Morozov Maksim

Updated: April 18, 2024
Name: Morozov Maksim Yevgeniyevich
Date of Birth: August 6, 1983
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 739 day in a pre-trial detention
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 3 years with restriction of liberty for 6 months, release from punishment in the form of imprisonment in connection with the actual service

Biography

In August 2021, peaceful believer Maksim Morozov was sent to jail. For his religious beliefs, he was charged under an extremist article. In August 2023, the court sentenced him to 3 years in prison, which he considered served, and the believer was released.

Maksim was born in August 1983 in Volgograd. He has an older sister. As a child, the boy was interested in technology, especially the device of a bicycle, moped and car. He was also fond of swimming and baking.

After school, Maxim entered the Volgograd Medical and Environmental Technical School, where he received the specialty of a catering technologist. After that, he served in the army - in the parachute troops, participated in the second Chechen campaign. Then he was engaged in long-distance cargo transportation. In addition to his hometown, he lived in Mednogorsk and Tolyatti, as well as in the Leningrad region.

Maksim made a conscious decision to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses at the age of 26. His parents and sister share his views on life.

Maxim loves to travel, ski and bike. During the coronavirus pandemic, he had a new hobby — drawing.

Maksim's parents and relatives consider his criminal prosecution unjustified: "Such injustice discourages and knocks the ground out from under your feet."

Case History

In April 2021, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Yuriy Usanov. The next day, his house was searched, and then he was placed in a pre-trial detention center in the city of Anzhero-Sudzhensk. In August of the same year, Maksim Morozov was detained in the city of Tolyatti. He was later taken to the same pre-trial detention center. According to the investigation, the believers “organized the activities of a banned religious organization by means of the computer program  “Zoom” by convening and holding meetings of its members and holding conversations.” In September 2021, Yuriy Usanov registered a marriage with his fiancee Irina right in the pre-trial detention center. The case went to court in March 2022. The believers were taken to each meeting in a police van for seventy kilometers one way. In August 2023, the article of the charge was changed to participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Soon the Judge announced the verdict: three years in a penal colony, which she considered served and released the believers.
Timeline