Updated: March 28, 2024
Name: Yermak Anna Vladimirovna
Date of Birth: September 13, 1982
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1.1)
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 4 years 6 months without restriction of liberty with serving the sentence in a correctional colony of general regime

Biography

In April 2021, 38-year-old Anna Yermak, the mother of two young children, was searched. For 3 hours the security forces tried to find items and documents confirming her involvement in “extremism”.

Anna was born in 1982 in the village of Kholmskaya (Krasnodar Krai). Her father worked in the oil industry, her mother is a graphic designer, currently retired. As a child, Anna was fond of drawing, gymnastics, and loved to skate.

After school, Anna graduated from the Kuban State University, where she received a degree in accounting, analysis and auditing. She lived in different cities: in Strezhevoy (Tomsk region), Krasnodar and others. Later she decided to move closer to her elderly mother and grandmother.

Already in adolescence, Anna thought about the transience and meaning of life. She was also worried about the turbulent world and the suffering of the people. After getting acquainted with the Bible, Anna learned that death and suffering were not part of the Creator's plan. She was impressed that God is not indifferent to what is happening on earth. “The realization that God had everything under control brought me peace of mind,” she recalls.

Anna met her future husband Maksim in 2000 in Krasnodar. They got married two years later. Maxim is a professional football player, works as a deputy director of a sports complex and a children's football coach. The couple loves listening to music, gardening, playing sports and traveling. Anna is also fond of handicrafts. The family brings up two sons: the elder is 12 years old, and the younger is 10 months old.

The criminal prosecution affected Anna's health: due to constant stress, her chronic illness worsened. The believer often has to leave a nursing child without maternal attention and care in order to deal with matters related to the investigation.

Anna's relatives are very worried about her. Mother and 95-year-old grandmother often cry and cannot believe that this could happen. Anna's spouse is outraged by the incident and considers this persecution a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of religion.

Case History

In April 2021, Olga Ponomareva, a disabled person of group II, and Anna Yermak, the mother of two young children, were searched as part of a criminal case for believing in Jehovah God. Investigator of the Investigative Committee for the Krasnodar Territory Lev Galustyants accused Olga and Anna of involving persons in a banned organization by prior conspiracy. Olga Ponomareva, who has an elderly disabled mother in her care, and Anna Yermak face imprisonment for up to 8 years for peacefully practicing their religion. The case involved the testimony of a woman who feigned an interest in the Bible. According to the investigation, it was her that Ponomareva and Yermak “involved” in their faith. Both believers were given recognizance not to leave. In October 2021, the case was submitted to the Abinsk District Court of the Krasnodar Territory. Soon, on December 2, the court sentenced Ponomareva in absentia to 5, and Yermak to 4.5 years in prison.