Sergey Yuferov

Name: Yuferov Sergey Vitaliyevich

Date of Birth: July 14, 1975

Current status: convicted person

Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)

Time spent in prison: 137 day in a pre-trial detention, 422 day in prison

Sentence: punishment in the form of 6 years and 3 months of imprisonment to be served in a penal colony of general regime, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public organizations for a term of 4 years, with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year

Currently held in: penal colony No. 14 in Khabarovsk Territory

Address for correspondence: Yuferov Sergey Vitaliyevich, born 1975, IK No. 14 in Khabarovsk Territory, sh. Mashinostroiteley, 10, g. Amursk, Khabarovsk Territory, Russia, 682643

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

In the fall of 2019, civilians were searched in Tynda, after which Sergey Yuferov became a defendant in a criminal case on extremism only because of his faith.

Sergey was born in 1975 in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). He has a younger brother. From childhood, Sergey was fond of music and photography, played in a brass band. He graduated from a technical school in his native city with a degree in electrical engineering. Since 1994 he has been working in his specialty. In her free time, she likes to watch historical documentaries.

For a long time, Sergey searched in vain for answers to serious questions about life in various sources. In the early 1990s, Sergey began to study the Bible and firmly decided to take the path of a Christian. He said: “Biblical moral principles began to influence my life: I got rid of nicotine addiction, stopped smoking plant drugs, communicating with questionable friends, using obscene language. Life has meaning."

In 1994, due to religious beliefs, Sergey refused to serve in the army, for which he was convicted. At the age of 27, he was commissioned by age.

In 1997, Sergey married Nataliya, they had two children—a son and a daughter. Due to the state of health of Nataliya, the family moved to live in Tynda.

The criminal prosecution of the head of the family shocked the whole family. In court, Sergey emphasized: “The Word of God, the Bible, in all translations and editions of any age, encourages us to be law-abiding citizens . . . If Jesus never taught extremism, then can the activity under his leadership be called extremist?”

Case History

In 2018, in the city of Tynda, FSB agent Nurakov, feigning an interest in the Bible, began attending meetings for worship of Jehovah's Witnesses and collecting information about them. In November 2019, a criminal case was initiated against Sergey Yuferov, Valery Slashchev, Mikhail Burkov and Vladimir Bukin. A wave of searches took place in the city. The men were accused of organizing the activity of an extremist organization and involving others in it. In June 2021, the case went to court. A year and a half later, the believers were sentenced from 6 years and 2 months to 6 years and 6 months in a penal colony. In December 2022, the court of appeal overturned the verdict and sent the case for a new trial, and the believers were released from the pretrial detention center, where they had each spent 2 months. In June 2023, they were again sentenced to a penal colony: Bukin, Slashchev and Yuferov were given 6 years and 4 months each, and Burkov was given 6 years and 2 months. Another court of appeal ruled in August 2023 to uphold this decision. In May 2024, the court of cassation confirmed the verdict for all four Jehovah's Witnesses from Tynda.

Timeline