Chagan Aleksandr

Name: Chagan Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Date of Birth: August 6, 1971
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 77 day in a pre-trial detention, 218 day in prison
Sentence: Punishment in the form of 8 years of imprisonment to be served in a general regime penal colony, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to participation in the work of religious organizations for a term of 3 years and restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year
Currently held in: Correctional Colony No. 12 of the Republic of Mordovia
Address for correspondence: Chagan Aleksandr Vladimirovich, born 1971, Correctional Colony No. 12 of the Republic of Mordovia, Ul. Novaya, d. 2, pos. Molochnitsa, Zubovo-Polyanskiy rayon, Republic of Mordovia, 431101

Letters of support can be sent by regular mail or through the «zonatelecom».

Note: discussing topics related to criminal prosecution is not allowed in letters; languages other than Russian will not pass.

Biography

Since the beginning of spring 2022, searches in the home of the family of Alexander and Ekaterina Chagan have been carried out twice. Aleksandr was detained and sent to jail on suspicions of extremism.

Aleksandr Chagan was born in 1971 in Dnepropetrovsk (at that time the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic). A year later, the family moved to Togliatti. The boy's mother died when he was only 11 years old, and his father raised two sons alone. After a while, the father remarried, and the couple had another son.

Aleksandr recalls that the family lived amicably. As a child, he was involved in wrestling and boxing. My father made a sports corner with a horizontal bar at home, and also taught children to play chess. He worked hard to ensure that his sons grew up to be well-rounded people.

After the 8th grade of school, Aleksandr entered a vocational school and received the profession of an auto repairman. After graduating with honors, he continued his studies at the institute, but did not finish his studies - he went to serve in the army. Upon his return, the young man entered the university to study humanities. Later, Aleksandr acquired the skill of working with a computer and began to work in this field.

As in his childhood, Aleksandr loves sports.

In the late 1990s, Aleksandr often thought about the meaning of life, because he did not find satisfaction either in money or in his career. At the age of 30, he met Jehovah's Witnesses. From them, he first learned that the Bible does not contradict science and that the Scriptures speak of death and the Creator's purpose for mankind. Aleksandr concluded that the Bible was the Word of God and decided to become a follower of Christ.

In 2008, Aleksandr married Ekaterina. She shares her husband's beliefs. Ekaterina loves sewing and drawing.

Together, the couple raised Yekaterina's daughter, Regina. In their free time, the family loves to walk and travel together. Alexander also has a daughter from his first marriage.

"The criminal prosecution came as a surprise to us, but at that time we felt the love of our fellow believers, and how God fulfills his assurance: 'I will never leave you and I will never leave you,'" says Aleksandr. According to him, relatives sincerely do not understand why peaceful people who do not harm anyone are being persecuted in Russia.

Case History

The first search in the family of Aleksandr and Yekaterina Chagan took place in March 2022. Six months later, in September, law enforcement officers again invaded their house, squeezing out the window. They put the household on the floor and handcuffed the head of the family, and then searched him. At night, Aleksandr was taken for interrogation to the Investigative Committee, after which he was sent to the temporary detention facility. The court released him under recognizance agreement. On the same day, Aleksandr became a defendant in a criminal case—he was accused of organizing the activities of an extremist community. In July 2023, the case went to court. At the trial, a secret witness and experts testified, whose conclusions, according to the defense, were biased, unscientific and unfounded. In March 2024, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison. This decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation.
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