Name: Makhnev Roman Sergeyevich
Date of Birth: February 4, 1976
Current status: accused
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility, 180 day in a pre-trial detention, 57 day Under house arrest
Current restrictions: prohibition of certain actions

Biography

On June 26, 2019, searches and arrests of believers for practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses took place in Kaluga. One of them, Roman Makhnev, was handcuffed to a pipe by FSB officers for three hours at night, after which he was left without food for a day and a half. While already in jail, Roman lost his father. What do we know about Roman?

Roman was born in 1976 in the Ural mining town of Gubakha (Perm Territory). He has a younger sister. Mother Natalia worked hard all her life in the field of education, has the title of Honored Teacher and Excellence in Public Education.

In his youth, Roman was a radio amateur, and was also fond of modeling aircraft and ships. In 1988, the family moved to the Kaluga region, the village of Luzhnoye. After graduating from school, Roman entered the Bauman Moscow State Technical University in Kaluga and in 1999 successfully graduated from it, having received the qualification of a design engineer-technologist.

In 2002, Roman married Anna. A few years later, their daughter Daria was born. Together they love to go fishing and travel. The head of the family in his spare time also helps others in the repair of electrical equipment, electronic devices, repair and maintenance of cars. Prior to his arrest, he worked at PJSC Rostelecom as a telecommunications engineer.

Even before marriage, Roman became interested in religion, in particular the Bible. He was amazed at the accuracy of her prophecies and realized that he wanted to act in accordance with the Christian knowledge he had received.

The criminal prosecution had a negative impact on Roman's life. His father, Sergey, who was very ill with cancer, was shocked by the news that his son, because of his faith in God, was behind bars and was awaiting trial. He had no vitality left and died on August 11, 2019. While in jail, his own son could not attend his father's funeral.

The hard life in the countryside with stove heating fell entirely on the shoulders of 93-year-old grandmother and retired mother Natalia. A family was left without a breadwinner, a teenage daughter was left without a father, and relatives are perplexed because of the injustice prevailing in modern Russia.

Case History

In June 2019, several homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses were searched in Kaluga, including the families of Roman Makhnev and Dmitriy Kuzin. The men were detained and soon sent to a pre-trial detention center. Both spent six months behind bars, and then another two months under house arrest. The FSB opened a criminal case against them, as well as another believer, on extremism. In November 2020, the investigation was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. The investigation resumed in March 2024.
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