Biography
A resident of Lipetsk, Viktor Bachurin, along with two fellow believers, were sent to jail after a series of searches that took place on December 2, 2019. Two days later, at the request of the investigator of the Investigation Department of the FSB of Russia in the Lipetsk region, without notifying the relatives, the Sovetsky District Court of the city of Lipetsk sent them to the pre-trial detention center.
Viktor Bachurin was born in 1962 in the city of Pavlovsky Posad, Moscow Region. He is married, the couple has two adult children, has a granddaughter who will soon go to the 1st grade.
Victor became seriously interested in the Bible in the early 1990s. At that time he lived in Surgut. In 1993 he moved to Lipetsk.
Case History
In December 2019, three peaceful residents from Lipetsk - Artur Netreba, Alexandr Kostrov and Viktor Bachurin - ended up behind bars, where they spent almost a year. The FSB investigator considered conducting “religious meetings”, resolving “issues of a religious nature” and “pastoral service” “a grave crime against the constitutional order.” The believers were accused of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. In December 2020, the case went to court. The prosecutor requested 4 years in a penal colony and 8 months restriction of freedom for the believers. In November 2021, the court found them guilty and imposed a fine of 500 thousand rubles on all three, which was reduced to 300 thousand rubles, since the defendants spent almost a year in pre-trial detention. The court of appeal, and later the court of cassation, upheld this verdict.