 57

On March 6, 2025, the judge of the Kaltan District Court of the Kemerovo Region, Aleksey Semerikov, sentenced Aleksandr Tsikunov to 6 years in a penal colony. The believer was taken into custody in the courtroom.

According to the investigation, "using video conferencing, Tsikunov held weekly meetings," which the court equated to organizing the activities of an extremist organization. The believer pleaded not guilty and began his final plea in court with these words: "I was born in the city of Kaltan, I studied in the city of Kaltan, I worked in the city of Kaltan, and my whole life for almost 60 years has been in the sight of our entire small cozy town . . . During all this time, I have never been seen in strikes, riots, pickets, insulting or humiliating anyone or someone's opinions and views, I have not been brought to the police." During the 4 years of the proceedings, the believer suffered a heart attack and heart surgery. Immediately after his arrest, Tsikunov, a highly qualified engineer, lost his job and his family lost their livelihood.

Aleksandr learned about the criminal case when his house was searched in May 2021. He was detained, then placed under house arrest for almost 2 months. He spent the rest of the investigation and court proceedings under recognizance not to leave. At the stage of the preliminary investigation, the prosecutor's office returned the case for further investigation in connection with the violation of the rights of the believer during the examination. A second examination found no signs of extremism. In June 2023, the case went to court.

The accusation was based on audio recordings of conversations between believers on mundane and spiritual topics. In court, Aleksandr said: "The investigation has done a great job in collecting materials: audio, video, testimonies of third parties. Such a lot of work, so much effort, time and money spent. I could and can say now: "Yes, I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I'm not denying it, I'm proud of it. But I'm not an extremist!'"

Aleksandr Tsikunov became the 17th Jehovah's Witness in the Kemerovo region to be convicted of his faith. Among them is Andrey Vlasov, a disabled person of group II, sentenced to 7 years in a penal colony.