Name: Kazakov Sergey Vladimirovich
Date of Birth: July 16, 1974
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility, 163 day in a pre-trial detention, 62 day Under house arrest
Sentence: penalty in the form of a fine in the amount of 200,000 rubles

Biography

Sergey Kazakov is a retired firefighter who came to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to take care of his sick mother. Investigators found this peaceful believer there in her apartment. In December 2020, Sergey was arrested and sent to a pre-trial detention center only because of his faith in Jehovah God.

Sergey was born in 1974 in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city on the Far Eastern Peninsula of Russia near active volcanoes. He has a younger brother. As a child, Sergey was fond of orienteering and went skiing. He worked in the fire department, where he worked his way up from a simple firefighter to the head of a detachment. Now he is on a well-deserved rest.

As an adult, Sergey moved to the city of Bikin (Khabarovsk Territory). In the summer of 2020, he returned to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to an elderly mother who had suffered a stroke and needed constant help.

In the early 2000s, Sergey, noticing huge changes in his cousin and ,came interested in what had such a beneficial effect on him - biblical teachings. Mom supported his interest, and, after some time, she also became a Christian.

The search and criminal prosecution had a particularly strong effect on the health of Sergey's mother. Experiencing extreme stress, she again went to the hospital. In addition, a few days after the security forces' invasion, she developed symptoms of coronavirus. She is very worried about the unfair treatment of a law-abiding person.

Case History

In November 2020, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Sergey Kazakov, a retired firefighter, and Olga Mirgorodskaya, a mother of two. The investigation suspected Sergey of organizing extremist activity, and Olga of participating in it. A month later, the homes of the peaceful believers were searched. Sergey was detained in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where he was caring for his elderly mother who had suffered a stroke. He spent more than 5 months in the pretrial detention center and another 2 months under house arrest. The case has been pending in court since February 2022. At a preliminary hearing, the judge decided to return the case to the prosecutor, but this decision was later overturned. In May, the case of the believers was again sent to court for consideration by the same judges. In August 2023, the court found Olga Mirgorodskaya and Sergey Kazakov guilty and fined them 300,000 and 500,000 rubles, respectively. The court of appeal upheld the verdict, but reduced the amount of the fine for Kazakov to 200,000 rubles.
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