Yagupov Anatoliy

Name: Yagupov Anatoliy Gennadiyevich
Date of Birth: October 11, 1968
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, 81 day in a pre-trial detention, 115 day Under house arrest
Current restrictions: detention center
Sentence: imprisonment for a term of 6 years with serving in a general regime penal colony, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public religious organizations for a term of 5 years, with restriction of freedom for a term of 1 year
Currently held in: Detention Center No.1 for Voronezh Region

Yagupov Anatoliy Gennadiyevich, born 1968, Detention Center No.1 for Voronezh Region, ul. Zhelyabova, 56, Voronezh, Voronezh Region, 394030

Letters of support can be sent by regular mail or through the F-pismo system. To pay for service with the card of a foreign bank use Prisonmail.

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

Biography

Anatoliy Yagupov became one of 10 Jehovah's Witnesses sent to a detention center after a large-scale raid on Voronezh Jehovah's Witnesses in the summer of 2020. After 5.5 years of criminal prosecution, the court sent the believer to a penal colony for 6 years, considering his guilt in extremism proven.

Anatoliy was born in October 1968 in Voronezh. As a child, he was fond of radio engineering. After graduating from school, he worked on milling machines, and more recently in the field of cleaning. The man loves construction and fishing; He built his own house.

In 1996, Anatoliy married Larisa. The couple has a daughter.

For a long time, Anatoliy was worried about the future. He found the answers to them in the Bible, and this prompted him to become a Christian in 2004. The wife supports the spouse in this choice.

Anatoliy's criminal prosecution led to the loss of his job and a sharp deterioration in his health—his chronic illnesses worsened.

Addressing the court with the final plea, the believer emphasized: "It is unthinkable for me to renounce my God and recognize serving him as extremism and illegal actions."

Case History

On a single day, July 13, 2020, 110 searches were carried out in seven localities of the Voronezh Region — a record-breaking operation against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Five believers reported being tortured by law enforcement officers. The Investigative Committee charged 10 men (then aged 24 to 56) with organizing extremist activity and sent them to pretrial detention, where most remained for nearly 5 months. The events in Voronezh sparked widespread public outcry: EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom and the United States, expressed regret and dismay over what had happened. The believers deny any guilt in extremism and emphasize that, as Christians, they respect the authorities and peacefully practice their faith in accordance with their constitutional rights. The trial began in December 2021. Nearly 4 years later, the believers were given various punishments — ranging from a 6-year suspended sentence to 7 years in a penal colony.
Timeline
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