Updated: March 28, 2024
Name: Putintsev Aleksandr Nikolayevich
Date of Birth: January 20, 1974
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 106 day in a pre-trial detention, 556 day in prison
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 6 years 6 months with serving a sentence in a correctional colony of general regime, with deprivation of the right to engage in leadership activities in public organizations for a term of 6 years, with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year 6 months
Currently held in: Penal Colony No. 5 in Altai Territory
Address for correspondence: Putintsev Aleksandr Nikolayevich, born 1974, IK No 5 in Altai Territory, ul. Traktornaya, 23, g. Rubtsovsk, Russia, 658209

Letters of support can be sent by regular mail or through the «zonatelecom».

Parcels and parcels should not be sent because of the limit on their number per year.

Note: discussing topics related to criminal prosecution is not allowed in letters; languages other than Russian will not pass.

Biography

Aleksandr Putintsev, a peaceful believer from Chita, was among the defendants in a criminal case after a large-scale raid on Jehovah's Witnesses in 2020, which involved more than 30 investigative teams.

Aleksandr was born in 1974 in the village of Verkhnyaya Khila in Transbaikalia and was the only child in the family. Since childhood, he loved to read and was fond of photography. Aleksandr received a secondary technical education and went into business, later working with his wife.

Acquaintance with the Bible in the late 1990s turned Alexander's life upside down. The principles in this book helped save a family that was falling apart at the time. At that time, Aleksandr abused alcohol, was cocky and tough. But everything changed when he began to apply the advice recorded in the Bible in his life. His wife, Galina, with whom he married in 1994, decided to follow the Christian path, like her husband.

The Putintsevs have a son. The family loves to relax in nature. Galina cooks well.

The criminal prosecution did not go painlessly for the family - both Aleksandr and Galina suffered emotionally. “For a long time, we couldn’t start putting the house in order and put back the things scattered by law enforcement officers during the raid,” they said after the search. “There is an internal anxiety: you expect that they will again break through the door, break into the apartment, put them face down on the floor and handcuff them behind.”

Relatives and friends consider the sentence illogical and unfair.

Case History

Vladimir Ermolaev, Aleksandr Putintsev, Sergey Kirilyuk and Igor Mamalimov faced prosecution for their faith in 2020, when security forces carried out 50 searches in Chita and other cities in Transbaikalia. During the raid, several believers were detained and two were tortured. Mamalimov, Kirilyuk and Ermolaev were placed in a temporary detention facility, where they spent several days. At some point, four more believers were suspects in the case, but their criminal prosecution was discontinued. For holding peaceful religious services, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation accused Ermolaev, Putintsev, Mamalimov and Kirilyuk of organizing the activity of an extremist organization. Despite the fact that there were no victims in the case and there was no evidence of crimes against the state and the individual, in 2022 the court sentenced Vladimir Ermolaev, Aleksandr Putintsev and Igor Mamalimov to imprisonment in a penal colony for 6 to 6.5 years, and Sergey Kirilyuk - to 6 years suspended. The court of appeal upheld this verdict. The courts of appeal and cassation did not change this verdict.