Name: Kiramov Rinat Ildusovish
Date of Birth: August 25, 1987
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility, 658 day in a pre-trial detention, 477 day in prison
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 7 years with serving in a correctional colony of general regime, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of religious organizations for a period of 3 years, with restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year
Currently held in: Correctional Colony No. 7 of the Tula Region
Address for correspondence: Kiramov Rinat Ildusovish, born 1987, Correctional Colony No. 7 of the Tula Region, Ul. Tsentralnaya, 27, Novomoskovsk, Tula Region, 301654

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

In the early November morning of 2021, Rinat Kiramov and his wife Galina experienced a strong shock: the security forces broke into their house, breaking down the door. The search was tough — law enforcement officers even opened the ceiling in the kitchen and the lining of the balcony. Rinat was not released from the interrogation, to which the spouses were taken, and he was sent to jail only because of his faith in Jehovah God.

Rinat was born in August 1987 in Moscow in the family of a test pilot. Mom is a disabled person of group II. Rinat has an older sister. Their parents divorced in 2009.

For some time the family lived in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, then moved to the city of Zhukovsky (Moscow region), where Rinat spent his childhood. He grew up as a versatile child: he was engaged in figure skating, judo, basketball, volleyball, football, and snowboarding.

Rinat got to know the Bible when his mother began to study this book with Jehovah's Witnesses. Already in childhood, the boy was worried about the meaning of life. He wondered: "Is it really all that awaits us — is to live 80 years and die?" He found the answers to his questions in the Bible. In addition, he was impressed by the fulfilled Bible prophecies, as well as the love and unity among those who live by Bible principles. All this prompted Rinat to embark on the Christian path.

Rinat has a higher education — he received a bachelor's degree in organization management from the International Institute of Management LINK. Following his religious convictions, Rinat asked to replace military service with alternative civilian service (ACS), so from 2008 to 2010 he worked as a postman in Salekhard. After the end of the service, Rinat was a taxi driver, was engaged in repair work. In 2021, he graduated from programming courses in the direction of "front-end developer", but because of the arrest he could not complete an traineeship.

In 2009, Rinat married Galina, whom he had known since childhood. After Rinat passed the ACS, the couple decided to move south. As a result, they settled in Akhtubinsk.

Already in adulthood, the spouses graduated with honors from three-year courses at a music school, having mastered musical instruments from scratch (Rinat — playing the guitar, and Galina — the piano). After that, they continued their studies, wishing to improve their skill level. Rinat loves to read books, especially about space, and Galina loves to draw. The couple also enjoy playing basketball, cycling, hiking and relaxing in nature, admiring the sunset and the starry sky.

The criminal prosecution has drastically changed the life of the family. Galina says that after the search, anxiety and fear of being at home alone settled in her heart. “The feeling of security and personal space is completely lost, especially after I found out that there was a wiretapping in our house,” she said. After her husband's arrest, Galina was asked to quit (she worked as a manicure master in a beauty salon). She had to leave her studies at a music school due to a lack of funds.

Relatives of Rinat and Galina are outraged by the persecution of peaceful, calm and law-abiding people and consider the criminal case to be unfair. They are perplexed: "Why is it forbidden to read the Bible in freedom, but in prison you can?"

Case History

On a morning in November 2021, in Akhtubinsk and Znamensk (Astrakhan Region) Jehovah’s Witnesses were interrogated and their homes were searched. Prior to that some of them had been under surveillance. The security forces broke down doors, damaged property, and forced both men and women to the floor. The Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Sergey Korolev, Rinat Kiramov and Sergey Kosyanenko, considering peaceful meetings for worship to be extremist activity. The believers were placed in a temporary detention facility, and then in a pretrial detention center, where they spent more than 1.5 years. In October 2022, the case went to court. Some witnesses for the prosecution, including a secret witness, partially or completely retracted their preliminary testimony. In April 2023, the court sentenced Korolev, Kiramov and Kosyanenko to 7 years imprisonment. Four months later, the court of appeal upheld the verdict against the believers. The court of cassation upheld this decision. In April 2024, Rinat Kiramov was unlawfully transferred to correctional medical facility No. 3 in the Tula Region, where he was subjected to abuse and torture.
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