"They’re not judging me, but my faith." One of Jehovah’s Witnesses Fined for His beliefs

On January 23, 2026, Valeriy Minsafin, a resident of Kurgan, 54, was found guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and sentenced to a fine of 400,000 rubles. The verdict was handed down by Judge Sergey Lushnikov of the Kurgan City Court.

Valeriy is a construction worker who, in recent years, has worked, as he puts it, "between interrogations and court hearings." The Minsafin family is close-knit: Valeriy and his wife Galina have been married for 29 years; they have two adult children and a grandson. The prosecution has taken a toll on the health of both spouses and their loved ones. Against the backdrop of these events, Minsafin's elderly mother suffered a heart attack.

In July 2021, Valeriy's home was searched. He was charged with organizing the activities of an extremist organization, but those charges were dropped in March 2023. Two years later, a new criminal case was opened against Minsafin—this time for participation in the activities of an extremist organization—and he was once again added to Russia's financial monitoring watchlist.

"It so happened that even before the investigator called to summon me for questioning and told me the case had been reopened, I had already demolished an extension to our house and started building a new one. And then came the news... I had to work in emergency mode because I didn't know how it would all end—and you can't leave your family without a roof over their heads," Valeriy recalled. "That's when friends came to help. It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders." The believer continues to receive support from friends. "Some regularly bake bread for us; others travel 200 kilometers to help around the house and to attend court hearings with us," he says.

Minsafin is convinced that he was convicted solely for his religious beliefs. "I realized that it's not me who is being judged, but my faith in Jehovah—and I want to defend it," he said. The case was based on covert audio recordings of worship services. The judge refused to listen to them in court, thereby depriving the defense of the opportunity to challenge the prosecution's arguments. At the same time, a psychological and linguistic expert examination of the recordings found no statements inciting hatred or violence.

As of the time of publication, a total of 10 Jehovah's Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution in the Kurgan Region. One of them, Aleksandr Lubin, a man with a serious disability, died shortly after receiving a guilty verdict.