Name: Osadchuk Valentin Pavlovich
Date of Birth: March 15, 1976
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, 273 day in a pre-trial detention, 77 day Under house arrest
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of 6 years of imprisonment, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to the management and participation in the work of public religious organizations, for a period of 4 years, with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year, the main punishment in the form of imprisonment is considered conditional with a probationary period of 5 years

Biography

In 2018, Valentin Osadchuk was involved in a criminal case on extremism only because of his faith. Later, 6 elderly residents of Vladivostok became accused. Five of them had to defend their good name in court together with Valentin. In June 2022, the court convicted them.

Valentin was born in March 1976 in the village of Torgovitsa (Kirovograd region, Ukraine). He takes care of his elderly mother living in Ukraine and supports her financially.

Valentin worked as a sales manager, established himself as an honest, proactive and hardworking employee. Later he became an individual entrepreneur.

In his free time, Valentin likes to read professional literature for the purpose of self-improvement. Her favorite type of recreation is in nature.

Valentin embarked on the Christian path in 1998. During the criminal prosecution, he started a family - he married Nadezhda, who has also been a Christian since 2010.

Valentin's sister and her husband, although they do not share his religious beliefs, were the first to come to the aid of the believer in his arrest and hired a lawyer. Relatives and friends do not understand why this peace-loving man was sentenced to a suspended prison term only because of his convictions.

Case History

In April 2018, the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Primorye Territory opened a criminal case against Jehovah’s Witnesses from Vladivostok. Believers were searched. Valentyn Osadchuk spent 9 months in pre-trial detention and 77 days under house arrest. In April 2019, he was accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, and 6 elderly women — Lyubov Galaktionova, Nailya Kogai, Nina Purga, Nadezhda Anoykina, Raisa Usanova and Yelena Zayshchuk — were accused of participating in it. Soon the case was received by the Leninsky District Court, but a month later the judge returned it to the prosecutor. This decision was upheld twice by the appellate court. Since January 2021, the case has been re-examined in the same court by Maksim Anufriev. With regard to Zayshchuk, the case was suspended due to her advanced age and state of health. In May 2022, the prosecutor requested a sentence of 6.5 years in prison for Valentin Osadchuk, and a 5-year suspended sentence for women. In June, the court sentenced the believers to suspended sentences ranging from 2 to 6 years. In September 2022, the appeal upheld the verdict.
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