[{"body":"The Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region upheld the decision of the court of first instance regarding Vladlena Kukavitsa — a 4.5-year suspended sentence, but made changes to the verdict. The panel of judges reduces the restriction of freedom by 1 month and overturns the court decision to destroy the seized Bibles. The fate of the sacred texts will be decided by the district court.\nThis is the fourth time in the past 1.5 years that Vladlena has made a final statement. She describes her feelings: \"When a person is unlawfully charged with a crime they didn't commit, it causes suffering.\" Commenting on the essence of the charge, the believer says: \"Calling God by his name and reading the Bible is not the same as belonging to a banned organization and involving other people in it.\" In support of these words, the believer reminds the court that the name of God is used in well-known literary works.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kukavitsa in Birobidzhan","date":"2026-04-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan20/index.html#20260416","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["appeal","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"\u0026quot;Do you consider faith in God, studying the Bible, or conversations with fellow believers to be extremism?\u0026quot; Igor Suslov, 46, a Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness, asked rhetorically as he commented on the charge brought against him. On April 16, 2026, the Shadrinskiy District Court fined Igor for his faith.\nA raid against Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Kurgan and Shadrinsk in July 2021 led to the prosecution of at least seven believers. Igor Suslov is one of them; a criminal case against him was initiated 4 years later. By that time, he and his wife Irina had been living in the Altai Region for several years: they had settled into a new life and had a daughter. The prosecution forced the Suslov family to move with their one‑year‑old child to Shadrinsk — 1,700 kilometers away from their home — and start from scratch.\n\u0026quot;We had to leave a lot behind,\u0026quot; Igor recalled. \u0026quot;A comfortable place to live, our familiar home, friends, and regular clients. The move was hard for our child — the change of time zone and climate.\u0026quot;\nThe investigation into Igor\u0026#39;s case lasted just over a month. The court hearings began in October 2025. He was charged with taking part in \u0026quot;a religious meeting with followers of the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\u0026quot; One of the witnesses testified under the pseudonym Zakhar. \u0026quot;I don\u0026#39;t consider his arguments convincing,\u0026quot; Igor said. \u0026quot;The entire case is built on the claim that he was supposedly visiting relatives in Shadrinsk and, somewhere on Zoom, saw me conducting some kind of meetings.\u0026quot; In his final statement to the court, Igor emphasized that the testimonies of other witnesses also failed to show any guilt on his part in extremism.\nIn early February 2026, Igor was getting ready for the verdict, but due to a change of judge, the consideration of the case started anew.\n\u0026quot;We are human beings — we have emotions too,\u0026quot; Igor said, describing his mindset toward the end of the process. \u0026quot;But I wouldn\u0026#39;t say I lack joy or feel discouraged, no. Everything is fine. The court hearings are encouraging, and we have everything we need.\u0026quot;\nIn the Kurgan Region, 10 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution for their faith. Five of them were fined large sums, including Aleksandr Lubin, who died one month after his conviction.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2026-04-16T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2026/04/171314/image_hu_f258d4ca540cbbce.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2026/04/171314/image_hu_44b155ed3b54f5c9.jpg","webp":"/news/2026/04/171314/image_hu_4e3902648efdfc8b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2026/04/171314/image_hu_f182b6fe8bd65ea5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/04/171314.html","regions":["kurgan"],"subtitle":"Court in Kurgan Region Deemed Peaceful Religious Activity Extremism","tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"Fined 350,000 Rubles for His Faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 14, 2026, the Taldomskiy District Court of the Moscow Region gave Galina Inkina, 72, and Dmitriy Mladov, 44, suspended sentences for 2 and 6 years respectively.\nGalina was born in the Urals into a large family. For more than 20 years she worked as a laboratory technician at a glass factory, and later as a social worker and a cafeteria attendant. She was forced to leave her job after undergoing cancer treatment. Dmitriy grew up in Kandalaksha on the coast of the White Sea. As a child, he was deeply impressed by the nature in the north of the Kolsky District, in which he saw evidence of God\u0026#39;s existence. This sparked his desire to read the Bible.\nIn December 2024, criminal cases were initiated against both believers on suspicion of extremism. On the same day, Galina\u0026#39;s home was searched. She later recalled: \u0026quot;I was terribly frightened, I was shaking with fear and couldn\u0026#39;t speak. They made me face the wall and threatened me — this went on for 2 hours. Then they took me to Dmitrov for interrogation. I was placed alone in an office, nothing was explained to me, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I stayed there without food or water.\u0026quot; As a preventive measure, she was made to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. \u0026quot;My veins were bulging, my legs turn blue and swell up by evening, and the tracking bracelet is digging into my leg,\u0026quot; Galina said, describing what she had to endure.\nDmitriy was detained in Novorossiysk while traveling by car with his wife and was sent to a pretrial detention center in the Moscow Region. He described the conditions in one of the detention facilities as follows: \u0026quot;The cell was in a semi‑basement, with a small window near the ceiling, from which sometimes only someone\u0026#39;s legs could be seen, as well as dogs and rats running by. The cell, designed for eight people, measured 14 square meters.\u0026quot; He was granted his first visit from his wife only after 6 months of separation.\nIn their final statements, the believers expressed their views on what was happening. \u0026quot;I did not insult or rob anyone, steal anything, or kill anyone. The case file contains positive character references about me from local police inspectors,\u0026quot; Dmitriy noted. He added that during the year he spent in pretrial detention centers he had no conflicts with other inmates, as he tried to conduct himself in a Christian manner. Galina said: \u0026quot;My entire life is the complete opposite of extremism. I lead a peaceful way of life and respect the laws and the authorities because I am a believer.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2026-04-14T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2026/04/171332/image_hu_be50c15e0b614fb9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2026/04/171332/image_hu_1ce99dd7632d1ccb.jpg","webp":"/news/2026/04/171332/image_hu_1099d3b134327eb0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2026/04/171332/image_hu_8f01354b3d366dec.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/04/171332.html","regions":["moscow_obl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","elderly","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"New Verdict Against Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Moscow Region: Suspended Terms Ranging from 2 to 6 Years","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator O. I. Kurbanova charged Valentina Krivula and then interrogated her. The believer uses Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which gives her the right not to testify against herself and her loved ones.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Krivulya in Vyselki","date":"2026-04-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki14/index.html#20260413","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["interrogation","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The believer is charged and interrogated. According to investigator O. I. Kurbanov, she \"conducted and listened to lectures based on the religious literature of Jehovah's Witnesses... emphasizing that these books contain correct knowledge about God.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Bochko in Vyselki","date":"2026-04-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki15/index.html#20260413","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["interrogation","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"During the closing arguments, the prosecutor of the Ivanovo Region requests 5 years imprisonment for Yuriy Dementev and Sergey Solovyev.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Solovyov and Others in Ivanovo","date":"2026-04-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ivanovo/index.html#20260406","regions":["ivanovo"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The charge against the believers has been changed: Sergey Ryabokon, Igor Zhmyrev, Andrey Morozov, Kirill Khabrik — under Article 282.2(1) of the RF CrC, the rest — under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC.\n","caseTitle":"Case in Kingisepp","date":"2026-03-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kingisepp/index.html#20260330","regions":["leningrad_obl"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 29, 2026, a wave of searches of homes of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses took place in Kamchatka. A criminal case has been initiated against Yevgeniya Vasilyeva, 50, and Pavel Baturov, 33, under an article for extremism. In a second criminal case against the believers, there are four more suspects.\nA few days earlier, Major of Justice Vladislav Bogdanov, head of the Investigative Department for the closed city of Vilyuchinsk of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kamchatka Territory, initiated a case against local Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. They are suspected of \u0026quot;participating in religious events and teaching the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses\u0026quot; to the residents of Vilyuchinsk. The homes of Vasilyeva, Baturov and other Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses were invaded by officers of the Investigative Committee and the FSB. According to available information, 10 searches took place and Bibles and electronic devices were seized. One of the believers reported that law enforcement officers behaved rudely, used obscene expressions, did not allow her to have a drink, take medication or use the toilet.\nIn Kamchatka, 11 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been convicted for their faith.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2026-03-29T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/case.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/04/031550.html","regions":["kamchatka"],"subtitle":"Homes of Jehovah's Witnesses Were Searched","tags":["search","new-case","interrogation","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"title":"New Criminal Cases in Vilyuchinsk.","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigator, Senior Lieutenant N. V. Pashchenko, initiates a criminal case against Valentina Krivulya. She is accused of \"participating in the discussion of the content of the religious books of Jehovah's Witnesses, including the so-called Holy Scripture (Bible)\" in the period from 07/31/2020 to 02/13/2022.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Krivulya in Vyselki","date":"2026-03-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki14/index.html#20260327","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator N. V. Pashchenko opens a criminal case against Anna Bochko, a resident of the village of Buzinovskaya.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Bochko in Vyselki","date":"2026-03-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki15/index.html#20260327","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee N.V. Pashchenko initiates a criminal case against Galina Novikova under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Novikova in Vyselki","date":"2026-03-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki16/index.html#20260327","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A raid targeting Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Chita and several other locations in the Trans‑Baikal Territory took place on March 19, 2026. At least 10 people were made defendants in a new criminal case.\nThe investigation is being conducted by senior investigator S. Urbazayev of the Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate of the Russian Federation for the Trans‑Baikal Territory. Five people are suspected of organizing the activity of an extremist organization (Article 282.2(1) of the RF CrC), and another five are suspected of participating in it (Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC).\nAccording to available information, one believer — Anatoliy Pozdnyakov, 67, — has been placed under house arrest, while three others — Vitaliy Astakhov, Svetlana Arefyeva, and Olga Beznosenko — under a recognizance agreement.\nUpdate. On March 21, the court placed two more believers, Aleksey Karpov and Bakhtier Raupov, in pretrial detention. Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Chita have been subjected to criminal prosecution for 6 years already. The first raid took place in February 2020 and resulted in prison terms for three people.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2026-03-19T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/search.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/03/201611.html","regions":["zabaykalsky"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","house-arrest","recognizance-agreement","282.2-1","282.2-2","sizo"],"title":"Large‑Scale Raid in Trans‑Baikal Territory — At Least 30 People Affected","type":"news"},{"body":"Anna Moroz is facing a new charge - participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Moroz in Simferopol","date":"2026-03-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/simferopol6/index.html#20260318","regions":["crimea"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator FSB Lieutenant S. I. Urbazaev opens a criminal case against Anastasia and Vitaly Astakhov, Anatoliy Pozdnyakov, Olga Beznosenko, Aleksey Karpov, Bakhtiyor Raupov, Roman Vasilenko, Irina Parkhomenko, Anna Guseva and Svetlana Arefyeva.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Karpov and Others in Chita","date":"2026-03-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chita3/index.html#20260317","regions":["zabaykalsky"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The verdict of Maria Pankova comes into force: the woman will have to pay a large fine for practicing her faith.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Pankova in Moscow","date":"2026-03-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/moscow9/index.html#20260317","regions":["moscow"],"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","fine"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 17, 2026, searches were conducted in Nizhny Novgorod and the surrounding area at 10 homes of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. In total 16 people from 5 families were affected. Among them were Sergey and Viktoriya Verkhoturov, who had served sentences for their faith several years earlier.\nOn the day of the searches, the court ordered four men — Sergey Verkhoturov, Maksim Kalinin, Anatoliy Chepkasov, and Yevgeniy Konkov — to be placed in a pretrial detention center.\nThe raid was carried out as part of a new criminal case for participating in the activity of an extremist organization, which the Ministry of Internal Affairs initiated on March 5, 2026, against unidentified persons. The searches were initiated by Investigator A. E. Stifeyev.\nThe Investigative Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Nizhny Novgorod Region has initiated 12 out of 13 criminal cases against 26 believers.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2026-03-17T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/prison.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/03/191523.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","sizo","families","new-case","282.2-2"],"title":"Searches at Homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nizhny Novgorod: Four Believers in Pretrial Detention","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Nizhny Novgorod Region is initiating a criminal case against unidentified persons on suspicion of participating in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Verhoturov and Others in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2026-03-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod12/index.html#20260305","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 3, 2026, the Shadrinskiy District Court fined Vladimir Gaydyshev, 53, with severely impaired sight, 300,000 rubles for participating in the activity of an extremist organization, but in fact for peacefully practicing his faith.\nVladimir cannot see in the dark and in dimly lit rooms; he cannot read normal font size even with his glasses. He said that after the start of the prosecution, his eyesight got even worse: \u0026quot;I can hardly do even ordinary household chores.\u0026quot; Moreover, he has several other health issues, including neurological. The believer needs regular treatment, but due to being under a recognizance agreement he could not receive sufficient medical care. Speaking in court before the verdict, he said: \u0026quot;The unjust prosecution... became a great stress for me and my elderly mother... For almost 5 years I haven\u0026#39;t had any peace.\u0026quot;\nIn 2021, Vladimir Gaydyshev\u0026#39;s home was searched. Another search took place at his mother\u0026#39;s home, who was 80 at the time. In April 2025, the investigation charged Vladimir with extremism, which, according to law enforcement officers, consisted of participating in religious meetings. Later in court, the believer stated that it was impossible to find calls to hatred in his words and explained it this way: \u0026quot;My beliefs are based on the Bible, and it teaches me to love all people, even those who are hostile.\u0026quot;\nVladimir's many friends have not abandonded him: they help with household chores, caring for his mother, who also has a disability, and support him emotionally too. The believer also tries to stay positive. He says: \u0026quot;I've been actively working on my emotional and physical health to withstand this test with dignity. Thanks to this, I feel better.\u0026quot;\nIn the Kurgan Region, 10 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already faced criminal prosecution for their faith. Five of them received heavy fines, among them Aleksandr Lubin, a severely disabled person, who died shortly after the verdict was passed.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2026-03-03T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2026/03/041408/image_hu_b4497839bcbffe85.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2026/03/041408/image_hu_9a6d3656e9bd6950.jpg","webp":"/news/2026/03/041408/image_hu_da0305467f52f857.webp","webp2x":"/news/2026/03/041408/image_hu_7a25c9d55bc69074.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/03/041408.html","regions":["kurgan"],"subtitle":"Court Imposed Fine","tags":["first-instance","282.2-2","disability","fine"],"title":"Almost Blind Man in Shadrinsk Convicted \"for Extremism\".","type":"news"},{"body":"The Fifth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Pyatigorsk upholds the verdict.\nThe lawyer asks for Semyonov's acquittal and points out that \"neither the indictment nor the final decisions in the case contain quotations or excerpts from extremist materials that the defendant would have repeated; no facts of distribution of any prohibited materials by the defendant are given.\" The court does not take into account these and other arguments of the defense.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Semenov in Cherkessk","date":"2026-02-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk5/index.html#20260217","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["cassation","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","life-in-prison"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The prosecutor requests the court sentence the believer to 3 years imprisonment in a penal colony.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Gaydyshev in Shadrinsk","date":"2026-02-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk4/index.html#20260217","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Yelena Pertseva, senior investigator of the Novoaltaysk Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Altai Territory, charges Sergey Petrov under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Sergey Petrov in Talmenka","date":"2026-02-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/talmenka/index.html#20260212","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On February 11, 2026, searches were carried out at nine addresses in Ufa. Law enforcement officers detained and interrogated 17 people, 2 of whom remain in custody.\nImmediately after the raid, five individuals were taken to a temporary detention facility. Two days later, the court imposed a ban on certain actions on Andrey Gubeev, Sergey Bastaev and Mariya Gareeva, while sending the couple Ruslan and Roza Tazyrov to a pretrial detention center.\nThe searches were initiated by Major of Justice V. Kharrasov, investigator of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Bashkortostan. Earlier, on February 3, 2026, he had initiated a criminal case under Article 282.2(1) and (2) of the RF CrC.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2026-02-11T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/search.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/02/171410.html","regions":["bashkortostan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","sizo","interrogation","prohibition-of-actions","new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Series of Raids on Jehovah's Witnesses in Ufa: Married Couple Sent to Pretrial Detention Center","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator of the Nizhny Novgorod Investigative Committee Aleksandr Busarov opens a criminal case against Galina Tokareva. According to the investigation, the woman participated in meetings for worship of the local community of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Tokareva in Nizhniy Novgorod","date":"2026-02-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod11/index.html#20260209","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigator handed Balashov and Popov orders to bring them as accused.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Balashov and Popov in Dimitrovgrad","date":"2026-02-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/dimitrovgrad/index.html#20260203","regions":["ulyanovsk"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Novoaltaisk Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Altai Territory initiates a criminal case against 63-year-old Sergey Petrov for participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Sergey Petrov in Talmenka","date":"2026-02-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/talmenka/index.html#20260203","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Vadim Kharasov, an investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Unit for the Investigation of Organized Criminal Activity of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Bashkortostan, initiates a case against Ruslan and Roza Tazyrov under the article on organizing the activities of an extremist organization.\nWithin the framework of the same case, Andrey Gubeev, Sergey Bastayev, Alfiya Javadova and Maria Gareeva are involved as defendants - they are charged with participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\nAccording to the investigation, the believers \"organized and held meetings in public places through video conferencing ... for the purpose of promoting the activities of a banned organization.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Tazyrov and Others in Ufa","date":"2026-02-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ufa2/index.html#20260203","regions":["bashkortostan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lieutenant D. B. Alushin, investigator of the FSB of Russia in the Ulyanovsk region, initiates a criminal case. Igor Balashov is suspected of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, Igor Popov is suspected of participating in it. Unlawful actions, according to the investigation, were expressed in \"convening conspiratorial meetings, organizing religious speeches and meetings for worship.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Balashov and Popov in Dimitrovgrad","date":"2026-02-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/dimitrovgrad/index.html#20260202","regions":["ulyanovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 30, 2026, at the Shakhunya Interdistrict Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Nina Smirnova, Larisa Serdtseva, and Zhanna Zhavoronkova heard the verdict in their case. Judge Artemiy Lunegov handed the believers a 2.5-year suspended sentence \u0026quot;for participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\u0026quot;\nNina Smirnova, 75, is a retired accountant. Her husband does not share her religious beliefs. \u0026quot;He is severly disabled; he also has atherosclerosis in his legs, and it is very difficult for him to walk. Nevertheless, he attended every court hearing to support me,\u0026quot; the believer said about her family circumstances. Larisa Serdtseva, 50, is a seamstress who worked for a cleaning company before the prosecution began. She and her husband have three daughters, two of whom are still at school. Zhanna Zhavoronkova, 43, worked most of her life for the railway.\nThe local branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs initiated the case against these residents of Shakhunya in February 2024. \u0026quot;We endured a search and, since then, have repeatedly faced emotional pressure from some law enforcement officers,\u0026quot; Zhanna recalled. \u0026quot;It affected my health — in November I suffered a stroke.\u0026quot; They read out her charges right in the hospital. Zhanna also lost her job due to media harassment during the criminal prosecution: \u0026quot;Although I was physically weak after the stroke, I was forced to take a new job. This drastically complicated life for me and my loved ones, since I could not care for my bedridden father properly.\u0026quot;\nThe case materials included testimony from two women, Yamorozova and Nepomnyashchikh. The investigation deemed conversations with them to be evidence of a crime. One of them died before the trial. The defense asked that her testimony be excluded, pointing to contradictions that could not be resolved without questioning the person, but the court refused. The believers emphasized that only the Bible was discussed in conversations with these women. \u0026quot;Is it my fault that [Yamorozova] urged me to talk with her on subjects that interested her? ... And feeling compassion for her difficult life I sometimes visited her. What's the crime? Kindness?\u0026quot; Larisa asked rhetorically in her final statement.\n\u0026quot;Who after all was recruited, and into what?\u0026quot; Serdtseva asked in disbelief at the charge. \u0026quot;The witnesses who testified against me had their own faith before meeting me, and they kept it afterward.\u0026quot;\nSince 2017, in Russia, 226 women — Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses — have faced criminal prosecution for their faith; 89 of them are over 60.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2026-01-30T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2026/02/021442/image_hu_d0430cc40ce91c77.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2026/02/021442/image_hu_723296cc1f79ae89.jpg","webp":"/news/2026/02/021442/image_hu_33841a9c4bdee970.webp","webp2x":"/news/2026/02/021442/image_hu_a6d00db73eb7b020.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/02/021442.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":"Verdict Against Three Women — Jehovah’s Witnesses from Shakhunya","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","elderly","work-restrictions"],"title":"“What's the Crime? Kindness?”","type":"news"},{"body":"Shishkina is brought in as an accused and takes a recognizance agreement from her.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shishkina in Prokopyevsk","date":"2026-01-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/prokopyevsk5/index.html#20260126","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 26, 2026, Judge Natalya Zvereva of the Shadrinskiy District Court fined 39-year-old Ilya Yershov, 400,000 rubles. The believer denies any guilt in extremism: \u0026quot;I was merely saying that we should respect other people, their circumstances, opinions, and personal space.\u0026quot;\nIlya's prosecution for his religious beliefs first started in the summer of 2021, together with Aleksandr Lubin. Both believers were suspected of organizing the activity of a banned organization. Ilya described how these events affected his family\u0026#39;s financial situation: \u0026quot;After the search and my detention in July 2021, I was forced to resign from work. My bank accounts were frozen, and I was added to the Rosfinmonitoring list as an extremist. These restrictions made it virtually impossible to find employment and, therefore, I couldn't provide financially for my family.\u0026quot;\nIn March 2023, the case against Yershov was dropped, but 6 months later a new one was initiated — this time for participating in extremist activity. \u0026quot;I had no idea what awaited me,\u0026quot; Ilya recalls. \u0026quot;My wife and I were constantly expecting another search; we couldn\u0026#39;t plan anything or leave home for long because we didn\u0026#39;t know what might happen. It's probably only now that the feeling has gone that they could show up at our place at any moment.\u0026quot;\nIlya also spoke about something in his case that he considers absurd. Over the course of 6 months, he was put on the wanted list three times; investigators claimed that he had stopped responding, was not living at his registered address, and was ignoring summonses. According to Yershov, however, he lived at his registered address the entire time, and his phone number never changed.\nThe court began hearing the case in June 2025. Throughout the proceedings, relatives and friends never stopped supporting Ilya and his wife, Yelizaveta. \u0026quot;To me, they are heroes, they inspire me,\u0026quot; comments Ilya.\nAs of today, 10 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in the Kurgan Region have faced prosecution for their faith in God. Five of them have been sentenced to fines ranging from 300,000 to 650,000 rubles.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2026-01-26T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2026/01/261428/image_hu_56023ea61585af6e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2026/01/261428/image_hu_93121bcf2be41749.jpg","webp":"/news/2026/01/261428/image_hu_18307893a6247af9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2026/01/261428/image_hu_6f6c1fd322cf4db3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/01/261428.html","regions":["kurgan"],"subtitle":"Investigation Deemed Conversations About Respecting People Extremist","tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"Сourt in Shadrinsk Sentences Ilya Yershov.","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 23, 2026, Valeriy Minsafin, 54, a resident of Kurgan, was found guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization and fined 400,000 rubles. The verdict was handed down by Judge Sergey Lushnikov of the Kurgan City Court.\nValeriy is a construction worker who recently has worked \u0026quot;between interrogations and court hearings.\u0026quot; The Minsafin family is close-knit: Valeriy and his wife Galina have been married for 29 years; they have two adult children and a grandson. The prosecution has taken a toll on the health of the couple and their loved ones. In the midst of all this, Minsafin\u0026#39;s elderly mother suffered a heart attack.\nIn July 2021, Valeriy\u0026#39;s home was searched. He was charged with organizing the activity of an extremist organization. However, those charges were dropped in March 2023. A new criminal case was initiated against Minsafin 2 years later — this time for participating in the activity of an extremist organization — and he was once again added to the Rosfinmonitoring list.\n\u0026quot;It so happened that I had already demolished an extension to our house and started building a new one when the investigator called to summon me for interrogation and told me the case had been reopened. Such news... I had to work frantically because I didn\u0026#39;t know how it would all end — and you can\u0026#39;t leave your family without a roof over their head,\u0026quot; Valeriy recalled. \u0026quot;And that's when friends came to the rescue! It felt like a weight off my shoulders.\u0026quot; Friends do not leave the believer without support: \u0026quot;Some regularly bake bread for us; others travel 200 kilometers to help around the house and to attend court hearings with us.\u0026quot;\nMinsafin is convinced that he was convicted solely for his religious beliefs. \u0026quot;I realized that it\u0026#39;s not me who is being judged, but my faith in Jehovah — and I want to defend it,\u0026quot; he said. The case was based on covert audio recordings of meetings for worship. The judge refused to listen to them in court, thereby depriving the defense of the opportunity to challenge the prosecution\u0026#39;s arguments. At the same time, a psycho-linguistic expert study of the recordings found no statements inciting hatred or violence.\nAs of the time of publication, a total of 10 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution in the Kurgan Region. One of them, Aleksandr Lubin, a man with a serious disability, died shortly after receiving a guilty verdict.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2026-01-23T15:11:27+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2026/01/231511/image_hu_e3c7f45680923d47.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2026/01/231511/image_hu_8e860c2bbc172879.jpg","webp":"/news/2026/01/231511/image_hu_46e6b1431a54e7b5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2026/01/231511/image_hu_1f705b805e6b28fa.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/01/231511.html","regions":["kurgan"],"subtitle":"Jehovah’s Witness Fined for His Beliefs","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","fine"],"title":"\"They’re not Judging Me, but My Faith.\"","type":"news"},{"body":"Vladlena Kukavitsa, 35, has been defending her right to freedom of religion for 2 years, the last 7 months — at the retrial in the Birobidzhan District Court. Judge Olga Klyuchikova made the final decision on January 22, 2026.\nThe first verdict (6 years suspended) was overturned by the court of appeal. Vladlena was charged with involving others in the activity of an extremist organization and participating in it. The case of the believer, like dozens of similar ones throughout the country, was based on the testimony of an informant. Vladlena says that there were no expressions of extremism in her conversations with Zhukova-Suvorova, who turned out to be a secret agent. The conversations were friendly and focused on discussing Bible teachings, God\u0026#39;s qualities, and prayer. The videos that were viewed in court showed how Vladlena encouraged the woman to show love to others, forgive and not hold a grudge.\nAfter the liquidation of religious organizations and the beginning of actual persecution against Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Russia, Vladlena became anxious. \u0026quot;At first, it was difficult. I heard the news: in one place after another, law enforcement officers break into houses, conduct searches and arrest people,\u0026quot; she says. \u0026quot;Sadly, some ended up behind bars. But I saw how they overcame it all. This strengthened me.\u0026quot;\nStill, the stress in connection with the criminal prosecution left its mark. \u0026quot;I needed to seek medical help repeatedly because the criminal prosecution affected my health. Now I am constantly taking medication,\u0026quot; she said at one of the court hearings.\nVladlena expressed special gratitude to her mother for her support: \u0026quot;She is always by my side. She herself has had to go through searches and interrogation; she always accompanied me when I went to the investigator and waited on the street next to the FSB building while I was there.\u0026quot; In October 2025, a criminal case was also initiated against Kukavitsa\u0026#39;s mother, Yelena Shestopalova.\nThe family of Vladlena Kukavitsa is not the first to be in the focus of law enforcement officers. In Birobidzhan, alreadyeight families are being prosecuted for their faith in Jehovah God. This trend has been going on for years.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2026-01-22T14:34:53+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2026/01/221434/image_hu_cf774470a0673708.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2026/01/221434/image_hu_7bb46e70ddda3c92.jpg","webp":"/news/2026/01/221434/image_hu_230523dafd3ae34a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2026/01/221434/image_hu_5d9954150d9e33b3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/01/221434.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":"This Time — 4.5 Years Suspended","tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","families"],"title":"Vladlena Kukavitsa From Birobidzhan Again Convicted for Her Faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"At the cassation hearing in the case of Daler Tokhtaev, the court upholds the verdict. The believer will continue to serve his 6-year sentence in a penal colony.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Tokhtaev in Poronaysk","date":"2026-01-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/poronaysk/index.html#20260121","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["cassation","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","liberty-deprivation"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Sakhalin Regional Court upheld the sentence handed down earlier: Larisa Potapova — 4 years and 11 months suspended, Olga Kalinnikova — 5 years suspended. The decision enters into force.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kalinnikova and Potapova in Kurilsk","date":"2026-01-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurilsk/index.html#20260115","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["appeal","elderly","suspended","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction considers the cassation appeal of the lawyer and upholds the verdict.\nKristina Golik, addressing the court, explains why charging her with extremism is untenable: \"The reason is that I love people very much! I am not indifferent to what is happening in the world, so I study the Bible. I learn to live by high moral standards, to respect people's decisions, no matter what their color, race, nation, or religious background. To me all people are valuable and this is what I learn from the Bible.\"\nMariya Myasnikova quotes the words of the director of the International Center for the Study of New Religions, Massimo Introvigne: \"'The only relationship between Jehovah's Witnesses and violence is that they have been victims of violence.' On this occasion, my family and I have become the injured party of this unfair charge.\"\nValentina Yermilova relates what her family had to face because of the prosecution: \"We [ Sergey and I] have been together for 30 years... Now he is in a penal colony in Nizhny Tagil, although he is not guilty of anything. [...] Our parents died during the proceedings. I am deprived of the possibility to visit a dear and beloved person. And we are no longer very young and our health leaves much to be desired. We need each other's support.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Golik and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2026-01-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk3/index.html#20260114","regions":["amur"],"tags":["cassation","labor","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region upheld the sentence against Igor Prityko. The believer states that the indictment is \"completely unsubstantiated\" and relies on a recording of a meeting for worship, where he \"shares thoughts based only on the Bible.\"\n\"For a peaceful person, who has not committed any action dangerous to people or the state, it is not easy to cope with criminal prosecution and everything related to it,\" he notes, adding that what is happening, damages the physical and emotional health of both him and his loved ones.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Prityko in Birobidzhan","date":"2026-01-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan23/index.html#20260113","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","suspended"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Mariya Ogoreva makes her final statement.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Mariya Ogoreva in Mednogorskiy","date":"2025-12-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mednogorskiy6/index.html#20251229","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["final-statement","sentence","suspended","families","elderly","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"\u0026quot;I am guilty not of committing a socially dangerous act but of remaining a believer,\u0026quot; said Mariya Ogoreva, 64. On December 29, 2025, Melek Bayramkulova, judge of the Karachayevskiy District Court of the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic gave her a 2-year suspended sentence.\nMariya is a widow. She and her husband were married for 38 years and raised three children. For many years she worked as a nanny in a kindergarten. In 2023-2024, 6 months apart, criminal cases were initiated against Mariya and her daughter Svetlana, based on the suspicion of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. Before that, several searches took place in their home — first as witnesses in the Pasynkov case, and then as suspects. During one of them, Mariya needed medical help.\nThe hearings for the believer\u0026#39;s case were held 80 kilometers from her home, as two judges from the local district court recused themselves. Friends supported Mariya: they came to the hearings, helped around the house, and called to encourage her. Mariya noted: \u0026quot;In this ordeal, we are not alone; they surrounded us with love.\u0026quot;\nOn October 1, 2025, the court gave Svetlana a 3-year suspended sentence. The basis for the criminal prosecution of the Ogorevs was their religious beliefs and participation in peaceful meetings for worship. In court, Mariya emphasized that in her case there is \u0026quot;not a single statement of an extremist nature, not a single call to hatred or enmity, not a single quote from literature that was declared extremist.\u0026quot;\nThe Ogorevs and Pasynkovs are prosecuted according to a similar pattern: first, one family member is made a suspect, and then his relatives.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-12-29T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/12/301627/image_hu_1f6f1b65bd23f577.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/12/301627/image_hu_3c6e6c59e4068c54.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/12/301627/image_hu_ea4eaf7da7b8330e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/12/301627/image_hu_7c4804510c5bcb69.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/12/301627.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":"Earlier, Her Daughter, Also One of Jehovah's Witnesses, Was Convicted","tags":["final-statement","sentence","suspended","families","elderly","282.2-2"],"title":"Pensioner From Mednogorskiy Given Suspended Sentence.","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor asks the court to appoint Yevtushenko three years in a general regime colony. The court appoints two.\nBefore that, Anatoly Yevtushenko makes his final statement and notes: \"Prison walls are not an obstacle for the spirit of God, with which he supports those who are faithful to him.\"\nMore than 70 people come to court to support the defendant. After the verdict was announced, he was taken into custody and taken away in handcuffs.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yevtushenko in Krasnodar","date":"2025-12-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/krasnodar3/index.html#20251223","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["prosecutor-request","sentence","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","defense-arguments","final-statement","disability"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 23, 2025, the Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnodar convicted Anatoliy Yevtushenko, 54. Although disabled and having recently undergone hip replacement surgery, he will serve his sentence in a penal colony. He was taken into custody in the courtroom.\nAnatoliy was prosecuted following his friend Aleksey Lelikov. In January 2022, their homes were searched. In July 2024, the FSB charged Yevtushenko with extremism. Due to the recognizance agreement, the believer could not go to St. Petersburg for the surgery, which he really needed, because he experienced constant pain due to bilateral coxarthrosis. He was able to receive the necessary treatment only in February 2025, when court hearings had already began. Anatoliy is grateful for the material support of his friends and fellow believers, as he has not been able to work lately. \u0026quot;If it were not for the help of my brothers and sisters, there would have been no operation,\u0026quot; he recalls. \u0026quot;Thanks to them for such love and care. It\u0026#39;s so touching that I can\u0026#39;t hold back my tears.\u0026quot;\nAnatoliy Yevtushenko speaks before the court. December 2025 Those attending, including Anatoliy\u0026#39;s relatives, anxiously listen to the words of the judge. December 2025 After the verdict was announced, Anatoliy says goodbye to his wife and daughter. December 2025 Anatoliy is handcuffed right in the courtroom. December 2025 The guard leads the believer away, but he does not feel broken by injustice. December 2025 In addition to court hearings and their own health problems, Anatoliy and his wife cared for his elderly mother until her death in November 2025. The 85-year-old needed constant care — she could not get out of bed, could not see and suffered from dementia. Shortly before Anatoliy\u0026#39;s surgery, his wife broke her leg. The believer was allowed to travel daily from Krasnodar to the village 100 kilometers away to take care of the women.\nDespite his own difficulties, Anatoliy sought to support his fellow believers, who also ended up in the dock for their faith. He attended court hearings in criminal cases in Krasnodar and Goryachy Klyuch, drove the defendants and their relatives there, and later went to the village of Vyselki to help believers there too. \u0026quot;If you invest love, you receive double the love. You reinvest that love again, you quadruple it. And on to infinity, because love has no limits,\u0026quot; the believer said.\nThe criminal prosecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Russia does not exclude even seriously ill people: at least 30 believers with disabilities have gone through and are still going through the exhausting stages of investigative measures and trials.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-12-23T00:00:00Z","duration":"0:35","image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/12/240944/image_hu_6960f9ff8431d42b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/12/240944/image_hu_3689444b79040a3c.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/12/240944/image_hu_15352f4e48e7499.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/12/240944/image_hu_61e04568fdc00ea7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/12/240944.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","disability"],"title":"Krasnodar Court Sentenced Disabled Jehovah's Witness to 2 Years in Penal Colony","type":"news"},{"body":"The Syktyvkar City Court found the believers guilty of extremism and fined Lidiya Nekrasova — 300,000 rubles, Aleksandr Kruglyakov — 470,000 rubles, Aleksandr Ketov and Andrey Kharlamov — 500,000 rubles each. About 50 attended the announcement of the verdict on December 22, 2025.\n\u0026quot;I am proud that I suffered not as a villain, but as a Christian,\u0026quot; Aleksandr Kruglyakov, 46, expressed his opinion on what was happening. \u0026quot;In the 1990s, I was a villain, I was even tried. Many of my former friends are already dead.\u0026quot; He believes that studying the Bible with Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses helped him to change drastically: \u0026quot;I stopped abusing alcohol, taking drugs, quit smoking, stopped stealing and getting into fights... Such changes helped me stay alive.\u0026quot;\nAleksandr spent almost 2 months in the pretrial detention center. His bank account, like the accounts of the other defendants in the case, was blocked. Aleksandr lost his job and could not find a new one. His wife, who needed expensive medical treatment, was forced to provide for the family alone. Property was seized from the other believers.\nPensioner Aleksandr Ketov, 57, who spent 2 months under house arrest, described how he felt: \u0026quot;It's an unpleasant feeling — though you didn't violate anything, you're forced to sit at home waiting for a verdict that won't be fair.\u0026quot;\nIn his final statement, Andrey Kharlamov, 54, said: \u0026quot;I felt like a person without rights. They called me a criminal and an extremist, placed me under house arrest, threatened me, saying: \u0026quot;You will go to jail\u0026quot;, blocked my accounts, and seized my apartment. All motions that were filed were rejected by the investigator. I had always lived quietly, peacefully, didn't have any conflicts or quarrels with anyone, so it was the first time I had encountered such treatment just because I'm a believer.\u0026quot;\nIn January 2026, Lidiya Nekrasova will turn 73. During the prosecution, she experienced not only the hardships of the investigation and trial, but also a personal tragedy — her husband died last year. She said that caring people helped her cope with the difficulties. \u0026quot;Fellow believers, whom I didn't even know, called from different places. They brought me flowers, invited me over to their place, we ate treats and sang songs together,\u0026quot; she said.\n\u0026quot;In total, I received about 1500 letters from 42 countries,\u0026quot; says Aleksandr Kruglyakov in appreciation of the support. \u0026quot;It was a breath of fresh air, filled with love. Sometimes I received up to 125 letters a day.\u0026quot;\nSergey Ushakhin did not live to see the end of the trial. He had a disability due to a heart condition. The commission of the Ministry of Health recognized that the believer needed special treatment. Sergey died in August 2023 — a month after receiving the commission\u0026#39;s conclusion. Shortly before his death, the believer shared: \u0026quot;I received a very warm message from my friends. They write that they always remember me, how my voice comforted them in difficult times, and it encourages and warms them even now.\u0026quot;\nThe prosecution of the five Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses began with searches in 2021. A year later, the criminal case against them went to court, and the trial dragged on for almost 4 years. The believers do not agree with the decision of Judge Yevgeniy Sazhin. In total, 11 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been prosecuted in the Komi Republic.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-12-22T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/12/240905/image_hu_b20b1e8dd3cfa8c8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/12/240905/image_hu_e23fff00e422cfbf.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/12/240905/image_hu_b13e2ed2a5c7845f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/12/240905/image_hu_91002bfcac77945c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/12/240905.html","regions":["komi"],"subtitle":"Woman, 72, and Three Men Must Pay from 300,000 to 500,000 Rubles","tags":["sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2","fine","elderly","disability"],"title":"Jehovah's Witnesses From Komi Fined for Their Faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor asks to assign the believer six years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of five years, as well as two years of restriction of freedom.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kukavitsa in Birobidzhan","date":"2025-12-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan20/index.html#20251219","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee Y. G. Platonova initiates a criminal case under an extremist article against several residents of Prokopyevsk. In her opinion, they \"committed deliberate actions aimed at participating in the activities of a religious association, in respect of which the court ... a decision has been made to liquidate it.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shishkina in Prokopyevsk","date":"2025-12-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/prokopyevsk5/index.html#20251218","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 18, 2025, Dmitriy Neudakhin, judge of the Savelovskiy District Court, sentenced Viktor Velikov to 5.5 years imprisonment. This is not Neudakhin\u0026#39;s first decision against Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses: over 4 years he has imposed preventive measures against believers from Moscow, as a rule, imposing strict measures.\nThe Velikov case is linked to the trial of Aleksandr Serebryakov. Velikovs\u0026#39; house was first searched in the fall of 2023 as part of his case. The charges are identical: the men are being prosecuted for providing lunches to believers at a peaceful 6-day religious event.\nViktor\u0026#39;s home was searched for a second time in April 2025. After it, he ended up behind bars — he was separated from his wife and son. \u0026quot;They didn\u0026#39;t grant us visits for 2 months,\u0026quot; recalls Olga, the believer\u0026#39;s wife. \u0026quot;The investigator constantly refused. He said that it was not his style to give permission.\u0026quot; She adds that even behind bars her husband did not lose his positive qualities: he treats those around him with compassion and tries to take care of them.\nViktor Velikov is 50. He is from the working class — a lining operator in the production of industrial furnaces. He has been one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses for over 20 years.\nThe Savelovskiy District Court has been considering the case since July 2025. The prosecutor demanded that Viktor be sent to a penal colony for 7 years.\nThis is the sixteenth guilty verdict in Moscow, where 23 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have faced prosecution for their beliefs, 13 of them are serving sentences in penal colonies.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-12-18T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/12/231529/image_hu_a78f44fa0f800581.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/12/231529/image_hu_90b4ec578e76885b.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/12/231529/image_hu_782c9d942327a07e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/12/231529/image_hu_8d4378b3a2ee66d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/12/231529.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":"One of Jehovah's Witnesses from Moscow Convicted for Financing Extremism","tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.3-1","282.2-2"],"title":"For Six Lunches — 5.5 Years in a Penal Colony.","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor requests 3 years of suspended sentence for Maria Ogoreva with a probationary period of 2 years and 6 months of restrictions.\nDuring the debate, the defense states: \"We believe that Mariya's rights have been grossly violated,\" after which it adds: \"But despite all the moral damage and searches, which still have a detrimental effect on the health of my client (for which there is evidence), she, on the contrary, shows the opposite qualities of extremism - a respectful attitude, kindness and patience towards her accusers. She does not hold a grudge, because the Bible teaches her so.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Mariya Ogoreva in Mednogorskiy","date":"2025-12-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mednogorskiy6/index.html#20251216","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["punishment-request","defense-arguments","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A fine of 500,000 rubles — that was the sentence announced to Nadezhda Lebed by the Savelovskiy District Court of Moscow on December 12, 2025, just a few weeks after a similar ruling against Mariya Pankova. The trial of Nadezhda lasted about 6 months.\n\u0026quot;I have been worshipping Jehovah for almost 30 years. He is the main support for me and my family,\u0026quot; the believer told the court at the final hearing. \u0026quot;From the very beginning, since 1995, and to this day, nothing has changed in my service to God. I still read His Word, the Bible, pray to God, and sing songs of praise.\u0026quot; Nadezhda is convinced that her prosecution is groundless and considers her views to be the exact opposite of extremism. \u0026quot;I am an honest person; I had no criminal intent. I am a Christian and fear God and I do not want to spoil my good relationship with him,\u0026quot; she added.\nThe criminal prosecution began with a search in April 2025 — the second for Nadezhda\u0026#39;s family (law enforcement officers had searched her home in 2021 as part of the Mareyev case). On the same day, officers also raided the home of Pankova. Both women were charged with participating in the activity of an extremist organization because of their faith.\n\u0026quot;The hearings robbed me of a lot of my energy, health, and resources,\u0026quot; Nadezhda recalls. \u0026quot;During this period, I was taken to hospital, to the cardiology department. And I am still undergoing treatment.\u0026quot; The criminal prosecution also brought financial difficulties into her life. \u0026quot;I had been saving part of my pension for a \u0026#39;rainy day\u0026#39;,\u0026quot; she said. \u0026quot;The \u0026#39;rainy day\u0026#39; came, but I cannot use the funds.\u0026quot;\nIn October 2025, the European Court of Human Rights considered complaints from several Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses who faced prosecution because of their faith. The court ruled that searches, arrests, restrictions on freedom, confiscation of property, and charges of extremism for peaceful religious activity were unlawful.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-12-12T17:53:50+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/12/121753/image_hu_cf9d9a13d1749929.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/12/121753/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/12/121753/image_hu_3703816ff7b4e093.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/12/121753/image_hu_6defb1d6cc5c4c18.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/12/121753.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","elderly","rosfinmonitoring","echr","282.2-2"],"title":"Another Guilty Verdict Against One of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Moscow — This Time Court Fines 75-Year-Old Believer","type":"news"},{"body":"Sergey Dvurechenskiy, 50, has been given a 2-year suspended sentence. This decision was announced on December 9, 2025, by Judge Yelizaveta Proskuryakova of the Vyselkovskiy District Court. This is already the fifth verdict she has issued in a case involving Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\nSergey, who was born in Vyselki, has worked in construction for more than 20 years. At one of the court hearings, character references written by his employer and a neighbor were read aloud. According to Sergey\u0026#39;s recollection, after the hearing the prosecutor called them \u0026quot;the description of an ideal person.\u0026quot; Regarding the participants in the process the believer said: \u0026quot;It is one thing that they carry out their duties, but as people I see their wonderful traits\u0026quot;.\nIn Vyselki, similar cases have been initiated against 14 more believers. Most of the charges are based on the testimony of a secret witness under the pseudonym \u0026quot;Pastyr,\u0026quot; [Shepherd] who secretly recorded meetings for worship on video. \u0026quot;He never ever showed up at the hearing,\u0026quot; Sergey said. \u0026quot;He\u0026#39;s doing what he does for some reason — it\u0026#39;s not for me to judge. But you know, I don't feel any anger or resentment toward him.\u0026quot;\nThe court spent more than a year reviewing the recordings of meetings for worship. \u0026quot;I think it was good for both the judge and the prosecutor to listen to them,\u0026quot; Dvurechenskiy thinks. \u0026quot;There were great points about family life and relationships. There\u0026#39;s definitely nothing extremist in them.\u0026quot;\nThe criminal prosecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Vyselki has been ongoing since February 2022, when mass searches took place, which also affected Dvurechenskiy. Most cases against local believers have already resulted in guilty verdicts.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-12-09T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/12/101349/image_hu_c6c2cec82593f396.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/12/101349/image_hu_7b0a03cb4e5e73d.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/12/101349/image_hu_fb6be59651178272.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/12/101349/image_hu_38b2b524bbdd8814.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/12/101349.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","secret-witness"],"title":"Another One of Jehovah's Witnesses from Vyselki Given Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"Ruslan Teplukhin, judge of the Vyselkovskiy District Court, announced his decision in the case of Sergey Spirichev on December 9, 2025. On the same day, a sentence was also handed down to his fellow believer, Sergey Dvurechenskiy. Both were given identical suspended sentences for reading the Bible and discussing it with friends.\n\u0026quot;For me, extremism is unacceptable. I believe that violence breeds even more injustice. The Bible teaches not to repay evil with evil, but to overcome evil with good,\u0026quot; Viktor said at the final hearing of the trial, which had lasted 2 years. \u0026quot;I feel grateful for the prayers of my brothers and sisters in faith, but most of all I am thankful to Jehovah God for helping me remain steadfast and not become embittered,\u0026quot; Spirichev said.\nThe criminal case against Viktor was initiated by the Investigative Committee in May 2023 — a year after his home was searched. Due to the prosecution, he faced financial restrictions imposed by Rosfinmonitoring and was under a recognizance agreement until the verdict. \u0026quot;There are those I must care for: my wife Larisa (who has a disability), my father-in-law (Vladimir Kolesnikov, a widower, who is also being tried for his faith), and my parents. I am their only child left; my older brother died in 2018. These responsibilities are the cause of my concerns,\u0026quot; Viktor explained.\nIn the Krasnodar Territory, 38 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses aged 28 to 79 are facing criminal prosecution for holding joint meetings for worship, which, according to the ruling by the Plenum of the RF Supreme Court, is not a crime.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-12-09T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/12/101356/image_hu_62e9f516882395d2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/12/101356/image_hu_827b9fc6ae48cfea.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/12/101356/image_hu_dec45aeb15a2670c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/12/101356/image_hu_d53474bcd952138.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/12/101356.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","families","282.2-2"],"title":"Believer in Kuban Given 2-Year Suspended Sentence. Court Convicts Viktor Spirichev","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor requests a 2-year suspended sentence for Viktor with a 2-year probation period and 6 months restriction of freedom.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Spirichev in Vyselki","date":"2025-12-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki4/index.html#20251202","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The prosecutor requests a 2-year suspended sentence for Sergey with a 2-year probation period and 6 months restriction of freedom.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Dvurechenskiy in Vyselki","date":"2025-12-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki7/index.html#20251201","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"After considering the results of the second expert study, the public prosecutor completes his closing arguments and requests again fines for the defendants. Andrei Kharlamov makes his final statement.\n38 people who came to support the defendants were allowed to the hearings. The final verdict is expected to be handed down on December 19, 2025.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kruglyakov and Others in Syktyvkar","date":"2025-11-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/syktyvkar/index.html#20251128","regions":["komi"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-1","282.2-2","final-statement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Five months ago, Mariya Pankova, 51, from Moscow, met her husband, Sergey Tolokonnikov, at the gates of the penal colony where he had served a sentence for his faith. Now she has been penalized — a fine of 500,000 rubles. This decision was announced by the Savelovskiy District Court of Moscow on November 26, 2025.\n\u0026quot;When my trial started and I said, that I didn't understand the charges against me at all, [the prosecutor] replied that, if anything was unclear my lawyer could explain it to me. But the lawyer asked the same thing... No answer was given; we never received one,\u0026quot; Mariya said in her final statement. The prosecutor requested that the believer be sent to a penal colony for 2.5 years for attending Christian meetings for worship.\nMariya and Sergey\u0026#39;s family has been living under prosecution for more than 4 years. Sergey spent most of that time in custody. The believer described what she felt: \u0026quot;We lived together for 27 years, and then I was alone... I felt like a little railroad car that had been moving smoothly and happily along the track of life behind an engine for many years — it was suddenly taken away. And now the car must move the entire load along a difficult track by itself — sometimes pushing, sometimes dragging, and sometimes helplessly crying by the wheels.\u0026quot; During that period, Mariya had to care on her own for her 78-year-old disabled mother and her mother-in-law.\nThe investigation against Pankova began 2 months before her husband\u0026#39;s release. \u0026quot;I have serious health problems,\u0026quot; the believer said, \u0026quot; which worsened once the criminal case was initiated.\u0026quot; The situation became even more difficult on the eve of the verdict: Mariya developed severe spinal pain and for several days could neither stand nor sit. During the same period, her mother-in-law passed away.\n\u0026quot;When I was separated from my husband, my trust in God, like an anchor, kept me from falling into despair and panic,\u0026quot; Mariya recalls. \u0026quot;When the criminal prosecution affected me personally, I realized I needed to develop even greater trust.\u0026quot;\nThe prosecution of couples and multiple members of one family has already become a \u0026quot;hallmark\u0026quot; of Russian law enforcement agencies. Mariya\u0026#39;s words reflect the feelings of many believers in similar circumstances: \u0026quot;Criminal prosecution for faith and acts of mercy in today\u0026#39;s world makes no sense to me.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-11-26T14:52:12+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/11/261452/image_hu_34d0785023a9be90.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/11/261452/image_hu_84af692287aa951e.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/11/261452/image_hu_faf77373efa3f87a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/11/261452/image_hu_15a941f921a0b7ac.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/11/261452.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":"Wife of Convicted Jehovah's Witness Fined in Moscow","tags":["sentence","fine","families","282.2-2"],"title":"\"Criminal Prosecution for Acts of Mercy Makes No Sense to Me\".","type":"news"},{"body":"The head of the Investigation Department for the Kansky District of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, I. V. Piskun, opens a criminal case against Andrey Sorokin, Yelena Kamenskaya and Elena Grosheva for extremism.\nSorokin was charged under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Kamenskaya — under parts 1.1 and 2 of Article 282.2, and Grosheva — under Part 2, Part 1.1 of Article 282.2. According to the ruling, Sorokin \"conducted educational disputes,\" and Kamenskaya and Grosheva \"conducted door-to-door visits in the city of Kansk... carried out explanatory work, thereby involving new adepts.\" This is how the investigation interprets the peaceful conversations of believers about the Bible.\nAndrey Sorokin, Yelena Kamenskaya and Yelena Grosheva are detained and placed in a temporary detention facility.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Sorokin and Others in Kansk","date":"2025-11-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kansk/index.html#20251120","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","ivs"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Yelena Gadrshina makes her final statement. At the same session, the judge announces his decision.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Gadrshina in Vyselki","date":"2025-11-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki8/index.html#20251119","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["punishment-request","final-statement","sentence","elderly","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 19, 2025, in the Krasnodar Territory, the trial of Yelena Gadrshina concluded. The court found her guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. Judge Ruslan Teplukhin gave the elderly woman a 2-year suspended sentence for peacefully practicing her faith.\nYelena Gadrshina has been married for 45 years and they have an adult daughter. She worked as an accountant for many years. She was among the believers whose homes were searched in February 2022 because of her beliefs. A criminal case was initiated against her, and her bank accounts were frozen. For nearly 2 years, she had to defend her good name in court.\nDuring the hearings, lawyers repeatedly pointed out serious violations committed by the investigation. For example, the interrogation protocol of a secret witness, prepared by the investigator, turned out to be identical (down to the mistakes) to a document from another case. The investigator somehow managed to review 63 hours of video footage and produce 300 pages of transcripts in just three hours. One expert, a psychologist, admitted she was unsure whether her signature on the conclusion was genuine; the defense found 155 citation errors in that conclusion. Another expert, a linguist, referred to non-existent transcripts. The contracts with these experts for their work were lost.\nYelena is grateful for the support of friends and others who care: \u0026quot;Fellow believers come from different cities to support me during the hearings. Those who cannot attend send messages with words of encouragement and assurances that they are fervently praying for me.\u0026quot;\nYelena Gadrshina became one of seven women sentenced as a result of the mass prosecution of believers in Vyselki.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-11-19T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/11/211023/image_hu_ed40beb0383d4a5b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/11/211023/image_hu_922cf63767c000d6.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/11/211023/image_hu_c533cea67df4fd9d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/11/211023/image_hu_6ac11c96e5a1548a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/11/211023.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":"She Was Given a 2-year Suspended Sentence","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"In Vyselki, Woman, 67, Convicted for Her Faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"The Fourth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Krasnodar dismisses the lawyer's appeal in the case of Valeriy Baylo who asked for the verdict to be overturned and the grounds for terminating the case be changed. Instead of terminating the criminal prosecution as a formality due to his death, the defense insisted on absence of corpus delicti.\nThe lawyer pointed to serious violations committed by the courts of first instance and appeal. For example, the verdict was based on audio recordings of meetings for worship, and yet the court did not establish whether any of the voices belonged to Valeriy Baylo, and whether there were calls for extremism on the recordings. Also in the verdict, the court referred to an expert conclusion that was not examined in the court session, and used the testimony of a witness who was not summoned and whose interrogation protocol was not made public. Moreover, the defense states: \"The indication in the verdict of the court of first instance that the ideology of Jehovah's Witnesses is extremist is not based on the law and judicial practice.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Baylo in Kholmskaya","date":"2025-11-14T10:41:07+02:00","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya7/index.html#20251114","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["cassation","282.2-2","elderly","died"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Igor Prityko makes his final statement, after which the court announces the verdict.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Prityko in Birobidzhan","date":"2025-11-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan23/index.html#20251114","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["final-statement","sentence","282.2-2","suspended"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Yelena is charged under two articles at once. The investigator takes from the believer a recognizance agreement and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Mironova in Chelyabinsk","date":"2025-11-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk12/index.html#20251114","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 14, 2025, the court gave Igor Prityko, 55, a suspended sentence, recognizing him as a participant in the activity of an extremist organization. The believer pleaded not guilty and called the prosecution an expression of \u0026quot;intolerance toward religious beliefs.\u0026quot;\n\u0026quot;The nature of my work requires that I communicate a lot with people, and I try to focus on the positive traits of a person. This helped me... gain a reputation as a reliable partner and a person easy to talk to,\u0026quot; testified Prityko, who has changed professions in the field of construction several times throughout his life. \u0026quot;Helping people find hope in the wonderful future promised by God, I became the happiest person. All this, Your Honor, is my contribution to maintaining peace in society,\u0026quot; he added, highlighting that his way of life is incompatible with extremism.\nBirobidzhan is one of the Russian cities with the largest number of criminal cases against Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses: at the time of publication of this article, there were 24 cases (initiated against 28 people). Four believers were sent to a penal colony, and 21 people given suspended sentences. When court hearings against Jehovah's Witnesses first started in his city, Igor attended them. \u0026quot;After the decision [to liquidate the legal entities] I made it my goal to attend court hearings to encourage my brothers and sisters in the faith and to see the joy on their faces when the verdicts were announced,\u0026quot; he recalls. In time his family also faced prosecution: in the winter of 2024 law enforcement officers conducted the first search at Prityko's home, and the year after, following another raid, D. Emelyanenko, investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, initiated a criminal case against the believer. Soon the trial began in the Birobidzhan District Court, led by Judge Svetlana Zemtsova.\nIgor grew up in a large family and, being the eldest, was used to taking care of his loved ones from childhood, but with the beginning of the investigation it became more difficult for him to do so. \u0026quot;I only work a little, and the entire financial burden fell on the shoulders of my wife,\u0026quot; the believer explained the situation and added: \u0026quot;Although our active life was slowed down by various restrictions and it became difficult to provide for the family, we lacked nothing. Hardship has brought us closer. There is less fuss and more time for the family.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-11-14T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/11/200937/image_hu_c96ba926bb2e6f25.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/11/200937/image_hu_42ab5a12b170500d.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/11/200937/image_hu_efc092504145c29a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/11/200937/image_hu_6690176884c6cc17.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/11/200937.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":"The 27th Conviction of One of Jehovah's Witnesses by Local Court","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"Resident of Birobidzhan Given a 2.5-year Suspended Sentence.","type":"news"},{"body":"The state prosecutor asks to find Igor Prityko guilty and requests he be given a 2-year suspended sentence with a 2-year probation period.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Prityko in Birobidzhan","date":"2025-11-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan23/index.html#20251106","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Six months ago, the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court gave Larisa Potapova and Olga Kalinnikova a 2.5-year suspended sentence for discussing the Bible. On October 29, 2025, Judge Galina Masterkova changed the suspended sentences to: 4 years and 11 months for Potapova, and 5 years for Kalinnikova.\nThe retrial required the women to fly again to Sakhalin to defend their right to freedom of religion. Olga admits: \u0026quot;There\u0026#39;s little we can control while under criminal prosecution. The only thing we can and must do is be a Christian.\u0026quot;\nFor both women, the long-running criminal prosecution has brought additional hardships. Larisa Potapova, 61, lives with and cares for her elderly mother. \u0026quot;The first search was in 2019. I found it hard — my blood pressure spiked and my head ached. During the second search, my mother became ill,\u0026quot; she recalls. In court, Larisa pleaded not guilty to extremism and stated: \u0026quot;I\u0026#39;m a believer. I love God and I love people, and there\u0026#39;s not a single victim in this case.\u0026quot; Olga Kalinnikova, 48, has worked at a seismic station in Kurilsk for over 25 years. She is raising a minor daughter alone and also cares for her elderly parents.\nKurilsk has a population of about 2,000, and everyone knows each other. \u0026quot;When our criminal case was published in the local newspaper, some people stopped greeting us, while on the other hand, others started to,\u0026quot; Olga noticed. She admits the worst part isn\u0026#39;t the court hearings: \u0026quot;It\u0026#39;s painful to see how my parents worry and age because of it. Not being allowed to travel is also tough. You have to ask permission for everything. And there\u0026#39;s the stress about work.\u0026quot;\nAccording to Potapova and Kalinnikova, their loved ones and friends helped them endure the second trial with resilience. \u0026quot;I felt like I was being carried in someone\u0026#39;s arms,\u0026quot; said Olga. \u0026quot;I\u0026#39;m grateful that every day has also reasons for joy, and there\u0026#39;s so much good. I\u0026#39;m not afraid of the future and I feel at peace.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-10-29T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/10/300902/image_hu_d962b2cc0501ac84.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/10/300902/image_hu_9142847468ff81e8.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/10/300902/image_hu_6b98d69cbcd72b67.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/10/300902/image_hu_fecd480ee91d6e9b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/300902.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":"Sentences Doubled After Retrial","tags":["sentence","elderly","suspended","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"Believers from Iturup Island Found Guilty Again.","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 24, 2025, Yelizaveta Proskuryakova, judge of the Vyselkovskiy District Court, gave Vladimir Lepskiy, 59, a 2-year suspended sentence. The believer was charged for \u0026quot;reading religious books aloud,\u0026quot; as stated in the decision to initiate the case.\nVladimir worked in the railway industry for more than 20 years: he was a rail yard coordinator. He has been one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses for almost 30 years. In February 2022, the homes of believers in Kuban were searched en masse, which marked the beginning of the prosecution of 15 local residents. Among them was Lepskiy. The search in the house of Vladimir and his wife, Olga, lasted 7 hours. The believer recalls: \u0026quot;People in camouflage entered the courtyard and knocked on our door. My Olga was scared, she was talking on the phone with her grandchildren at the time.\u0026quot; Law enforcement officers turned everything upside down, including the bed and looked through all our documents.\nA criminal case against Lepskiy was initiated 2 years later — then he was no longer living in Vyselki, but had to return. \u0026quot;In the village we don't have an apartment or a house. Friends helped us to find an affordable apartment and supported us financially. We would not have coped on our own,\u0026quot; Vladimir remembered. In his final statement, alluding to his involuntary relocation he said: \u0026quot;I could have not turned up, I could have hidden, and no one would have found me. But I came because I do not consider myself guilty. I believe in Jehovah God and I am his Witness.\u0026quot;\nThe court considered the believer's case for a year. \u0026quot;I look at what I am going through as a new assignment from God: to witness about Him in the courts,\u0026quot; said Vladimir about his frame of mind during this difficult period of his life and added: \u0026quot;My wife Olga noticed that I have become calmer and more controlled. The examples of my fellow believers who have gone through all this mean a lot.\u0026quot;\nThe population of the village of Vyselki is less than 20,000. However, 11 criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses have already passed through the local district court. Judge Yelizaveta Proskuryakova issued guilty verdicts in four of them. ","category":"verdict","date":"2025-10-24T17:36:34+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/10/241736/image_hu_3576bf1b6236885f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/10/241736/image_hu_378042839dbdfa52.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/10/241736/image_hu_48495bb9a86f532.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/10/241736/image_hu_7b7fee97f0c546f1.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/241736.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":"Vladimir Lepskiy Given Suspended Sentence for His Faith","tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"Fourth Verdict Within a Month in Vyselki.","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant of Justice A. A. Tkachenko initiates a criminal case for organizing the activities of an extremist organization against Aflatun Safarov and for participating in it against Viktor Kononov.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kononov and Others in Uyar","date":"2025-10-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/uyar/index.html#20251023","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["new-case","elderly","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 23, 2025, a search was conducted at the home of a couple in the town of Abaza (Republic of Khakassia). Since their house had been damaged by fire earlier, they were temporarily staying with relatives. The search was carried out at their place as well.\nAccording to preliminary information, the investigative actions were conducted by the same agency that previously organized the searches in the villages of Mayna and Sizaya. Electronic devices, several copies of the Bible, and personal notes were seized from the family.\nUpdate. The investigative measures have affected five believers. Three of them are currently in pretrial detention, including Aflatun Safarov, 62, and Viktor Kononov, 60. In addition, two women aged 77 and 69 — Amaliya Malchugova and Tatyana Barakhtenko — have also been subjected to prosecution. They have been placed under a recognizance agreement.\nA criminal case against the believers has been initiated under three parts of Article 282.2 of the RF CrC. The case is being handled by A. A. Tkachenko, an investigator of the Uyar Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2025-10-23T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/search.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/281458.html","regions":["khakassia"],"subtitle":"Recent Raid in Khakassia Affected Elderly Jehovah’s Witnesses","tags":["search","sizo","elderly","new-case","282.2-1.1","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Five Suspects — Three in Pretrial Detention.","type":"news"},{"body":"The Sovetskiy District Court of Vladikavkaz imposes a preventive measure on Sabina Albegova — pretrial detention. A large number of people gather near the building. When the believer is taken out of court, those present support her by applauding.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Albegova in Vladikavkaz","date":"2025-10-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladikavkaz/index.html#20251022","regions":["osetia"],"tags":["sizo","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The prosecutor again asks the judge to give Olga Kalinnikova and Larisa Potapova a 5.5-year suspended sentence with a 3-year probation and 1.5-year restrictions.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kalinnikova and Potapova in Kurilsk","date":"2025-10-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurilsk/index.html#20251021","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A 2-year suspended sentence was given to Irina Zinina, 37, on October 21, 2025 by the Vyselkovskiy District Court. She was found guilty of extremism for discussing the Bible with friends. In June, the court made a similar decision in the case of her mother, Lyudmila, a pensioner with serious illnesses.\n\u0026quot;Due to the application of this law [on extremism — ed.] many people are getting the wrong impression of me,\u0026quot; Irina addressed the court on the eve of the announcement of the verdict. \u0026quot;Still, there are a lot of sympathetic people who are outraged by the fact that they unfairly initiate criminal cases against law-abiding, decent people. It is sad that this law is applied to peaceful residents of different ages... among them are disabled, seriously ill, and some have even died under investigation.\u0026quot;\nBack in February 2022, the homes of Irina and Lyudmila Zinina were searched. Police officers searched them for the addresses of other believers, as well as books and notes with the name of God. More than a year later, criminal proceedings were initiated against both women.\n\u0026quot;Practical advice from the Bible has helped me for as long as I remember, for example: to always be a kind and decent person, to conscientiously do my job and carry out duties assigned to me,\u0026quot; said Irina, expressing her disagreement with the charge of extremism. She added: \u0026quot;In my role as a caregiver, I look after people from different backgrounds, statuses and religions, and they are all happy... People turn to me for mending and sewing clothes, for help with cleaning and for construction repairs. I carry out these tasks with willingness and diligence.\u0026quot;\nIrina and Lyudmila try not to lose optimism, despite the difficulties. Friends have supported them during this time: \u0026quot;They send drawings, videos, and encouraging thoughts; come to court hearings and try to support us there,\u0026quot; says Irina. \u0026quot;At first, it was hard to accept help, because usually you help yourself, but here...\u0026quot;\nIn total, 15 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been prosecuted for their faith in the village of Vyselki. In three instances, law enforcement officers initiated cases against several family members.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-10-21T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/10/221336/image_hu_713f11ae1a3bcd6d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/10/221336/image_hu_25e97da1110f2370.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/10/221336/image_hu_16560cac9657fd4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/10/221336/image_hu_c620b9834f316497.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/221336.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":"Two People Already Convicted for Their Faith in This Family","tags":["suspended","families","282.2-2"],"title":"Court Considered Irina Zinina from Vyselki to Be An Extremist.","type":"news"},{"body":"A search is underway in the apartment of the parents of Sabina Albegova's husband.\nDuring the interrogation, psychological pressure is exerted on Sabina for her to admit being guilty.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Albegova in Vladikavkaz","date":"2025-10-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladikavkaz/index.html#20251020","regions":["osetia"],"tags":["search","ivs","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 20, 2025, Sabina Albegova, 26, a resident of Vladikavkaz, was arrested. The Investigative Committee charged her with extremism for participating in peaceful religious meetings of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. Two days later, the court sent the believer to a pretrial detention center.\nA few hours before Sabina\u0026#39;s arrest, at 6 a.m., the house of her husband\u0026#39;s parents was searched. Electronic devices were seized from the owners and their guests. The task force was led by Mikhail Tuayev, investigator of the Investigative Committee.\nAfter her arrest, Sabina Albegova was informed that she was suspected of participating in the activity of an extremist organization (Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC) and sent to a temporary detention facility in Vladikavkaz. By court decision she was placed in pretrial detention center No. 1 for the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania on October 22.\nAccording to available information, the criminal case against Sabina Albegova is related to another case that was initiated against one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Vladikavkaz back in January 2025.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2025-10-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/prison.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/280840.html","regions":["osetia"],"subtitle":"Court Detained Local Woman For Her Faith","tags":["sizo","search","new-case","282.2-2"],"title":"Search and Arrest in Vladikavkaz.","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 15, 2025, Aslanbek Tuarshev, judge of the Khabezskiy District Court, gave 60-year-old Tatyana Pasynkova a 4-year suspended sentence for participating in the activity of an extremist organization. Following her son Aleksey and his wife Yuliya, Tatyana was convicted for her religious beliefs.\nTatyana is a retired plant breeder. She raised three sons on her own. \u0026quot;Have fundamental [Bible] principles really become outdated or suddenly radical and extremist? Life depends on them! They are the moral benchmark, they have withstood the test of time... I never abandoned my children; I also never abandoned my parents, but I cared for them and loved them until they died. And is that what I\u0026#39;m being judged for?.. For raising my sons as worthy members of society despite having lived a difficult life?\u0026quot; said Tatyana Pasynkova in her final statement.\nShe has been under the close attention of law enforcement officers since 2021 — her home was searched five times. One of the searches she remembers especially well: \u0026quot;I opened the door wearing my nightdress and slippers. There were eight masked people in the courtyard. They had machine guns, pistols, a grenade hung on one side, handcuffs on the other. I was confused: \u0026quot;Oh, so many of you!\u0026quot; I asked them to put their weapons away.\u0026quot; She felt unwell — was having difficulty breathing and started shaking. She had to call an ambulance. Tatyana has serious problems with her heart and other internal organs. The stress caused by the prosecution affected her health \u0026quot;not in the best way\u0026quot; she said.\nTatyana often noticed that she and her family were under surveillance by her informant neighbors. \u0026quot;They looked through the fence into the windows, brazenly took photos and videos, for example, me walking with my grandson... It was both appalling and ridiculous when an informant drove a car around his garden and filmed us planting potatoes,\u0026quot; she recalls.\nAt the same time, Tatyana is not afraid to tell others about her prosecution: \u0026quot;I say directly: a criminal case has been initiated against me, a trial is underway, I am being tried for reading the Bible, for being one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\u0026quot; People\u0026#39;s reaction, she said, was often surprise: \u0026quot;How can you prosecute someone for his faith?\u0026quot;\nDuring these difficult times, Tatyana felt the love and support of people who care. When a hailstorm damaged the roof and windows of the Pasynkovs\u0026#39; house, friends came to the rescue: a couple from Krasnodar helped to repair the roof, another, from St. Petersburg, to replace the windows.\nTatyana considers any trials temporary: \u0026quot;I taught my sons that you don\u0026#39;t need to run away from difficulties, you need to overcome them. Hope is my lifeline. I look forward to the time when my grandson Timofey, who has a disability, will start talking, and we will have a heartfelt conversation with him.\u0026quot;\nThe prosecution of Tatyana Pasynkova and her family is not the only case in today's Russia when Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses of different generations find themselves in the dock.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-10-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/10/161318/image_hu_5dff5976bb216fb1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/10/161318/image_hu_dbd68025360b3259.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/10/161318/image_hu_a6e725d07a04dee.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/10/161318/image_hu_25e2336b6dc4f28c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/161318.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":"Pensioner From Karachayevo-Circassia Given Suspended Sentence","tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"\"Have Bible Principles Really Become Extremist?\"","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 15, 2025, Yelizaveta Proskuryakova, judge of the Vyselkovskiy District Court, gave Yelena Rumyantseva, 53, a 2-year suspended sentence with 6 months restriction of freedom based on charges of extremism. Shortly before that, her daughter, Vasilina Penskaya, was given a suspended sentence. Both women are Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\nIn recent years, Yelena has gone through a lot — the sudden death of her husband in 2019, the illness and death of her father in 2021; her mother had a stroke and still needs constant care. In 2022, Yelena\u0026#39;s house was searched, her daughter Vasilina was prosecuted, and after a while the Investigative Committee also initiated a case against Yelena. A month later, Rosfinmonitoring blocked her accounts, which caused difficulties with her work.\n\u0026quot;I tried to stay strong after the search,\u0026quot; the believer recalls. \u0026quot;It seemed as if I was tough enough to handle it. But that only lasted for so long. Then I had an emotional breakdown. After all we\u0026#39;re not made of steel.\u0026quot; The support of friends and other people who cared, helped Yelena cope with what was happening. She said: \u0026quot;People you don\u0026#39;t know make many sacrifices, traveling from many kilometers to the courthouse just to be there with you. This is amazing and touching. They also help financially... I have everything I need and even more.\u0026quot;\nYelena\u0026#39;s case went to court at the same time as her daughter\u0026#39;s case, at the end of December 2023. Later, the judge in the case changed, and the trial began anew. During the hearings, the defense drew attention to numerous violations. The secret witness could not say anything specific about Rumyantseva except that she was present at the meetings for worship, and one of the expert studies had nothing to do with her. The investigator admitted that material evidence did not contain anything relevant to the case. The court also attached to the case file two certificates and a letter of thanks — from the management of the Berezanskaya Art School for many years of cooperation and support, from the administration of the Vyselkovskiy Municipality and from the Department of Consumer Affairs of the Krasnodar Territory for conscientious work.\n\u0026quot;Unfortunately, sincere faith is not always met with understanding,\u0026quot; the believer noted in her final statement. — \u0026quot;Fear, misunderstandings, or rumors can turn good deeds and simple religious meetings into something suspicious. But I want to be clear: my faith is based on love. It teaches me to be honest, kind and respectful to everyone. It has nothing to do with extremism.\u0026quot;\nThe case of Yelena Rumyantseva is one of 11 initiated by investigators against believers from Vyselki. In total, 38 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been prosecuted in the Krasnodar Territory; one of them died in custody without having received the necessary medical care.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-10-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/10/160820/image_hu_10c4822dfad76c2b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/10/160820/image_hu_67ecb937d669ec4.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/10/160820/image_hu_6533193918e77402.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/10/160820/image_hu_b150e2122e7bb6ea.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/160820.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":"Earlier, Her Daughter Received Same Punishment","tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"Court In Kuban Gave Yelena Rumyantseva Suspended Sentence for Her Faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"Mikhail Tuaev, senior investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, initiates a criminal case against 26-year-old Sabina Albegova for participating in meetings for worship.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Albegova in Vladikavkaz","date":"2025-10-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladikavkaz/index.html#20251013","regions":["osetia"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 9, 2025, law enforcement officers raided the homes of three female believers in Birobidzhan. One of them, Yelena Shestopalova, 60, is the mother of Vladlena Kukavitsa, who has been on trial for her faith for over a year.\nYelena was getting ready to go to her daughter\u0026#39;s trial when her house was searched. It happened at 7 a.m. Her husband, who was ill with SARS, was also in the apartment. Around the same time, searches took place at the homes of two other women and lasted from 1.5 to 3 hours. One of them was detained at her workplace. Electronic devices, Bibles, and personal notes were seized from the believers.\nIt turned out that a few days earlier, criminal cases had been initiated against Yelena Shestopalova, Olga Chebrak, 54, and Nataliya Kocheva, 63, on suspicion of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. The initiator was FSB investigator Dmitriy Yankin, who over the past 5 years has already initiated cases against at least 20 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Birobidzhan. The search warrant was issued by Olga Klyuchikova, the same judge who is handling the case of Yelena\u0026#39;s daughter.\nCurrently, the number of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses being prosecuted in Birobidzhan has reached 30.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2025-10-09T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/search.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/151414.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":"Raid Affected Three Local Residents","tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","families"],"title":"New Searches at Homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Birobidzhan.","type":"news"},{"body":"FSB investigator Captain of Justice Dmitry Yankin opens a criminal case against Yelena Kopatskaya for participating in religious meetings, expressed in joint discussion of the Bible, singing songs and praying.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kopatskaya in Birobidzan","date":"2025-10-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzan25/index.html#20251007","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator Dmitry Yankin initiates a criminal case against Irina Savkina under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The ruling states that Savkina, \"realizing her belonging to [the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses], continued the activities of an extremist organization in the course of many (at least four) secret meetings held on the Internet ... in the form of a collective religious assembly.\"\nThe investigation considers illegal the discussion of religious materials, the singing of songs and joint prayers.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Savkina in Birobidzhan","date":"2025-10-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan26/index.html#20251007","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Dmitriy Yankin issued a decision to initiate a criminal case against Olga Chebrak under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe wording of the document is almost similar to that contained in the cases of Elena Shestopalova and Natalia Kocheva.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Chebrak in Birobidzhan","date":"2025-10-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan27/index.html#20251007","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"FSB investigator, Captain of Justice Dmitry Yankin opens a criminal case against Yelena Shestopalova for participating in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shestopalova in Birobidzhan","date":"2025-10-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan24/index.html#20251003","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Dmitriy Yankin issued a decision to initiate a criminal case against Natalya Kocheva under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe investigation believes that Natalya continued the activities of \"an extremist organization in the course of many (at least four) conspiratorial meetings ... in the form of a collective religious assembly... consisting of a public study of various extremist materials, the performance of songs from a special collection of religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, prayers, sermons.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kocheva in Birobidzhan","date":"2025-10-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan28/index.html#20251003","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 1, 2025, 10 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Khabarovsk Territory were convicted at the same time. \u0026quot;The charge for extremism is based on the testimony of interested persons and the assumptions put forward by them, which are not confirmed by evidence,\u0026quot; said one of the defendants expressing the collective position.\nJudge Aleksandr Sokolov gave suspended sentences of 6 years to Mikhail Dorofeev, Nikolay Kovadnev and Radion Shitov and 2 years to Vasiliy Bondarev and his mother Irina, Sergey and Ulita Sachnev, Svetlana Zharkova, Marina Voytko and Ivan Nikitin. The prosecutor requested up to 7 years in a penal colony for everyone.\nMost of the defendants in this case are elderly people and people with poor health. The criminal prosecution left its mark on their condition. Mikhail Dorofeev, 60, needs heart surgery and sometimes it was difficult for him to attend hearings. Ulita Sachneva, 71, suffered a stroke, and her husband Sergey, 74, is suffering from heart failure. Irina Bondareva, 64, a widow, described her condition as follows: \u0026quot;I don\u0026#39;t even leave the house on my own — I\u0026#39;m afraid of falling due to problems with my vestibular system.\u0026quot; Nevertheless, the believer remains positive: \u0026quot;All difficulties are temporary. It would be outrageous to waste precious time getting depressed and complaining!\u0026quot;\nAs a result of the trial, some believers lost their jobs. Radion Shitov, 53, worked for 25 years as an educational psychologist in a kindergarten for children with disabilities. When he informed his colleagues about his dismissal, they exclaimed: \u0026quot;Really, Radion? What? We know what you're like!\u0026quot; They provided the court with positive character references, pointing to numerous awards, diplomas and Radion winning a teaching competition.\nVasiliy Bondarev, 28, the youngest defendant in the case, was fired from the clinic, where he worked as a paramedic. But he does not despair: \u0026quot;When you focus too much on the prosecution, you get anxious. Therefore, I try to help others in any way I can. This distracts me from my problems and gives me joy.\u0026quot;\nBesides the prosecution, Nikolay Kovadnev, 65, experienced yet another personal tragedy. After the search the health of his wife, who was suffering from cancer, deteriorated rapidly and she died two months later. \u0026quot;The very next day, my friends brought me food and offered to help with the funeral arrangements,\u0026quot; Nikolay recalls. \u0026quot;I really needed their calls and attention at that time.\u0026quot;\nPeople who do not share their religious views stand up for the believers. Radion Shitov\u0026#39;s childhood friend supported him emotionally and even promised to pay the fine (should he be fined), and a neighbor regularly assured him whenever they met, that she was ready to speak in court in his defense.\nThe defendants do not agree with the verdict of the Komsomolskiy District Court of the Khabarovsk Territory. In response to the charge for organizing and participating in the activity of an extremist organization, they stated: \u0026quot;We sang religious songs, prayed and discussed the Bible.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-10-01T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/10/031122/image_hu_e91acecee2659c9c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/10/031122/image_hu_80e503eca7470bba.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/10/031122/image_hu_709bcb97f0892610.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/10/031122/image_hu_3fd4e7b4a3b2ad8f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/031122.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":"In Komsomolsk-on-Amur 10 Believers Were Given Suspended Sentences from 2 - 6 Years","tags":["sentence","suspended","elderly","282.2-1","282.2-2","work-restrictions","health-risk"],"title":"\"We Prayed and Discussed the Bible.\"","type":"news"},{"body":"A 3-year suspended sentence — this punishment was imposed on Svetlana Ogoreva, 41, from Mednogorskiy by the Zelenchukskiy District Court on October 1, 2025. Attending peaceful meetings for worship and talking about her faith was enough to find her guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\nIn her final statement before Judge Fatima Borlakova, Svetlana said: \u0026quot;Although my health has suffered greatly from this unfair and unlawful criminal prosecution, I feel the support of my God and friends and I am sure that whatever the outcome of this case, I will continue to feel this support. [...] And I\u0026#39;m sure if my dad were alive, he would be proud of me. After all, I am not standing before the court for a bad deed, but for my faith in God.\u0026quot;\nAfter the death of her father, Svetlana moved to live with her widowed mother. In November 2021, the family\u0026#39;s home was searched, followed by a second search 2 years later. At first, Svetlana was a witness in the case of Aleksey Pasynkov, but then the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against her.\nDue to the stress experienced, Svetlana started having heart problems. Another cause of anxiety was the criminal case against her elderly mother, Mariya, who is also on trial for her faith. She has to attend hearings at a court which is located 80 kilometers from their home. Svetlana said that friends help them cope with difficulties. For example, one of the friends calls regularly, and others, who live in St. Petersburg, have sent a parcel with treats.\nSvetlana categorically disagrees with the charges for extremism. \u0026quot;As to associating with fellow believers, from the standpoint of the Bible, religion cannot be chaotic; believers cannot be apart from each other or act separately. Otherwise, divisions will develop, and the religion itself, that is, a particular denomination, will cease to exist,\u0026quot; she said.\nNeighbors spoke in support of Svetlana, providing the court with positive character references. According to them, she is kind to others and leads a healthy lifestyle. One of the neighbors said that Svetlana worked for her as a nanny. \u0026quot;I have known her since childhood as a very friendly girl, not looking for trouble, kind and without bad habits. She is approachable, polite, sociable,\u0026quot; the woman said. Another neighbor wrote: \u0026quot;My children love her very much. She organizes contests and games for the children.\u0026quot;\nMednogorskiy is a small village in the Urupskiy District of the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic with a population of less than 5500 people. In addition to Svetlana and Mariya Ogoreva, four other believers have been prosecuted there.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-10-01T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/10/071612/image_hu_f0e2a0bcd8c712f8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/10/071612/image_hu_9a922a760b6b64af.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/10/071612/image_hu_3d89f0ace3b988e1.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/10/071612/image_hu_aebd685b6ecfde2d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/071612.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":"Svetlana Ogoreva Given Suspended Sentence","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended","families"],"title":"Court Found One More Peaceful Believer From Karachayevo-Circassia Extremist.","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 30, 2025, the court gave Natalya Novoseletskaya a 2-year suspended sentence. Judge Yelizaveta Proskuryakova found the pensioner guilty of participating in extremist activity.\nNatalya does not admit guilt. \u0026quot;I hold my head up when walking along the streets, because I know I will never meet anyone whom I have deceived, robbed or slandered,\u0026quot; she said, adding: \u0026quot;I am sure that Bible principles will never harm anyone, because they are always based on love.\u0026quot;\nThe appointed lawyer is also convinced of her innocence. Natalya noted: \u0026quot;We have different beliefs, but she stood up for the Bible and for God's name. She explained that I have nothing to do with extremism. During the closing arguments, she smashed each point of the charge to pieces.\u0026quot;\nVasilina Penskaya and Irina Ushakova were among those who came to support Natalya on the day of the verdict. September 30, 2025 Those around her did not turn her backs on Natalya and supported her in every possible way throughout the 1.5 years of the criminal prosecution. For example, a neighbor who was a testifying witness during the search gave her phone to Natalya after her one was confiscated; this way Natalya could stay in touch with her loved ones. Friends also showed they cared. \u0026quot;On the day when the first hearing was held, I had a table filled with all kinds of chocolate — they brought me as a gift,\u0026quot; she recalls. \u0026quot;That\u0026#39;s how my \u0026#39;sweet life\u0026#39; began.\u0026quot;\nThe Vyselkovskiy District Court is hearing the cases of 14 other Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, 11 of them are awaiting the verdict. Natalya and her fellow believers try to attend every court hearing to support each other. The woman emphasized: \u0026quot;In my opinion, these trials did more than just bring us closer — we became a family.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-09-30T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/10/011530/image_hu_6089cf8ee7c29db6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/10/011530/image_hu_c85c8d8fae10488a.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/10/011530/image_hu_ad75913e1672c83b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/10/011530/image_hu_ee3d8addea668a91.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/011530.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":"Believer, 62, Given Suspended Sentence","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended","elderly"],"title":"Another Guilty Verdict in Vyselki.","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigation charged four Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Vladivostok, including three elderly, with extremism. This happened on September 17, 2025, immediately after searches in the homes of peaceful believers.\nVyacheslav Yudin, 68, Sergey Isupov, 66, Sergey Chikichev, 64, and Andrey Yavniy, 58, do not agree with the charges. The latter appealed the charge in court. \u0026quot;Simply participating in a meeting for worship or reading the Bible is not a crime,\u0026quot; he said.\nSearches began at 7 a.m. and lasted about 3 hours. The law enforcement officers seized their electronics, Bibles, personal notes and cards. The officers confiscated family savings from Yavniy, as well as part of his wife\u0026#39;s work documents, without recording them in the protocol. After the searches, the four men were taken to the Investigative Committee for interrogation.\nThe criminal case against the believers was initiated on September 11, 2025, by Denis Sushchenko, investigator of the Investigative Committee, who had previously initiated cases against other Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Vladivostok. He charged Chikichev, Yudin, Yavniy and Isupov with participating in the activity of a liquidated organization (Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC).\nAs of September 2025, more than 60 people from the Primorye Territory have already faced criminal prosecution, half of them are residents of Vladivostok.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2025-09-17T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/case.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/10/011534.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":"Already More Than 30 Local Believers Are Being Prosecuted for Their Beliefs","tags":["search","interrogation","elderly","new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"New Searches in Vladivostok.","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 16, 2025, the court gave Yuliya Pasynkova, 34, a 5-year suspended sentence. Her husband, Aleksey, is already serving a suspended sentence for his faith, and her mother-in-law, Tatyana, is also being tried. \u0026quot;Being prosecuted for your faith in God is unnatural,\u0026quot; the believer said.\nThe Pasynkovs are raising a son with a disability. His illness is incurable. \u0026quot;Timofey is deprived of a normal life. He cannot say what he thinks, what he feels or what he wants,\u0026quot; the believer told the court, \u0026quot;he cannot be left alone even for 5 minutes.\u0026quot; Yuliya had to travel 150 kilometers from home to the hearings, which made the trial even more exhausting for the whole family. She recalls: \u0026quot;Sometimes I only slept for 3 hours to get there by 10 in the morning. When I returned home, my son would hug me for hours. He could cry for hours in the morning, because he did not see me.\u0026quot;\nThe prosecution concluded that Yuliya had no mitigating circumstances and requested a long suspended sentence with additional restrictions. Nariman Abdokov, a judge of the Khabez District Court, fully supported this position when sentencing her.\nThe Pasynkovs have been living under prosecution for nearly 4 years. During this period, their home was searched three times. At the same time, a tragedy occurred — Yuliya\u0026#39;s parents were hit by a car. \u0026quot;Caring for my mother, my father\u0026#39;s funeral, taking care of my son and other difficulties — I could not have gone through all this alone, without my husband,\u0026quot; the believer recalls.\nAleksey and Yuliya stated that the difficulties brought their family together. \u0026quot;We had a warm, close relationship before,\u0026quot; Aleksey said, \u0026quot;but the prosecution brought us even closer. We spend a lot of time together, trying to console each other, strengthen each other... Especially when we are physically and emotionally drained.\u0026quot;\nThe authorities often subject several family members to repression for their faith: at least 170 of prosecuted Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have at least one relative in similar circumstances.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-09-16T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/09/171124/image_hu_e9b23ebcaae27986.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/09/171124/image_hu_aed7f59ff8d8c4e5.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/09/171124/image_hu_682614714035b44c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/09/171124/image_hu_ab171f9669aa6cc2.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/09/171124.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":"Court Sentences Mother of Disabled Child for Talking on Bible Topics","tags":["families","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"Following Husband’s Footsteps.","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 15, 2025, Judge Andrey Petrov found Anastasiya Gaytur, 29, guilty of extremism and fined her 300,000 rubles. \u0026quot;Faced with criminal prosecution for my faith, I feel that they artificially want to make me a criminal\u0026quot;, she said in the Kurgan City Court.\nAnastasiya argued her position as follows: \u0026quot;There is not a single negative aspect in the case, there are no people whose lives I would have ruined. Even the witnesses for the prosecution didn\u0026#39;t say anything bad about me.\u0026quot; According to the defense, during seven court sessions which took place over 3 months, only the religious affiliation of the believer was proved.\nAs a fourth-generation Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness, Anastasiya knows firsthand what repression for faith is: her relatives were deported from the Moldavian SSR to Siberia in the summer of 1949 as part of Operation South. The prosecution of Anastasiya began in 2024, a year after a criminal case was initiated against her father Aleksandr. Since then, she has faced a number of restrictions: a recognizance agreement, blocked accounts, loss of her job (she was a cleaner in the same court that considered her case).\nAnastasiya says: \u0026quot;It was difficult for my body to adapt to the new realities, it began to malfunction, so I had to go to the hospital.\u0026quot; Anastasiya was able to cope with all the difficulties thanks to the help of loved ones. \u0026quot;They know better than anyone else how my nerves and health were affected due to this unfair prosecution,\u0026quot; she said. She also spoke warmly of her friends who comforted her, showed love and care, and gave her gifts.\nThe criminal prosecution had an impact on Anastasiya\u0026#39;s view on life. \u0026quot;Although I have never been well-off and have always appreciated simple things, but with the prosecution,\u0026quot; she admitted,\u0026quot; I began to thank God more that, for example, I spend the night at home in my cozy room, and not in a pretrial detention center; I sleep on my comfortable sofa with clean bed linen without cockroaches; I can eat and sleep as much as necessary; breathe fresh air; see my family in person.\u0026quot; At the same time, Anastasiya remains true to her beliefs: \u0026quot;I will not give up the path I have chosen nor stop being who I am — a Christian.\u0026quot;\nIn present-day Russia, at least five families of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, including Aleksandr Gaytur, Ivan Shulyuk, Viktor Ursu, Yevgeniy Zinich, Aleksandr, and Mikhail Shevchuk, have been prosecuted on the same grounds on which their relatives were exiled to Siberia during the Soviet era.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-09-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/09/160938/image_hu_e71ef4e0acd000ee.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/09/160938/image_hu_8a6015aa3467b41e.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/09/160938/image_hu_fe44b9e1491d95bd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/09/160938/image_hu_e25a027e1a4c6b4d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/09/160938.html","regions":["kurgan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","fine","families","ussr"],"title":"\"I Will Not Stop Being A Christian\" — Anastasiya Gaytur, Descendant of Victims of Repression, Convicted for Her Beliefs","type":"news"},{"body":"Denis Sushchenko, senior investigator of the first department for the investigation of particularly important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory, initiates a criminal case under parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yudin and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2025-09-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok14/index.html#20250911","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 5, 2025, the Kurgan City Court imposed a fine of 300,000 rubles on Irina Kamshilova. It took Judge Denis Cherkasov 3 months to find the believer guilty of extremism for her religious beliefs.\nIrina first faced prosecution in 2021, when her home was searched. During the prosecution, her already poor health deteriorated: she was diagnosed with leukemia and developed a heart disease. In May 2024, Irina\u0026#39;s house was searched again, and a criminal case was initiated against her. \u0026quot;My pension card was blocked, the house where I live was seized, technical devices were seized... But the most difficult thing for me was the isolation,\u0026quot; said Kamshilova, who was under a recognizance agreement until the verdict was passed.\nIrina does not agree with the court\u0026#39;s decision. \u0026quot;I am accused of extremism, intolerance, incitement to hatred, disrespect for the right to choose, imposing my point of view,\u0026quot; the believer said in her final statement. — You know, I was like that when I lived without God\u0026#39;s laws. But God... for about 30 years has been teaching me through the Bible to actually show love... I cannot agree with the charge!\u0026quot;\nIrina is grateful to her friends for their support and practical help: one baked bread for her, another helped repairing the roof, and so on. She likes to use her initiative. \u0026quot;I try to help others,\u0026quot; she says. \u0026quot;During the prosecution, I made new friends, and my relationships with old ones strengthened. The realization that difficulties are not forever helps me to endure everything. I treat them like an illness: yes, they are restrictive, but they are temporary.\u0026quot;\nIn the Kurgan Region, five more of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are awaiting sentences on similar charges.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-09-05T14:29:26+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/09/051429/image_hu_e2c7edf59fb10796.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/09/051429/image_hu_3c0d23576cedcca8.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/09/051429/image_hu_bcb2f7b5d1e8cc7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/09/051429/image_hu_f13729ca24d3c78e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/09/051429.html","regions":["kurgan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","disability","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"In Kurgan Court Fines Woman, 57, with Disability, for Her Faith in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 5, 2025, 63-year-old Vladimir Skachidub left the penal colony where he served time for peacefully practicing his faith. His wife and friends met him when he arrived at the railway station in Tikhoretsk, which is near his native village of Pavlovskaya.\nVladimir has been behind bars since October 2021. He served his sentence in a penal colony in the village of Stenkino, Ryazan Region, which is 1200 kilometers from his home. Skachidub applied for parole, but the court refused him, despite awards he received for conscientious work.\nEven before the prosecution, Vladimir\u0026#39;s health was poor — he has been registered disabled due to a neurological disease; he suffered a heart attack, after which he had to undergo surgery to have a stent inserted. Being imprisoned had a negative impact: Skachidub fell from the top bed several times while having epileptic seizures; an inflammation developed on his skin and ear, which needed medical treatment. The believer did not have any serious problems with receiving medical care.\nPenal colony No. 6 in the Ryazan Region, where the believer served his sentence Friends meet Vladimir at the penal colony exit The believer goes home after his release Vladimir Skachidub after his return from the penal colony Vladimir worked in the sewing workshop — this work brought him joy. A source of support, according to him, were letters from caring people and prayers from friends. Furthermore, even in prison, Vladimir found an opportunity to continue with his hobby — chess: he played with a man from the UK, sending and receiving moves by correspondence.\nThe administration staff and other prisoners treated the believer with respect; many addressed him by his first name and patronymic. One of the inmates, who at first felt hostility toward Skachidub, changed his attitude when he saw the kindness of the believer and said: \u0026quot;You, Vladimir, are a true Christian.\u0026quot;\nFour more believers from the Krasnodar Territory serving prison terms for their faith.\n","category":"sentence","date":"2025-09-05T00:00:00Z","duration":"0:35","image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/09/081524/image_hu_77b50302720f0a4f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/09/081524/image_hu_95b9fb2b3a05e85d.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/09/081524/image_hu_1972b071d0d1d2c6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/09/081524/image_hu_d148fbe8015af3ed.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/09/081524.html","regions":["krasnodar","ryazan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["release","disability","elderly","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"Jehovah's Witness Vladimir Skachidub Released After Almost 4 Years Imprisonment","type":"news"},{"body":"The information will appear later.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Gaytur in Kurgan","date":"2025-08-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan5/index.html#20250827","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Supreme Court of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic upholds the sentence of Vladimir Fomin - 4 years and 6 months in prison. The decision of the court of first instance enters into force.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Fomin in Cherkessk","date":"2025-08-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk4/index.html#20250826","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","disability","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Eighth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction of Kemerovo upholds the verdict against Sergey Lukin. During the hearing, they do not let him speak in his defense.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Lukin in Biysk","date":"2025-07-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/biysk/index.html#20250731","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["cassation","labor","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Hearings in the case of Sergei Solovyov and Yuri Dementyev begin in the Ivanovo District Court. It is being considered by Judge Daria Morozova. Previously, both cases of believers - participation in the activities of an extremist organization and involvement in it - were combined into one.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Solovyov and Others in Ivanovo","date":"2025-07-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ivanovo/index.html#20250731","regions":["ivanovo"],"tags":["to-court","first-instance","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 31, 2025, Roman Teplukhin, judge of the Vyselkovskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, issued a ruling in the case of 27-year-old Vasilina Penskaya. She was found guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization and given a suspended sentence.\nVasilina faced prosecution on religious grounds in February 2022, when searches were carried out in her home, as well as in the home of her mother, Yelena Rumyantseva. After 1 year and 4 months, Vasilina became a defendant in a criminal case and was added to the Rosfinmonitoring list.\n\u0026quot;There were many tears because it\u0026#39;s scary when you\u0026#39;re accused of extremism, of something you didn\u0026#39;t do,\u0026quot; she recalls. Before the verdict, Vasilina\u0026#39;s husband, Dmitriy, added: \u0026quot;You can\u0026#39;t prepare for prosecution in any way, and it\u0026#39;s something you don\u0026#39;t get used to. The state of suspense, when you have no idea what will happen next, is very depressing. We have been living like this for 2 years already.\u0026quot;\nVasilina Penskaya, her husband, Dmitriy, and her mother, Yelena Rumyantseva, July 31, 2025 The case of Vasilina Penskaya was considered in court for more than 1.5 years. The guilty verdict was based on the testimony of a secret witness, which has been used in the cases against several other Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Vyselki. This man collaborated with the FSB and since June 2022 has been conducting covert audio and video recordings of meetings for worship. At the hearings, it turned out that he did not know Penskaya personally, neither could he confirm her participation in the meetings for worship, nor even her presence at them.\nSpeaking in court during her final statement, Vasilina emphasized: \u0026quot;Freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right. My faith is my personal choice, and it does not pose a threat to society.\u0026quot; She added: \u0026quot;I believe in God and try to live according to his commandments. This makes me a better person.\u0026quot;\nIn different districts of the Krasnodar Territory, criminal cases are initiated, searches are carried out, believers are imprisoned. A total of 38 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have faced prosecution in the region.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-07-31T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/08/040906/image_hu_edfa758112064aa9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/08/040906/image_hu_78895db905c0e38f.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/08/040906/image_hu_6e81348ec2e0ffe.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/08/040906/image_hu_a7657b51ca92c4e2.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/08/040906.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":"Vasilina Penskaya Given 2-Year Suspended Sentence for Her Faith in God","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"Yet Another Woman Convicted in Krasnodar Territory","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 29, 2025, Judge Natalia Shibanova gave Aleksandr Krushevskiy, 47, and Anatoliy Artamonov, 73, a 5-year suspended sentence with 1.5 years restriction of freedom. She found the believers guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization and involving others in it.\nThe first search at Krushevskiy\u0026#39;s home — there were three in total — took place back in 2018. Members of Artamonov\u0026#39;s family faced prosecution in 2019: then his daughter, Larisa, and grandson, Yevgeniy Yegorov, were charged. In early 2024, the investigation brought charges against Krushevskiy and Artamonov, citing hidden videorecordings of their conversations on Bible topics with friends.\nThe criminal case made the already difficult life of Aleksandr Krushevskiy, who has been hearing impaired since childhood, more complicated. \u0026quot;The old hearing aid has stopped working a long time ago, and I could not get a new one because of the prosecution. This is just one of the difficulties I had to shoulder,\u0026quot; he said in his final statement. During the interrogation, the believer was not provided with a sign language interpreter, and at the hearings he could not always make out the words of the judge.\nKrushevskiy\u0026#39;s wife is struggling with what is happening and hardly leaves the home. It is also emotionally hard for his mother. \u0026quot;Imagine, my dear mother sees her son, disabled since childhood, under investigation, running around the courts. Of course, it's heartbreaking for her,\u0026quot; Aleksandr revealed.\nAnatoliy Artamonov, a working pensioner, could not receive his salary in full because his bank card was blocked. The trial in the Birobidzhan District Court took a lot of time and energy, but the believer said that he \u0026quot;tried to spend every free minute with his wife, son and great-grandchildren.\u0026quot;\nAccording to Artamonov, he draws strength from the examples of his elderly and infirm fellow believers: \u0026quot;If they endure everything, then I can too. I particularly remember the example of Andrey Vlasov, a disabled person sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment.\u0026quot; Krushevskiy said about his attitude during the trial: \u0026quot;I tried not to think about the negative attitude of others — there are so many negative things. Instead, I helped everyone stay positive.\u0026quot;\nIn the Jewish Autonomous Region, 27 people have been prosecuted, of whom 13 were women. Four men are serving terms ranging from 3 years and 6 months to 6 years and 9 months in a penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-07-29T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/07/301335/image_hu_57ff73bc94a48165.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/07/301335/image_hu_a1cb6f8425bfd4a8.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/07/301335/image_hu_8c069aa6dae17428.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/07/301335/image_hu_606256a52d4a4342.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/07/301335.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":"A Man with Impaired Hearing and a Pensioner Convicted in Birobidzhan","tags":["sentence","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","elderly","disability"],"title":"For Discussing the Bible — 5-Year Suspended Sentence.","type":"news"},{"body":"The Gryazi City Court fined eight Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, including two elderly women aged 68 and 72, for talking about religion and participating in meetings for worship. The fines vary from 250,000 to 550,000 rubles. The trial lasted almost 2 years and ended on July 28, 2025.\nValeriy Khmil, a father of three minors, recalls how 4.5 years ago officers of the Investigative Committee and riot police broke into his house: \u0026quot;It was early in the morning. The children were scared, although the law enforcement officers tried to behave appropriately.\u0026quot; His wife, Kira, was put under pressure during the search. \u0026quot;One of the masked law enforcement officers said that if I don\u0026#39;t testify, my husband will be imprisoned for 10 years. I answered: my father, brother, uncle and grandfather were imprisoned for their faith. And so will my husband,\u0026quot; she recalls. Valeriy was not detained immediately, but a few months later — on International Day for the Protection of Children.\nAfter the raid, seven believers, including elderly women, were placed in a temporary detention facility. Later, Reshetnikov and Kretov spent almost 8 months in a pretrial detention center, then another 4 months under house arrest. All defendants in the case were added to the list of extremists.\n\u0026quot;I lost my job. And I couldn\u0026#39;t get another one while the trial was going on,\u0026quot; says Khmil. \u0026quot;But the most difficult thing during house arrest was social isolation, being unable to share my feelings. Over time, I learned to control my emotions. My wife and I tried to help others. This allowed me not to focus just on myself.\u0026quot; Sergey Kretov, an automation engineer, recalls that he was also left without a job because of the arrest, but his good reputation helped to resolve the situation: \u0026quot;After my release from detention, my former boss came to me and said: \u0026#39;Such people should not sit at home!\u0026#39; and took me on at a new place.\u0026quot;\nThe prosecution also led to other problems. Sergey said that after his detention he developed an emotional disorder and had to consult a specialist. \u0026quot;It was real depression — I could not make even the simplest of decisions. It took me 2 years to recover.\u0026quot; The arrest of the believer was a blow to his entire family. Kretov\u0026#39;s daughter, Yelizaveta, recalls: \u0026quot;In one day, everything turned upside down. Lawyers, papers, documents — we were constantly stewing in this mess. I was 15. I had to grow up very quickly. Learn to make my own decisions, accept help...\u0026quot;\nThe believers claim that the charges of extremism are related solely to their religious affiliation. The case was based on audio and video recordings of meetings for worship, as well as wiretapping. As the defense notes, these materials, on the contrary, demonstrate the peaceful nature of the meetings and confirm their innocence. Even at the investigation stage, it was obvious that at least some law enforcement officers did not consider them dangerous extremists. According to Khmil, in their case, one of the investigators sincerely apologized for his actions and justified them with an \u0026quot;order from above\u0026quot;.\nIn 2024, Mariana Katsarova, the UN Human Rights Council\u0026#39;s special rapporteur, expressed concern about the application of Russian legislation on extremism. In her report, she noted that \u0026quot;the definitions of extremism are too vague and allow for arbitrary application,\u0026quot; especially in relation to religious minorities such as Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-07-28T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/07/301347/image_hu_b9845fc7a91369af.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/07/301347/image_hu_5604cfe1461d1395.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/07/301347/image_hu_274ffb93b67950e3.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/07/301347/image_hu_a9bfbd8965c73429.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/07/301347.html","regions":["lipetsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","elderly","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"title":"Large Fines Imposed on Eight of Jehovah's Witnesses from Gryazi","type":"news"},{"body":"It has become known that a criminal case against Valeriy Minsafin has been initiated. Investigator S. Grachev charges him with participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Minsafin in Kurgan","date":"2025-07-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan6/index.html#20250716","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["282.2-2","new-case"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Having learned that a criminal case has been initiated against him, Igor Suslov travels more than 1700 km from the Altai Territory, where he lives with his family, to Kurgan, for interrogation at the local investigative committee. Investigator Grachev charges Suslov and places him under a recognizance agreement.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Suslov in Shadrinsk","date":"2025-07-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk3/index.html#20250716","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sona Olopova, 38, was released on parole and on July 7, 2025, left the correctional facility. She became the first Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness in Russia to have finished serving a sentence of forced labor.\nThe believer has been imprisoned since May 2024. During this time, she was placed in two correctional centers. She was assigned to various jobs: at first, Sona worked in the production of automotive parts, then she was transferred to ice cream production, and at the end of her term she was working in the correctional center itself.\nAccording to Sona, she is is not used to factory work — before the criminal trial, she was working both in retail and beauty (make-up, hairstyling, etc.). \u0026quot;It was scary: I came to the workshop, and there were these huge rattling machines,\u0026quot; she recalls. \u0026quot; \u0026quot;But after a while, I even liked it there.\u0026quot;\nSona\u0026#39;s hardworking attitude did not go unnoticed: she was awarded certificates for professionalism, initiative, enthusiasm, and integrity. In addition to the assigned work, the believer participated in volunteer workdays at the local center for patients with cerebral palsy. \u0026quot;Thank you for your open, kind and compassionate heart,\u0026quot; the administration wrote in a letter of appreciation.\nSona and her husband outside the correctional center Left to right: Sona\u0026#39;s father, sister, husband and Sona after her release. July 2025 Although forced labor is a more lenient punishment than imprisonment, it is fraught with various difficulties. Sona says: \u0026quot;Different living conditions, knowing video cameras were everywhere, the lack of personal space, stress... I was worried about violating any of the regulations. And the most difficult thing was being separated from my husband.\u0026quot;\nAccording to Sona, the staff and inmates of the correctional center, colleagues at the workplace, and even some experts who worked with her as a convicted person were sincerely indignant when they learned that she had been sentenced for her faith as one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. \u0026quot;Many people know the Witnesses personally. Most of those I met understood that faith is an inherent human right and you should not be tried for it,\u0026quot; Sona said. \u0026quot;The other inmates saw my good attitude towards people and my conscientious work; they also understood that I was behind bars for nothing, and treated me very well.\u0026quot;\nThroughout the criminal prosecution, Olopova\u0026#39;s family and friends supported her: \u0026quot;Many friends took care of me but especially the attention of one family moved me to tears. They are almost the same age as my parents. This couple has done so much that they have become like second parents to me.\u0026quot; She also warmly recalls how her father regularly brought fresh food, which she shared with other convicted women. \u0026quot;Whenever they learned about his next visit, they would say: \u0026quot;Oh, tomorrow our dad is coming,\u0026quot; Sona said.\nOlopova is one of the few believers who was granted parole. Her husband, Anatoliy, spoke about his impressions after the court decision: \u0026quot;Sona and I were in a stupor at first, we did not expect it. After the searches, our world changed, there were many court hearings, I was very nervous. And then this positive decision! I saw how Jehovah's hand is not short.\u0026quot;\nIn Tolyatti, three more female Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have been convicted for their beliefs. They are serving suspended sentences.\n","category":"sentence","date":"2025-07-07T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/07/100919/image_hu_f8c427df361ccf15.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/07/100919/image_hu_b28a0db29169f2a.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/07/100919/image_hu_eae43e37e9887201.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/07/100919/image_hu_3144ab059c094bc0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/07/100919.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["parole","labor","282.2-2"],"title":"In Tolyatti Sona Olopova One of Jehovah's Witnesses Was Released Early","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 4, 2025, Irina Ushakova, 50, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, was given a 2-year suspended sentence. Irina has faced repression previously — at the age of 16 she was forced to leave Tajikistan due to ethnic discrimination. Now she has been convicted for her religious beliefs.\nThe proceedings against Irina have been ongoing since February 2024. The criminal prosecution, however, has defined the life of her family for more than 3 years: during this time, the home of the Ushakovs was searched twice, and Vitaliy, the head of the family, ended up in a pretrial detention center for 7 months. \u0026quot;I missed his support,\u0026quot; Irina recalls. \u0026quot;I had to fight to get permission to visit my husband, and it took courage to approach the authorities.\u0026quot; Shortly before those events, she underwent a serious operation and a course of radiotherapy.\nIrina Ushakova in the courtroom on the day of the verdict Irina with her husband Vitaliy. July 4, 2025 Friends hug Irina at the courthouse The Vyselkovskiy District Court has been considering Irina\u0026#39;s case since October 2024. She was accused of \u0026quot;taking part in religious discussions.\u0026quot; She explained her position in court as follows: \u0026quot;I do this because it is the command of Jesus Christ, written in the Bible in the Gospels... Jesus wants all his followers to preach, which is what I do.\u0026quot;\nIrina and her husband Vitaliy are really thankful to all the kind-hearted people who have helped them. Vitaliy said: \u0026quot;We felt their support even in the smallest things: some attended the hearing, some came to the courthouse simply to say kind words. They brought flowers and small gifts to each hearing — all of this strengthened us.\u0026quot;\nIn Vyselki, 15 of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, both men and women, are being prosecuted on religious grounds.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-07-04T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/07/080914/image_hu_a4dbb9bae21a29d7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/07/080914/image_hu_c705dbfccb33c841.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/07/080914/image_hu_b9cfa591de9fa535.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/07/080914/image_hu_19bccc31b33e2e69.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/07/080914.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","disability","families"],"title":"Court in Vyselki Gives Yet Another Woman Suspended Sentence for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"By decision of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court, the sentence enters into force — 2 years suspended for holding meetings for worship of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nIn his appeal, the lawyer stated that he considered the prosecution of Kabanov to be persecution for his faith, since \"any mention of the phrase 'Jehovah's Witnesses' is interpreted by the prosecution as evidence of guilt.\" He explained that \"[Kabanov's] activity is the usual religious practice of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses to conduct meetings for worship, which is not prohibited by RF law or Constitution.\"\nProsecutor Artem Gaytanov in his appeal insisted on the confiscation of Kabanov's laptop in favor of the state. He requested that the remaining part of the court verdict be left unchanged.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kabanov in Zelenogorsk","date":"2025-06-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/zelenogorsk/index.html#20250626","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["appeal","elderly","282.2-2","suspended"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator S. V. Grachev opened a criminal case against Igor Suslov on suspicion of participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Suslov in Shadrinsk","date":"2025-06-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk3/index.html#20250623","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 23, 2025, the Cherkessk City Court sent Vladimir Fomin, 45, to a penal colony for 4.5 years. Judge Sapar Baychorov found the believer guilty of extremism for talking about the Bible with a local resident. Prior to the verdict, Fomin spent 1 year and 3 months in a pretrial detention center.\nAt the age of 20, Vladimir became a victim of hatred on religious grounds. Aggressive young people beat the believer right on the territory of the building for worship. The sustained injuries ultimately left him disabled. In February 2024, the home of the Fomin family was searched. Vladimir was placed in a pretrial detention center. He experienced a lack of prescribed medication in detention; his chronic illnesses worsened. During one of the court hearings, he even lost consciousness, so an ambulance had to be called.\nVladimir Fomin after his final statement in the courtroom The reason for the criminal prosecution of Fomin was conversations about the Bible with a local resident Y. Oncheva in the home of Yelena Menchikova, another believer from Cherkessk, previously given a suspended sentence of 4.5 years on similar charges. Later it became known that Oncheva, on the instructions of the FSB, covertly recorded these conversations.\nAt one of the court hearings, Vladimir Fomin stated: \u0026quot;Despite the fact that it is not forbidden in the Russian Federation to believe in Jehovah God, the prosecution identifies my religious affiliation and calls it not religious affiliation... but belonging to an organization declared extremist.\u0026quot;\nIn Karachayevo-Circassia, a republic with a population of less than 500,000 people, 13 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already faced criminal prosecution for their faith in recent years. In February 2025, the court sentenced one of them to a long prison term.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-06-23T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/06/241326/image_hu_3e42bf3c90795c93.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/06/241326/image_hu_9f9ad518341cf787.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/06/241326/image_hu_3c830808df7c38d7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/06/241326/image_hu_725fce8927c3878b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/06/241326.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","disability"],"title":"Disabled Person in the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic Sentenced to Imprisonment","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Grachev hands Gaydyshev a decision to prosecute him as an accused.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Gaydyshev in Shadrinsk","date":"2025-06-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk4/index.html#20250615","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Judge Dmitriy Sivenkov finds Muravyov guilty and imposes a fine of 600,000 rubles on him. He is released from the detention center.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Muravyov in Saint Petersburg","date":"2025-06-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/poronaysk2/index.html#20250611","regions":["stpetersburg"],"tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 11, 2025, Lidiya Koba, judge of the Vyselkovskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, ruled in the case of Lyudmila Zinina: 2-year suspended sentence with 6 months restriction of freedom for reading the Bible with friends.\nLyudmila worked as a nurse in an operating room for many years. She has been married since 1973 — more than 50 years. They raised three children. In 2012, a tragedy happened in the family — their son died. \u0026quot;It was very difficult to get over his death,\u0026quot; Zinina recalls. \u0026quot;On top of that I started having problems with my health: heart and vascular diseases, osteoporosis and diabetes.\u0026quot; In addition, the believer\u0026#39;s daughter, Irina, is also being prosecuted.\nDue to problems with her legs and spine, Lyudmila can hardly move. \u0026quot;The hearings were held in a neighboring town. Public transport runs, but only twice a day. If it were not for the help of friends, I would not have been able to get there. They regularly took me to hearings, sacrificing their time and energy,\u0026quot; she said.\nFront: Lyudmila accompanied by her friend on a day of a hearing. Background: Lyudmila\u0026rsquo;s daughter, Irina, with a friend Shortly before the verdict, Zinina was diagnosed with cancer, but treatment has not yet been prescribed. According to her, during medical procedures, she encountered the bias of the medical staff — some medical workers spoke contemptuously about her because she was on trial for her faith. However, after a while, the attitude of some softened thanks to Lyudmila\u0026#39;s conduct.\nThe criminal prosecution of Lyudmila Zinina has been dragging on since February 2022. At that time, mass searches were carried out in the homes of believers in Kuban. Recalling those events, Lyudmila said: \u0026quot;When the law enforcement officers arrived, the neighbors were so outraged that they were ready to stand up for me, I even had to dissuade them.\u0026quot; Prior to the verdict, Lyudmila was under a recognizance agreement.\nIn Vyselki, trials are underway against 15 of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. Lyudmila Zinina is the first of them to be sentenced for her faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-06-11T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/06/120836/image_hu_5ee73cae4daaa5d8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/06/120836/image_hu_96f37bce36c14a58.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/06/120836/image_hu_84acfcb748a6f21f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/06/120836/image_hu_88184cdff5603930.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/06/120836.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended","elderly","families"],"title":"Court in Vyselki Gave Pensioner Lyudmila Zinina, 74, Suspended Sentence for Her Faith in God","type":"news"},{"body":"The Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region reverses the decision of the court of first instance and sends the case for a new trial to the Birobidzhanskiy District Court.\nThe believer noted in her appeal: \"All of my actions were completely peaceful and respectful. The prosecution did not even charge me with inciting witness V. E. Suvorova to violence or religious hatred or enmity towards any person or group of persons practicing another religion or belonging to another nationality or social group.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kukavitsa in Birobidzhan","date":"2025-06-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan20/index.html#20250610","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The materials for Andrey Lukin are made into separate proceedings. Now his case is being considered separately from the case of Viktor Velikov.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Lukin in Moscow","date":"2025-06-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/moscow10/index.html#20250604","regions":["moscow"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 30, 2025, a series of searches and detentions took place in Tomsk: law enforcement officers went to at least four addresses. Anton Novopashin, a citizen of Kazakhstan, Djachi Gonhi, a student from Côte d\u0026#39;Ivoire, Andrey Plekhanov, as well as Yuriy Pichugin, who recently suffered a stroke, ended up in a pretrial detention center.\nThe searches began around 6 am. Law enforcement officers seized electronic devices, personal notes, bank cards, cash and Bibles. Then the believers were taken for interrogation to the Investigative Committee. Among them were three women who were later released. The next day, Mariya Tynyanaya, judge of the Kirovskiy District Court of the city of Tomsk, sent the four men into custody to detention center No.1 in the Tomsk Region.\nOn May 29, Captain of Justice Vyacheslav Lebedev, investigator for especially important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Tomsk Region, initiated criminal cases under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC. On the same day, he combined them with the case of Pushkov and others. The believers are charged with holding conversations and participating in events with the aim of \u0026quot;involving citizens in the religious movement\u0026quot; of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. The case contains the testimony of a secret witness who was present at some meetings for worship.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2025-05-30T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/handcuffs.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/06/051044.html","regions":["tomsk"],"subtitle":"Two Foreign Citizens Among Those Detained","tags":["search","interrogation","sizo","282.2-2","health-risk"],"title":"New Wave of Searches in Tomsk.","type":"news"},{"body":"Vyacheslav Lebedev, investigator of the Investigative Committee, initiates criminal cases against Anton Novopashin, Yuriy Pichugin, Andrey Plekhanov and Gonhi Djachi.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Pushkov and Others in Tomsk","date":"2025-05-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tomsk3/index.html#20250529","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Kostroma Regional Court reduces the term given to Terebilov by 2 months — the believer will have to serve about 5 years in a penal colony. The verdict enters into force.\nIn his appeal, the lawyer emphasizes, that his client cannot be charged of participating in the activity of any organization, since he is already isolated from society. According to the defense, correspondence with fellow believers, which was censored, also cannot indicate participating in an extremist organization — the letters seized from Terebilov contained historical and scientific facts about natural phenomena, animals, quotes from the Bible and words of support.\nDmitriy notes in the appeal: \"The verdict is unfair... Nowhere, neither in the criminal case itself, nor in court, is there a single excerpt of a conversation promoting extremist ideas... The interrogated witnesses did not cite anything I said that humiliated anyone's dignity.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Second Case of Terebilov in Kostroma","date":"2025-05-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kostroma4/index.html#20250528","regions":["kostroma"],"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"By the decision of the panel of judges of the Sakhalin Regional Court, the verdict — 6 years of imprisonment — enters into legal force. The believer has been held in a pretrial detention center for over a year for discussing religious and everyday topics with a resident of Sakhalin.\nIn his appeal, the believer’s lawyer emphasizes that \"witness S. Rozenblit talked with the convicted person voluntarily and repeatedly expressed a deep interest in learning about God and the Bible... Rozenblit could have ceased communicating with Tokhtaev at any time, which he eventually did. Moreover, Rosenblit did not face any negative consequences from the convicted person.\"\nIn his final statement, Daler Tokhtaev says: \"I sincerely believe that a person who lives according to the moral principles set out in the Bible only benefits society.\" He adds, \"Discussing topics, such as God’s purpose for the earth, cannot be declared criminal.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Tokhtaev in Poronaysk","date":"2025-05-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/poronaysk/index.html#20250526","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 26, 2025, the Kursk Regional Court reduced the sentences imposed on three Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses: for Nikolay Kupriyanskiy to 4.5 years and the Chausovs to 1 year and 10 months. The verdict has entered into force. Dmitriy Chausov was released the same day, as he had already served his entire term in a pretrial detention center.\nThe prosecutor filed an appeal against the verdict of court of first instance, in which he requested the punishment to be toughened against the believers: Kupriyanskiy — 7 years in a penal colony, the Chausov couple — 3 years. The state prosecutor requested the same terms in the court of first instance.\nDmitriy Chausov after being released from the pretrial detention center. May 26, 2025 The defendants also appealed the court\u0026#39;s decision. They asked to be acquitted due to the absence of a crime under Article 282.2 of the RF CrC. One of the believers\u0026#39; lawyers stated that criminal prosecution for religious beliefs degrades human dignity: \u0026quot;The actions of the investigation and the court are aimed at intimidating the convicted person and his fellow believers and forcing them to renounce their faith. Such treatment is also considered inhumane and caused them deep physical and moral suffering.\u0026quot;\nThe trend of prosecuting entire families of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses has continued for several years, and the case of the Chausovs is just one of many examples. All this is happening despite the ECHR\u0026#39;s demand to completely stop the prosecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-05-26T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/05/271325/image_hu_a7b25d3fa7391863.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/05/271325/image_hu_f40dfaac08880949.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/05/271325/image_hu_44cfced20ade8928.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/05/271325/image_hu_798fb195f0ca6dde.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/05/271325.html","regions":["kursk"],"subtitle":"Dmitriy Chausov Released","tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.2-2","families"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Kursk Mitigated Punishment for Their Faith Against Nikolay Kupriyanskiy and the Chausovs.","type":"news"},{"body":"The Eighth Court of Cassation in Kemerovo upheld the court decision against Sergey Petrenko - 4 years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 3 years. In his cassation appeal, the believer noted: \"During the trial, it was reliably established that [his] actions were in fact nothing more than a peaceful manifestation of his attitude towards religion, for which, as the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation emphasized, criminal liability is excluded.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Petrenko in Gorno-Altaysk","date":"2025-05-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/gorno-altaysk2/index.html#20250521","regions":["altai"],"tags":["cassation","282.2-2","suspended"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 29, 2025, Yevgeniy Zadvornyy, judge of the Lesosibirsk City Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, issued a decision in the case of Andrey Shiyan and Anna Matveeva: 6 years and 1 month in a penal colony and a fine of 400,000 rubles, respectively. Andrey was taken into custody in the courtroom.\nAndrey and Anna first faced criminal prosecution in November 2021. Then the law enforcement officers raided and searched their homes as part of the criminal case against another believer from Lesosibirsk, Valeriy Shitz. Later, in January 2023, Artem Kunko, a senior investigator of the Lesosibirsk Investigation Department of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, initiated criminal cases against Shiyan and Matveeva. After some time, Shiyan\u0026#39;s house was searched again, during which he fell ill and an ambulance was called twice for him; after the interrogation on the next day, he was taken to the hospital.\nAndrey and Anna were placed under recognizance agreements. The preliminary investigation of their cases was conducted separately, but in December 2023, the court decided to combine them into one proceeding. Shiyan was charged with organizing the activity of an extremist organization, and Matveeva was charged with participating in it. She was charged with discussing the Bible with friends in her own apartment, and he was charged with reading and commenting on religious texts. The trial lasted for a year. The charges were based on hidden video recordings of meetings for worship and conversations about the Bible, made by a woman who pretended to be interested in the Bible.\nAndrey Shiyan, 55, commented on the charges against him: \u0026quot;I am wrongfully charged because I did not renounce my religion, but continued to practice it with other believers... It is not clear to me on the basis of what authority the state prosecutor extrajudicially banned the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\u0026quot;\nAnna Matveeva, 48, is a teacher with many years of experience and respected by her colleagues. Speaking at one of the hearings, she noted: \u0026quot;They say that I tried to convince the secret witness of the superiority of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses over other people, but my words, contained in the case materials, make such accusations groundless: \u0026#39;We are not better than other people, but are just like them... Our goal is to live up to high Bible standards\u0026quot;... I am charged because of influencing a secret witness with expressions of love and commendation.\u0026quot;\nIn total, 31 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses were prosecuted in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, including 3 women. So far 12 believers have already been convicted; 5 men received prison sentences of 6 years or more.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-04-29T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/04/300828/image_hu_e2fadd769b96ae9d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/04/300828/image_hu_3bb1b59bc88c92c7.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/04/300828/image_hu_c5e1e3be024bfb19.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/04/300828/image_hu_2e39a83ba6bee603.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/04/300828.html","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"subtitle":"Court Sent Man to Penal Colony for 6 Years, and Fined Woman","tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","fine"],"title":"Another Guilty Verdict Against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 29, 2025, the court of appeal upheld the guilty verdict against Yevgeniy Semenov. \u0026quot;The court equated a believer of a peaceful religion with a terrifying follower of an agrressive movement,\u0026quot; said Yevgeniy\u0026#39;s lawyer. \u0026quot;Therefore,... he is a victim of discrimination.\u0026quot;\nIn his appeal, Semenov referred to the position of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the UN Human Rights Council: \u0026quot;Since the right to freedom of conscience and religion applies to everyone, it undoubtedly applies to Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, to their religious practices and manifestations, and also includes the right to gather for meetings for worship. [...] Practicing the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses cannot be interpreted as extremist activity.\u0026quot;\nThe defense drew attention to a number of violations and contradictions in the evidence in the case. Thus, the witnesses for the prosecution were either not acquainted with the convicted person, or their testimony did not contain information of any illegal actions on the part of the believer. Commenting on the religious expert study that formed the basis of the guilty verdict, the lawyer noted that the religious scholar went beyond his competence: \u0026quot;Conducting a religious study, expert D. V. Pikalov, has no right to go into legal analysis.\u0026quot;\nThe decision of the court of first instance was announced in February 2025: the believer was sent to a penal colony for 6 years and 3 months. Yevgeniy has been in custody for over 1.5 years. He is the first of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses convicted in the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic to receive a prison sentence for his faith; the other five were given suspended sentences.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-04-29T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/05/060957/image_hu_136370621df9c3fa.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/05/060957/image_hu_bfa225bdc03ac2d4.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/05/060957/image_hu_ff421f29ea224e26.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/05/060957/image_hu_7d0c314ec8eaa431.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/05/060957.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"title":"Supreme Court of the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic Upheld Guilty Verdict Against One of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"Aleksandr Davydenko, 33, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from the village of Pavlovskaya, will be sent to a penal colony. On April 28, 2025, the Krasnodar Territory Court upheld the verdict against the believer. He attended the hearing via videoconference from the pretrial detention center.\nThe punishment imposed on Davydenko remained unchanged - 4 years and 2 months in a penal colony. Since the believer was in detention for a long time during the preliminary and judicial investigation, he will only have to spend about two years in the correctional institution.\nAleksandr denies being guilty of extremism. The believer emphasized that he was being prosecuted on far-fetched grounds, already before the court of first instance. \u0026quot;How could I cause danger to the state by reading the Bible?\u0026quot; Aleksandr expressed his bewilderment at one of the hearings and continued: \u0026quot;What evidence confirms that I was inciting religious hatred and enmity? We have listened to the audio recordings [of conversations about the Bible], and there is nothing like that on any of them.\u0026quot;\nIn the Krasnodar Territory, 17 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses received prison sentences for their faith, more than in any other region of Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-04-28T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/04/291651/image_hu_f3d088a222a65b66.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/04/291651/image_hu_ed62a0769d66f81b.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/04/291651/image_hu_a9a44d209c7b3e9a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/04/291651/image_hu_58704b81ce26780c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/04/291651.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"Court in Kuban Upheld  Prison Sentence Against One of Jehovah's Witnesses for Discussing the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor requests real terms for Andrey Shiyan and Anna Matveeva: for Andrey - 6 years and 6 months, and for Anna - 2 years and 6 months.\nThe believers, their lawyers and the prosecutor speak in the debate, and then the defendants make their final statement.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shiyan and Matveeva in Lesosibirsk","date":"2025-04-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lesosibirsk3/index.html#20250425","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["punishment-request","defense-arguments","final-statement","courtroom","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 24, 2025, the Kovrov City Court of the Vladimir Region sentenced Aleksandr Popov, 37, - 250,000 rubles. Judge Mariya Maslova equated peacefully practicing his religion with participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\nThe court considered ordinary religious activities such as joint prayers and songs, as well as discussing the Bible with friends to be extremism. The believer declared his innocence: \u0026quot;I stand before you not for crimes. I did not commit any. Today I am in the dock for my faith in God and for the fact that I want to live the way Jesus Christ taught.\u0026quot;\nThe criminal prosecution of Aleksandr Popov began in August 2023. Then his home and the home of his elderly parents were searched, and law enforcement officers also questioned his relatives. Aleksandr was interrogated and sent to a temporary detention facility, and later placed under house arrest. After four months, the believer was placed under a ban on certain actions. In July 2024, the case went to court. During the closing arguments, state prosecutor Maksim Vavilov requested a fine of 450,000 rubles for Popov.\nIt is worth mentioning that shortly before Popov\u0026#39;s sentence, the Kovrov City Court fined two other Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses for their faith. Three other men were sentenced to imprisonment but have already served their sentences. Russian courts have again and again groundlessly declared peaceful religious activity as extremism. In his final statement, Aleksandr Popov said: \u0026quot;I would like to point out that in this criminal case there is only one victim — me. I have suffered physically, emotionally and materially.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-04-24T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/04/281649/image_hu_c3fa14aa62a7055d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/04/281649/image_hu_c1ba47018d36e3b2.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/04/281649/image_hu_3f1cdf91f1c057e9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/04/281649/image_hu_f4df75ac0f0b41b5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/04/281649.html","regions":["vladimir"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","fine"],"title":"In Kovrov, Another Jehovah's Witness Received Fine for His Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Lieutenant of Justice Natalia Vikhareva, senior investigator of the Koptevsky Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the Northern Administrative District of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the city of Moscow, initiates a criminal case against Maria Pankova under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Pankova in Moscow","date":"2025-04-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/moscow9/index.html#20250422","regions":["moscow"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 22, the Krasnodar Regional Court announced its decision to terminate the criminal case against Valeriy Baylo due to his death, despite the objections of his son. He died in the pretrial detention center a month earlier. According to the position of the RF Constitutional Court, the termination of a case on such grounds without the consent of close relatives is unlawful.\nThe crime report, filed with the Investigative Committee by Valeriy Baylo\u0026#39;s lawyer, states: \"\u0026quot;The death of my client occurred as a result of criminal negligence and inaction on the part of the administration of detention center No. 3 in Novorossiysk\u0026quot;\". The lawyer stressed that the believer suffered from exhaustion and severe stomach pains, but the staff of the detention center systematically ignored his requests for help. Valeriy, his friends and his lawyer sought treatment for almost a year.\nThe believer managed to appeal the verdict. He maintained his complete innocence and requested the decision of the court of first instance, which had sentenced him to 2.5 years in a penal colony, be overturned. The verdict does not mention a single illegal action by Baylo. As his lawyer noted, although the believer was convicted of extremism, \u0026quot;the prosecution did not claim that he incited violence or religious hatred or enmity.\u0026quot;\nThe story of Valeriy Baylo once again confirms the position of the international human rights community: the criminal prosecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Russia is unjust and repressive in nature.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-04-22T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/04/281310/image_hu_76201895d13e3d73.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/04/281310/image_hu_cf7686757610b3c4.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/04/281310/image_hu_f4550e9b06270822.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/04/281310/image_hu_aa9a217501559baf.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/04/281310.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","died","282.2-2","elderly","sizo","medical-rights","health-risk","prison-treatment"],"title":"Court of Appeal Rejects Posthumous Rehabilitation of Valeriy Baylo","type":"news"},{"body":"The hearing is adjourned at the request of the state prosecutor, who has just entered the process. The judge extends Vladimir Fomin's detention for another 3 months.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Fomin in Cherkessk","date":"2025-04-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk4/index.html#20250418","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["first-instance","punishment-request","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","defense-arguments"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Gaydyshev. The ruling states that the believer \"appointed brothers or sisters to hold meetings for the ministry, organized preaching on holidays.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Gaydyshev in Shadrinsk","date":"2025-04-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk4/index.html#20250418","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Denis Sushchenko summons Anastasia Dyldina to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory and charges her in a new edition. Now, in addition to participating in the activities of an extremist organization, the believer is also accused of financing it. Anastasia is charged with participating in a meeting for worship consisting of \"a video performance 'The Earth Will Endure Forever', the singing of songs...' Paradise Promised by God... 'Always devoted to God.'\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Byche and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2025-04-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok12/index.html#20250417","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Referee: Maria Maslova. Kovrov City Court of the Vladimir Region (21 Shchorsa Street, Kovrov). Start: 10:30.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Popov in Kovrov","date":"2025-04-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kovrov5/index.html#20250410","regions":["vladimir"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 10, 2025, the Birobidzhanskiy District Court gave Vladlena Kukavitsa a 6-year suspended sentence. Judge Aleksandr Kulikov deemed discussing questions about Christianity to be involving others in \u0026quot;the activity of an extremist organization.\u0026quot; Vladlena considers the verdict unjust.\nOperational-investigative measures against Kukavitsa began back in July 2022. In February 2024, A. A. Karavaev, FSB investigator for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiated a criminal case against her for involving others in the activity of an extremist organization. At the same time, her home was searched. A month later, another investigator, Dmitriy Yankin, who had repeatedly initiated criminal cases against Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiated a second case against her, this time for participating in extremist activity. Then both cases were combined into one. Six months later, Vladlena was placed under a recognizance agreement. The prosecutor requested a 7-year suspended sentence for her.\nThe charge in this case was based on the testimony of a woman named Valeria Suvorova, with whom Vladlena discussed Bible topics. In court, the believer noted that this was instigated by the law enforcement agencies and said: \u0026quot;Valeria Suvorova asked me to continue discussing religious topics with her, pretending that she was interested, that she needed God\u0026#39;s comfort and hope for the wonderful future God promises. When I learned that this girl had difficult life circumstances, I sincerely wanted to help her.\u0026quot;\nVladlena Kukavitsa works at an ambulance station and has the reputation of being a conscientious worker and a peace-loving person. Her reference from her place of work says that she is polite, non-confrontational, maintains friendly relations with colleagues and has never spoken offensively about other people.\nIn court, the believer defended herself, and since the hearings were held behind closed doors, none of her relatives could attend the court hearings. Nevertheless, many came to support her at the courthouse. She said what helped her: \u0026quot;While I was in the courtroom, I was very supported and strengthened by the thought that my friends were now waiting for me and soon I would see them and be able to hug them.\u0026quot;\nAt the time of the sentencing of Vladlena Kukavitsa, 26 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses had already been prosecuted in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Half of them are women, all of whom have been given suspended sentences ranging from 2 to 4.5 years.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-04-10T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/04/151441/image_hu_a2ed8fa69cc4d168.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/04/151441/image_hu_f5d4a9e585bed2d0.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/04/151441/image_hu_2e6d40ff37d77432.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/04/151441/image_hu_f85d1b7a8e26d775.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/04/151441.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":"Vladlena Kukavitsa Given 6-Year Suspended Sentence for Talking About God","tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"title":"One More Guilty Verdict in the Jewish Autonomous Region.","type":"news"},{"body":"Kirill Krymsky, 37, is being prosecuted under two articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - participation in the activities of an extremist organization and its financing.\nInvestigator Denis Sushchenko considers it a sign of extremism that \"Krymsky played the communicative role of assistant to the host during weekly religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses, read a prayer for Jehovah God.\"\nThe investigation bases the accusation against Krymskiy and other believers involved in this case on the testimony of an embedded agent, S. I. Sergeenko.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Byche and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2025-04-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok12/index.html#20250407","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Denis Sushchenko charges Anatoliy Baranov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and interrogates him.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Byche and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2025-04-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok12/index.html#20250402","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2","interrogation"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The prosecutor requested large fines for the defendants as a punishment: Podolin - 800 thousand rubles; Popras - 790 thousand rubles; Khmil - 750 thousand rubles; Kretov and Reshetnikov - 500 thousand rubles each; Vyrezkova and Morglang - 490 thousand rubles each and Perekatiy - 400 thousand rubles.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Reshetnikov and Others in Gryazi","date":"2025-03-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/gryazi/index.html#20250328","regions":["lipetsk"],"tags":["punishment-request","elderly","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 26, 2025, Natalya Novikova, judge of the Kovrov City Court of the Vladimir Region, found Mikhail Sveshnikov, 54, father of four, guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. He was fined 250,000 rubles with installments over 25 months.\nThe prosecution of Sveshnikov began at the end of August 2023, when two law enforcement officers detained him near his home. This is how the believer learned that the Kovrov Directorate of the Investigative Committee had initiated a criminal case against him. His house was searched, and he was sent for interrogation, after which he was escorted to a temporary detention facility. Mikhail spent almost 4 months under house arrest, and later his preventive measure was changed to a ban on certain actions. In July 2024, after 11 months of investigation, the case went to court.\nIn his final statement before the court, the believer said: \u0026quot;I am sure that my beliefs cannot harm anyone. If the \u0026#39;extremism\u0026#39; that is attributed to me is real, then it would be logical to expect that in 14 years of my service to God there should be real victims. And if this is not the case, then this \u0026#39;extremism\u0026#39; is simply fabricated.\u0026quot;\n\u0026quot;The prosecution, with the aim of discrediting my reputation, used a certain stereotype against me, which is often heard in the media,\u0026quot; he added.\nThe verdict has not entered into force. The believer can appeal this decision to higher instance courts.\nLaw enforcement agencies of the Vladimir Region continue to prosecute Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-03-26T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/03/271525/image_hu_d0fab63150e761b1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/03/271525/image_hu_d6265f8f11b64a99.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/03/271525/image_hu_957a8107c138ba26.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/03/271525/image_hu_272052adc84ac9a6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/03/271525.html","regions":["vladimir"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","fine"],"title":"Kovrov Court Fines Mikhail Sveshnikov Quarter of a Million Rubles for Christian Activity","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 25, 2025, Artem Ozhev, judge of the Kovrov City Court, sentenced Oleg Sakun — the pensioner was fined 250,000 rubles for participating in peaceful meetings for worship.\nThe believer said: \u0026quot;Since February 2021, our family has faced searches and interrogations. My wife Valentina and I were already elderly at that time, and these events had a very strong impact on our health. Due to emotional distress, my wife developed diabetes. At the end of 2021, we fell ill with coronavirus, my wife died of complications: as the doctor said, her health was weakened due to the stress suffered and her body could not cope with the disease. In August 2023, a criminal case was initiated against me.\u0026quot;\nIn May 2024, the case went to court. According to the prosecutor, Oleg Sakun continued the activity of a legal entity liquidated by the court, simply by practicing the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. He requested a fine of 350,000 rubles for him. Objecting to the prosecuter's arguments, the believer used an illustration of a sewing factory outer garments, which was a legal entity, but went bankrupt and ceased operations. He asked the court: \u0026quot;Can it be concluded that former factory workers cannot sew clothes for personal needs or the needs of other people?\u0026quot;\nIn his final statement, Oleg Sakun said: \u0026quot;I am 72, never would I have thought that just because I am one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, I would be put on par with terrorists and extremists.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-03-25T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/03/271522/image_hu_fa74179f606241dc.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/03/271522/image_hu_8a6abd9481c442e9.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/03/271522/image_hu_e181792b8bbff213.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/03/271522/image_hu_3191815898cab511.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/03/271522.html","regions":["vladimir"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","fine","elderly"],"title":"Court Ordered Pensioner, 72, From Kovrov, to Pay Fine for His Faith in God","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 24, 2025, Mariya Manaeva, judge of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court, gave Olga Kalinnikova and Larisa Potapova, residents of Iturup Island, a 2.5-year suspended sentence. To participate in the court hearings, they had to fly to Sakhalin, each time covering a distance of 450 kilometers.\nIn her final statement, Olga Kalinnikova said: \u0026quot;Laws are created to protect society from criminal actions. The law on extremism stipulates punishment for specific actions of an extremist nature. The list of these actions does not include peaceful conversations with people about God. On the contrary, such conversations are protected by the State and the Constitution.\u0026quot;\nLarisa Potapova also pleaded not guilty to extremism, stating: \u0026quot;The most harmless people were labeled extremists. This is very strange, because Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses do not take up arms, they are opposed to any form of cruelty.\u0026quot;\nThe criminal case was initiated in October 2023, a month later the homes of the women were searched. As it turned out, they had come to the attention of the law enforcement officers a few years earlier. Olga said that since 2017, six rulings have been issued to not initiate a criminal case against her. Initially, investigator Kirill Deshko initiated a case against Kalinnikova and Potapova \"for participating in the activity of an extremist organization,\" and six months later extended the charge to include the article against involving others in this activity.\nAccording to the lawyer of the believers, the main witness in the case was an elderly woman, with whom Kalinnikova and Potapova talked about the Bible and whom they selflessly helped in everyday matters. With the woman\u0026#39;s permission, the officers conducted hidden video filming in her house. Potapova commented on these actions as follows: \u0026quot;I have no grudge against [the witness — Ed.]. It is so strange for someone to say that she was afraid of me and didn't want me to visit her, when a photo in the case materials shows us hugging and smiling. And it is all the more surprising that she repeatedly came to my house herself.\u0026quot;\nThe case went to the Kurilsk District Court in May 2024, but two judges recused themselves one after the other. As a result, the case was sent to the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court for consideration. Due to the long distance, the believers motioned to participate in the hearings via videoconferencing but were refused. The state prosecutor requested a 5.5-year suspended sentence for them.\nA total of 10 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution in the Sakhalin Region. One of them has been sentenced by the court to 6 years in a penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-03-24T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/03/251349/image_hu_702f97deb18f9d0b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/03/251349/image_hu_5cd7128832871395.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/03/251349/image_hu_c8ef2f7e34f26677.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/03/251349/image_hu_5c0a40bd3d5a86e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/03/251349.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":"Court Deemed Conversations About the Bible to Be Extremism","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","suspended"],"title":"Two Residents of the Kuril Islands Were Given Suspended Sentences.","type":"news"},{"body":"Homes of Jehovah's Witnesses are searched in Tomsk, after which three married couples are detained.\nThe criminal case is initiated by the investigator for especially important cases of the second department for the investigation of especially important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Tomsk Region, Captain of Justice Lebedev V. S.\nYevgeniy Dodolin reports that he was detained at 11:00, although the case was initiated and accepted for proceedings only at 16:00.\nVladimir Pushkov is accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, and Aisulu Tastaibekova, Yevgeniy and Yana Abramovs, Yevgeniy and Tatyana Dodolins are accused of participating in the activities of this organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Pushkov and Others in Tomsk","date":"2025-03-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tomsk3/index.html#20250320","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["new-case","ivs","282.2-1","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Major of Justice V. E. Baltachev, Senior Investigator of the Third Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region, initiates a criminal case against Elena Mironova under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, the woman \"took part ... in religious meetings and gatherings... holding conversations with residents of Chelyabinsk, watching educational videos.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Mironova in Chelyabinsk","date":"2025-03-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk12/index.html#20250314","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 13, 2025, a panel of judges of the Altai Territory Court replaced the 4.5-year suspended sentence against Sergey Lukin, an entrepreneur from Biysk, with forced labor of the same duration, which the prosecutor\u0026#39;s office had sought.\nThe court of first instance found Sergey Lukin guilty of participating in and involving others in the activity of an extremist organization. This is how the authorities interpreted holding peaceful meetings for worship and conversations on Bible topics.\nThe believer considers the charge of extremism groundless. He stated in his appeal: \u0026quot;The court mistakenly regarded the completely legitimate expression of my faith — characteristic of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses — as illegal actions.\u0026quot;\nIn the Altai Territory, 9 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are being prosectuted and have been sent to a penal colony, given a suspended sentence or forced labor for their faith in God.\nIn September 2024, the UN Human Rights Council\u0026#39;s special rapporteur, Mariana Katsarova, stated that in Russian law, \u0026quot;the definitions of \u0026#39;extremism\u0026#39;... are too vague... allowing arbitrary interpretation and application\u0026quot;. She notes that \u0026quot; \u0026#39;extremism\u0026#39; charges are used to target religious minorities, especially Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses\u0026quot; (§§ 66, 70).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-03-13T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/03/200930/image_hu_68731d53f85884f9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/03/200930/image_hu_771e8ebed2eba61a.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/03/200930/image_hu_718b68975cfae779.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/03/200930/image_hu_6ae2cd1da7f4a7ea.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/03/200930.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":"Instead of a Suspended Sentence Sergey Lukin Was Given Forced Labor","tags":["appeal","labor","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"Court Toughens Sentence for One of Jehovah's Witnesses from Biysk.","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 10, 2025, the Amur Regional Court upheld the sentence against Yekaterina Olshevskaya, Mariya Myasnikova, Kristina Golik and Valentina Yermilova: forced labor for up to 2.5 years.\nThe court of first instance issued the verdict in December 2024. The believers pleaded not guilty, appealed and requested they be acquitted. In their appeals, they drew attention to the groundlessness of the charges and the absence of any socially dangerous consequences of their actions. The same was confirmed by witnesses questioned in the court of first instance. They said that believers gathered to associate and read the Bible, but there were never any calls to undermine the state system, or for hatred or violence. The prosecutor insisted on the legality of the verdict and requested it be upheld.\nDawid Bunikowski, visiting scholar at University of Eastern Finland\u0026#39;s School of Theology, academic associate at Cardiff School of Law and Politics\u0026#39; Centre for Law and Religion, said: \u0026quot;This is ridiculous that people are punished for worshipping in private.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-03-10T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/03/111049/image_hu_b791fe220deb95cd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/03/111049/image_hu_27fee08454da582e.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/03/111049/image_hu_97638fec9a67d91.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/03/111049/image_hu_1db22e3a831c95a4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/03/111049.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":"Court of Appeal Did Not Grant Their Appeals","tags":["appeal","labor","families","282.2-2"],"title":"In Blagoveshchensk Verdict Against Four Women — Jehovah's Witnesses — Entered Into Force.","type":"news"},{"body":"The Poronaysk City Court sentenced Daler Tokhtaev to 6 years imprisonment. Judge Yuliya Sheveleva considered the conversations about the Bible as participating in the activity of an extremist organization and involving others in it. The decision was announced on February 28, 2025.\nA year earlier, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Tokhtaev. Two months later, he was detained and taken to a pretrial detention center in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 300 km from home. He was forbidden to see his wife or even talk with her on the phone. Daler was held in custody until the verdict was passed, despite health problems: when he was placed in the pretrial detention center, he was recovering from surgery.\nThe case went to court in October 2024. The charge was based on covert video recordings of Daler\u0026#39;s conversations with Sergey Rozenblit, who feigned interest in the Bible. During his interrogation, it was revealed that he had turned to Tokhtaev for answers to his personal questions; their conversations were like those between friends. Recordings presented in court showed them discussing the Bible, as well as work and family issues. \u0026quot;The law in Russia does not prohibited this... Me being in the dock now is a huge mistake,\u0026quot; Tokhtaev said.\nIn the Sakhalin Region, 10 people have faced criminal prosecution for their faith; 6 of them have already been given suspended sentences by the courts.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-02-28T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/03/031629/image_hu_ee386fd522286edd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/03/031629/image_hu_dd3bf860d8f1cf29.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/03/031629/image_hu_eec84d8906ec31a2.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/03/031629/image_hu_cba8f87b815545f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/03/031629.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Court in Sakhalin Sends Believer, 34, to Penal Colony.","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 25, 2025, Judge Lev Bogdanov ruled in the case of Aleksandr Davydenko, 32, resident of the village of Pavlovskaya — 4 years and 2 months in a penal colony for talking about the Bible.\nAleksandr faced prosecution for his faith in 2020 after the same happened to his aunt, Lyudmila Shchekoldina. In April 2023, the local FSB Directorate charged Davydenko with participating in the activity of an extremist organization and involving others in it. After several months the believer was placed in a pretrial detention center.\nDavydenko\u0026#39;s case has been under consideration in the Pavlovskiy District Court since June 2024. The believer was charged with discussing the Bible with a resident of the village, Valeriy Ilchenko, who recorded those conversations and handed them over to the FSB. Davydenko commented on these conversations as follows: \u0026quot;Ilchenko had questions, which [we] answered reasoning on the Holy Scriptures. When we met, Valeriy felt calm, and we had pleasant conversations.\u0026quot; In court, the informant admitted that he had never heard any aggressive statements from Davydenko, and also did not feel any pressure to become one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\nIlchenko\u0026#39;s recordings of conversations on spiritual topics became the basis for the conviction of three more believers — Lyudmila Shchekoldina, Vladimir Skachidub and Maksim Beltikov, all of whom also received terms in penal colonies.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-02-25T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/02/261605/image_hu_b54a88311b3aaa6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/02/261605/image_hu_a5f9fea045cef3bc.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/02/261605/image_hu_704f8335eaa3da05.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/02/261605/image_hu_9cf311ed2ecd7afe.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/02/261605.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"title":"Court in Kuban Sentences One of Jehovah's Witnesses, Sending Him to a Penal Colony for His Faith in God","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 22, 2025, the homes of two families of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses were searched in the cities of Slavgorod and Yarovoye (Altai Territory). The believers were interrogated and then released.\nThe investigative measures were carried out as part of a criminal case initiated on December 25, 2024 under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC (participating in the activity of an extremist organization). The searches were led by Margarita Chupina, investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Altai Territory. FSB and police officers searched for digital media, mobile devices, computers and religious literature.\nThe first search began early in the morning in the house of Alik Yeliseyev, 33, and his wife and lasted about 5 hours. Entering the house, the law enforcement officers knocked the man down. Not finding what they were looking for, the law enforcement officers began threatening the believers that they would tear up the floors and smash the wall. Eventually, they seized computers, phones, flash cards, a hard drive and Bibles from the couple.\nThe house of Sergey Barsukov, 52, and his wife was searched in the afternoon. At the demand of law enforcement officers, the couple handed over electronic devices and two Bibles. They also confiscated their personal notes and letters.\nThis is already the eighth criminal case against Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in the Altai Territory. Three men were sentenced to prison terms from 3 to 6 years.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2025-02-22T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/search.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/03/040924.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":"Case Initiated on Suspicion of Extremism","tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","interrogation"],"title":"Homes of Jehovah's Witnesses Searched at Border with Kazakhstan.","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 21, 2025, the Court of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area upheld the verdict against a group of believers from Surgut. The panel of judges considered the case for more than 4 months. The suspended sentences imposed on the believers — from 3 years and 3 months to 7 years — entered into force.\nThe case against Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Surgut is one of the biggest and longest of its kind: the criminal prosecution affected 18 people and has been going on for more than 6 years.\nThe verdict of the court of first instance, handed down at the end of 2023, was appealed by both sides: state prosecutor Larysa Oniskevich considered the punishment \u0026quot;excessively lenient\u0026quot;, and the defense sought to overturn the conviction. According to the lawyer, the decision of the court of first instance is unconstitutional. \u0026quot;The materials of the criminal case do not contain a single fact, not one single statement, not one single episode that would fit the criteria of extremist activity,\u0026quot; one of the convicted persons, Vyacheslav Boronos, echoed the lawyer's words during the closing arguments.\nAnother 9 believers in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area—Yugra faced criminal prosecution on similar grounds. Eric Patterson, executive vice president of the Religious Freedom Institute and former dean of Regent University\u0026#39;s Robertson School of Government, said, \u0026quot;Russia\u0026#39;s continuing persecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses as \u0026#39;extremists\u0026#39; who threaten Russia\u0026#39;s national security is unfair and unwise. It contributes to an atmosphere of fear and social stagnation.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-02-21T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/02/251517/image_hu_8837bffa5e66bebd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/02/251517/image_hu_9114f0455e7da91c.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/02/251517/image_hu_8e40446b24ebf024.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/02/251517/image_hu_45310bcaa4b39f9e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/02/251517.html","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"subtitle":"In Khanty-Mansiysk, Appeal Hearings in the Case of Eighteen Jehovah's Witnesses From Surgut Have Ended","tags":["appeal","complaints","suspended","282.2-1","282.3-1","282.2-2","families","elderly"],"title":"Terms to be Upheld.","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 20, 2025, the Cherkessk City Court sentenced Yevgeniy Semenov to 6 years and 3 months in a penal colony. Judge Azamat Kubov deemed peaceful conversations with people about God to be organizing the activity of an extremist organization, participating in and involving others in it.\nAddressing the court, Yevgeniy said that Bible principles actually helped him in his youth to change his life style and, after serving a term, become an honest and decent person. But in August 2023, he found himself behind bars again, this time for his faith. Then the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Semenov under an article for extremism. In May 2024, the trial began. Soon all the believer's accounts were blocked.\nThe case was based on covert recordings of conversations between Semenov and two women who pretended to be interested in the Bible. In court the lawyer pointed out that, in the case \u0026quot;there is not a single fact or evidence of illegal activity but instead a mass of evidence of my client practicing his personal religious activity.\u0026quot; \u0026quot;Thus, the prosecution equates religious actions with extremist actions, which the law of the Russian Federation does not allow,\u0026quot; the lawyer believes. At the same time, none of the witnesses, interrogated in the case, said that they heard any calls for extremism from Semenov.\nThis is already the sixth guilty verdict in the region. The cases of five more Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic are awaiting court decisions.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-02-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/02/211436/image_hu_8ce9f016199ddd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/02/211436/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/02/211436/image_hu_a131f142d99e1faa.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/02/211436/image_hu_804b16dbb0315620.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/02/211436.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Court in Cherkessk Sentenced 37-year-old Jehovah's Witness to a Long Term in a Penal Colony","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 18, 2025, the Zelenogorsk City Court found Aleksandr Kabanov, 64, guilty of extremism and gave him a 2-year suspended sentence. \u0026quot;Actually, there is no evidence that I am a danger to society,\u0026quot; the believer said a week earlier, addressing the court in his final statement for the second time.\nThe criminal prosecution has shaped Kabanov\u0026#39;s life for the past 5 years. The search and detention were followed by 2.5 years of preliminary forensic investigation. As a result, he was convicted the first time — given a 2-year suspended sentence. However, at the court of appeal the trial took an unexpected turn: the panel of judges returned the case to the prosecutor, not finding corpus delicti in the actions of the believer.\nAccording to Kabanov, the further investigation has not changed his position: he still considers himself innocent. \u0026quot;When they interrogated witnesses, including a secret one, nothing bad was said about me,\u0026quot; he said at a recent hearing. \u0026quot;They talked about what I really do, and that is study the Bible and share what I\u0026#39;ve learned.\u0026quot; Despite this, Judge Stanislav Doronin found the believer guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\nAt the moment, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, 31 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are being prosecuted for their faith. The world community condemns the persecution of peaceful believers in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-02-18T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/02/201117/image_hu_6a006061cbbf592e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/02/201117/image_hu_4957626383f5412a.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/02/201117/image_hu_a7ee233fc383f6e4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/02/201117/image_hu_ac5d3277abc3340b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/02/201117.html","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","retrial","suspended","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"Aleksandr Kabanov from Zelenogorsk Again Given a 2-Year Suspended Sentence for His Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 14, 2025, the Altai Territory Court partially granted Vitaliy Manuylov\u0026#39;s appeal against the guilty verdict. The remaining term of punishment has been recalculated — of the 2 years of forced labor imposed by the court, about 10 months are considered to have already been served.\nIn his appeal against the verdict, Vitaliy Manuylov stated that the court\u0026#39;s conclusions did not correspond to the factual circumstances of the criminal case, and the presence of corpus delicti was not proven. He further noted that the decision of the first instance contained procedural violations — the court did not take into account the time he was under a ban on certain actions when calculating the unserved sentence.\nIn the Altai Territory, eight Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already received various convictions because of their beliefs.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-02-14T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/02/171317/image_hu_81112aebc6209d5f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/02/171317/image_hu_dfb7cfcf56b68cdc.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/02/171317/image_hu_e982dc43c616d0bc.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/02/171317/image_hu_d66e0229bc523adc.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/02/171317.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","labor"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Barnaul Upholds Verdict Against Jehovah's Witness Vitaliy Manuylov","type":"news"},{"body":"The case against Tatyana Maz is separated into a separate proceeding.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Byche and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2025-02-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok12/index.html#20250205","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The criminal case of Tatyana Maz is separated from the case of other believers in Vladivostok.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Maz in Vladivostok","date":"2025-02-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok13/index.html#20250205","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Major of Justice R. N. Tazhikenov, senior investigator of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia for the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, opened a criminal case against Nikolay and Larisa Kosov. They are accused of \"participation in the activities of a religious association, in respect of which the court made an enforceable decision to liquidate it in connection with the implementation of extremist activities.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Kosovs in Cherkessk","date":"2025-02-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk6/index.html#20250204","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["new-case","families","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The court found Liliya Dolinina, a pensioner from the village of Dormidontovka, guilty of extremism because she wrote letters to a woman on spiritual topics. On February 3, 2025, Judge Kseniya Matviyevskaya gave the elderly believer a 4.5-year suspended sentence.\nThe charge was based on Liliya\u0026#39;s letters, which she wrote to her son's friend, I. Lavrenova. According to the believer, her motive was wanting to support this woman. \u0026quot;My goal was to help her come to know God and the advice he gives to people through the Bible,\u0026quot; Liliya said in court. \u0026quot;I just wanted her to enjoy a happy family life with my son.\u0026quot; However, the prosecution regarded this correspondence as an attempt to involve Lavrenova in an extremist organization.\nIn February 2023, Liliya learned that a criminal case had been initiated against her, when her house was searched, and she was interrogated for 5 hours at the local department of the Investigative Committee. At the same time, the FSB visited Lavrenova and seized the letters from Dolinina.\nIn March 2024, Dolinina\u0026#39;s case was submitted to the Vyazemskiy District Court. The hearings were adjourned for 4 months due to the deterioration of the elderly believer\u0026#39;s health. Chronic illnesses, as well as an injury, confined her to bed. During this period, the pensioner was added to the Rosfinmonitoring list. Due to problems with her heart, vision and hearing, it was difficult for Liliya to participate in court hearings. In her testimony, she stated: \u0026quot;I could not have imagined that I would be tried at the age of 78 in my country in the 21st century for personal correspondence.\u0026quot;\nDuring the interrogation in court, Lavrenova and Dolinina\u0026#39;s son claimed that a significant part of their testimony, recorded by the investigator in the interrogation protocol, was fabricated. Lavrenova stated that Liliya Dolinina did not try to involve her in any extremist communities. The conclusions of the expert study also acknowledged that \u0026quot;in the letters and messages there are no calls to join or participate in the activity of any organization.\u0026quot;\nLiliya said that during this difficult period, she is not lacking support: fellow believers take her to the hospital, buy food and medicines. \u0026quot;I am grateful to our brothers and sisters for their support and love,\u0026quot; she stresses. \u0026quot;My faith and gratitude to God grow stronger every time.\u0026quot;\nAlready 41 of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from the Khabarovsk Territory have been prosecuted for their faith; of these 7 are over 70 years old, 1 died while under investigation.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-02-03T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/02/051113/image_hu_46765e7a82810dae.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/02/051113/image_hu_a0a5f814fbe739a5.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/02/051113/image_hu_7bdd5417f7566014.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/02/051113/image_hu_7b7b3ac1e83d5c63.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/02/051113.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","elderly","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"Court in Khabarovsk Territory Gave 78-Year-Old Woman a Suspended Sentence for Letters About God","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 3, 2025, the Pervorechenskiy District Court sentenced Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Vladivostok to various terms, even up to 7 years imprisonment. Judge Galina Vasilkevich deemed peaceful religious activity to be extremism. Previously the husband of one of the defendants, Dmitriy Barmakin, was sentenced to 8 years in a penal colony on similar charges.\nIgor Lonchakov was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, Yuriy Redozubov — to 6.5 years. The women were given suspended sentences: Yekaterina Treguba and Lyudviga Katanaeva — 3 years and 4 months each with a 3-year probation period; Yelena Barmakina, Yelena Tsorn and 65-year-old Nina Astvatsaturova — 3 years each with a 3-year probation period.\nThis case is one of the longest in the history of prosecuting Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in modern Russia. Back in the fall of 2017, undercover FSB agent, Yekaterina Petrova, began secretly recording meetings for worship. Yelena Barmakina was the first to be prosecuted. Later, her case was combined with cases against nine of her fellow believers.\nThe Investigative Committee charged Yuriy Redozubov and Igor Lonchakov with organizing the activity of an extremist organization, and Yelena Barmakina, Yelena Tsorn, Nina Astvatsaturova, Lyudviga Katanaeva, Yekaterina Treguba, Alibek Kartayganov and the couple Roman and Violetta Verigin with participating in its activity. In 2023, the consideration of the case against Kartayganov and the Verigins was paused.\nYelena Barmakina twice defended her right to freedom of religion in court. In 2020, the court returned her case to the prosecutor, and in 2022 she was brought to trial again along with the other believers. Speaking during the closing arguments, she said: \u0026quot;A new charge has been brought against me, but in fact its plot and description of the criminal act imputed to me have not changed. I am charged with all the same actions as before: reading and discussing texts from the Bible... participating in singing religious songs, praying and watching videos of talks.\u0026quot; Nina Astvatsaturova commented on the charges: \u0026quot;During these meetings, there were no extremist calls for illegal actions against anyone.\u0026quot;\nSimultaneously with the case of Yelena and her fellow believers, the Pervorechenskiy District Court considered the case of her husband, Dmitriy Barmakin, who was initially acquitted, but later sent to a penal colony. He is serving his sentence in the Samara Region, 7,500 kilometers from Vladivostok.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-02-03T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/02/051048/image_hu_c87337877e1a7d93.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/02/051048/image_hu_2b5c12fa1c6fef1a.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/02/051048/image_hu_41e56ff3dcba768b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/02/051048/image_hu_3ab868d891173c13.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/02/051048.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":"Two Men Received Prison Terms","tags":["sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","suspended","families"],"title":"Court in Vladivostok Passed Verdict in Case of Seven of Jehovah's Witnesses.","type":"news"},{"body":"Referee: Ksenia Matvievskaya. Vyazemsky District Court of the Khabarovsk Territory (4 Kozyukova Street, Vyazemsky). Time: 10:30 a.m.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Dolinina in Dormidontovka","date":"2025-01-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/dormidontovka/index.html#20250130","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["punishment-request","defense-arguments","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 28, 2025, Maksim Ivanishko,judge of the Fokino City Court of the Primorye Territory, issued a decision in the case of Aleksander Sazhin. He gave him a 3-year suspended sentence for reading the Bible with fellow believers, deeming it participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\nDuring the closing arguments, Sazhin emphasized: \u0026quot;I am a Christian. My religious views are based on the Bible. They are expressed in two basic commandments: love God and love people. Therefore, my views are the complete opposite to what is called extremism.\u0026quot;\nThe believer faced criminal prosecution from April 2023. Then investigator A.S. Belashko initiated a case against him under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC, and 2 days later Aleksandr\u0026#39;s house was searched. He was detained, interrogated in the FSB department, and then released under a recognizance agreement. The investigation lasted a year, after which the trial began in April 2024.\nBecause of the prosecution, Sazhin had to quit his job; his cards and accounts were blocked. The searches also affected the health of his wife.\nThe charge against the believer was based mainly on the testimony of a witness, who feigned an interest in the Bible and was in close contact with Sazhin. Since fall 2022, he was secretly recording meetings for worship. According to the defendant, the man\u0026#39;s testimony only shows that Sazhin discussed the Bible with him and invited him to several meetings. The indictment states: \u0026quot;There is no information about any victims or the nature and extent of the harm caused... by the crime.\u0026quot; Nevertheless, the prosecutor requested 3 years imprisonment for the believer.\nIn the Primorye Territory, 58 people have already been prosecuted for their faith, 8 of them have been sentenced to a penal colony for terms ranging from 2 to 8 years.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-01-28T16:29:34+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/01/281629/image_hu_21d4bad93fbf572d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/01/281629/image_hu_7559fe0b7cc552b6.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/01/281629/image_hu_ce1b11389c3a7506.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/01/281629/image_hu_a8f3ba5c1b4580f0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/01/281629.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":"Aleksandr Sazhin Given a 3-Year Suspended Sentence for His Faith in Jehovah God","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"Yet Another Guilty Verdict in Primorye Territory.","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 24, 2025, a panel of judges of the Sakhalin Regional Court considered the case of Roman Gumenyuk and did not change the decision of the court of first instance. Earlier, the court gave the believer a 5-year suspended sentence. He maintains his innocence and has the right to appeal this decision in cassation proceedings.\nIn his appeal, Gumenyuk noted that participating in meetings for worship and conversations on Bible topics with other people is not a crime, but a form of expressing faith that is not prohibited by law. In his final statement, the defendant said: \u0026quot;I have not committed any crime, and especially the one I am charged with. I lead an honest life. My friends and acquaintances know me as a peace-loving person who is incapable of illegal actions that would harm anyone.\u0026quot;\nRoman Gumenyuk became the sixth Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness in the Sakhalin Region convicted for his religion.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-01-24T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/01/290933/image_hu_935e8acc631c9794.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/01/290933/image_hu_31d0e20319e437cd.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/01/290933/image_hu_e95ddbc8ce00edd8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/01/290933/image_hu_640d1e94255404e8.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/01/290933.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","suspended"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Sakhalin Upheld Guilty Verdict Against Roman Gumenyuk","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 23, 2024 the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma issued a second guilty verdict against Dmitriy Terebilov - 5 years and 5 days in a penal colony with a strict regime. Judge Dmitriy Gorokhov deemed conversations about the Bible as involving other convicted persons in the activity of an extremist organization.\nIn the fall of 2021, the believer was sentenced to 3 years in a strict regime penal colony for practicing the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. Terebilov served his sentence in full, but was not released — another criminal case was initiated against him under an article for extremism in the spring of 2023. The charge was based on the testimony of a cellmate who feigned an interest in the Bible, to the effect that the believer only answered the man\u0026#39;s questions about his religious beliefs.\nAs evidence of his guilt the investigation also used letters that Terebilov received while in the colony, and entries from his personal diary. At one of the hearings, the colony\u0026#39;s censor noted that in these letters \u0026quot;there were no calls to incite hatred or enmity; there were no insults.\u0026quot; Remarkably, even before Dmitriy became a believer and while he was serving a fourth sentence for criminal offenses, he received a letter from Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses and, according to him, that is what completely changed his life. \u0026quot;From an unworthy criminal, I turned into a God-fearing person and a useful member of society,\u0026quot; Dmitriy said.\nIn his final statement, Terebilov asked: \u0026quot;I cannot understand what evil I have committed and against whom? How would I know what I can and cannot do? The authorities say that my religion is not banned, I can practice it if there is no extremism in my actions, and there never has been. But the law enforcement agencies believe that whatever I do as one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses is already a crime.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-01-23T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/01/251141/image_hu_d6771f9a95195678.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/01/251141/image_hu_238a046e02d0207f.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/01/251141/image_hu_44968414cf62ab98.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/01/251141/image_hu_ffb959f6771d4bf9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/01/251141.html","regions":["kostroma"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Court Sends Dmitriy Terebilov Back to Penal Colony for Practicing His Religion","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 20, 2025, the verdict against Rimma Popova, a resident of Cherkessk, was announced — 4.5-year suspended sentence. Judge Din-Islam Chotchaev equated talking about God and reading the Bible to extremism. \u0026quot;I suffered a heart attack because of the stress,\u0026quot; the defendant said.\nThe believer faced criminal prosecution in June 2023, when her house was searched. Three months later, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against her. Rimma was interrogated and detained, and then the court placed her under house arrest for 2 months. Due to severe stress, she was hospitalized, and after being discharged, an electronic bracelet was put on her leg to track her whereabouts.\nIn April 2024, Popova\u0026#39;s case was sent to the Cherkessk City Court. The charge was based on the testimony of a woman with whom Rimma discussed the Bible. The believer commented on this as follows: \u0026quot;Was there anything extremist in our conversation with Miroshnik about marriage, during which we talked about how to strengthen it, how to treat each other: it is important for a wife to be assured of love, and for a husband to be respected? That\u0026#39;s what's written in the Bible.\u0026quot;\nChallenging the charge that she \u0026quot;continued to promote the superiority of followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses,\u0026quot; Popova noted: \u0026quot;It is strange that the prosecution did not cite a single quote from the notepads, notebooks and notes seized from me, which allegedly contained such propaganda.\u0026quot; The prosecutor requested 4.5 years in a penal colony as punishment for her.\nBack in 2022, Emily Baran, PhD, an expert on Russia and church-state relations, noted: \u0026quot;Russia continues to treat this religious community [of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses] as dangerous extremists, despite the complete lack of evidence to support this claim.\u0026quot; By 2024, 11 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, including 7 women, had already suffered for their faith in the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-01-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/01/211537/image_hu_e7ea28ba748a0393.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/01/211537/image_hu_43c58af407037b28.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/01/211537/image_hu_cb13224de6744608.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/01/211537/image_hu_ed35a31e96914ff3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/01/211537.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":"Woman, 56, Given Suspended Sentence for her Faith","tags":["sentence","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"In the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic, the Fifth Verdict Against One of Jehovah's Witnesses Was Announced.","type":"news"},{"body":"The Khabarovskiy District Court completed the retrial of the criminal case of two Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses on January 20, 2025. Judge Kira Kirina gave pensioners Lyubov Kocherova, 66, and Lyubov Ovchinnikova, 66, a 5.5-year suspended sentence.\nThe first verdict in this case — a 6-year suspended sentence — was handed down in August 2023. State prosecutor Yekaterina Trofimenko, who insisted on a prison term, appealed this decision. The court of appeal sent the case back for a new trial, which began in January 2024 in the same Khabarovskiy District Court.\nLyubov Kosherova nad Lyubov Ovchinnikova with their friends outside of the courthouse, January, 2025 Preliminary and judicial investigations against Kocherova and Ovchinnikova have already been going on for 2.5 years. The prosecution based the criminal case on audio recordings of meetings for worship and conversations about the Bible, made by undercover FSB agent Stanislav Martyn. Speaking in court, the believers disagreed with the charges and mentioned that the constitutional right to freedom of religion cannot be a crime.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-01-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/01/210938/image_hu_93882afcf145268e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/01/210938/image_hu_f8a63499bc468d41.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/01/210938/image_hu_6f0124ce655d8e4f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/01/210938/image_hu_cf1056a6c1de5f3f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/01/210938.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":"Court Deemed Talking About the Bible to Be Extremism","tags":["sentence","elderly","suspended","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"title":"Two Elderly Women From Khabarovsk Given Suspended Sentences.","type":"news"},{"body":"Emelianenko interrogates Artamonov and Krushevsky and charges them with participation in the activities of an extremist organization and involvement in it.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Krushevskiy and Artamonov in Birobidzhan","date":"2025-01-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan21/index.html#20250115","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2","interrogation"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigation will reclassify the charges against Yegor Pogrebnyak and Kirill Chekolaev from part 1 to part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Byche and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2025-01-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok12/index.html#20250115","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Vadim Baltachev, Senior Investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region, issues a ruling against Oleg Artyomov to bring him as a defendant in committing crimes under Part 2 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Oleg Artemov in Chelyabinsk","date":"2025-01-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk11/index.html#20250114","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The prosecutor requests a sentence of 4.5 years in a general regime colony for Rimma Popova.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Popova in Cherkessk","date":"2025-01-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk3/index.html#20250114","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 14, 2025, a panel of judges of the Novosibirsk Regional Court upheld the conviction of two believers: 6 years in a penal colony for Valeriy Maletskov for organizing the activity of an extremist organization and 4 years in a penal colony for Marina Chaplykina for participating in and financing it.\nFor more than 1 year — since the verdict was passed — the believers have been in a pretrial detention center. The first appeal hearing took place back in June 2024, however, as it turned out, the believers were not given the opportunity to fully familiarize themselves with the case materials. Due to this, the panel of judges postponed the trial for 6 months.\nAddressing the court, Marina Chaplykina, 53, said: \u0026quot;I respect the state and judicial authorities, trying to do what Jesus Christ taught —\u0026#39;to pay back Caesar's things to Caesar\u0026#39;s\u0026#39;, that is, to obey the laws of my country: to pay taxes correctly, to respect representatives of the authorities... I believe that one day... people will live, enjoying good health, peaceful conditions and warm relationships... This is not extremism! This is hope for a happy future.\u0026quot;\nThe minor child of Valeriy Maletskov, 50, will be left without his father\u0026#39;s care for 6 long years. Marina Chaplykina is one of 16 women practising the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, who have been sentenced to a term in a penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2025-01-14T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/01/160924/image_hu_127b1a9e8c674bab.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/01/160924/image_hu_d352ba2bee4492dc.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/01/160924/image_hu_6dfdb51b9920de.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/01/160924/image_hu_b82528bd49c9f796.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/01/160924.html","regions":["novosibirsk"],"subtitle":"A Man and a Woman Will be Sent to a Penal Colony for Their Faith","tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Novosibirsk Upheld the Verdict Against Two Jehovah's Witnesses.","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Emelianenko chooses a measure of restraint for believers in the form of a recognizance not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Krushevskiy and Artamonov in Birobidzhan","date":"2025-01-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan21/index.html#20250113","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 26, 2024, Irina Ivanova, judge of the Nazarovo City Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, found 60-year-old Pavel Chemrov guilty of extremism for saying prayers and reading religious literature. He was given a 3-year suspended sentence.\nThe believer maintains his innocence and can appeal the verdict in higher instance courts. In his final statement, he explained to the court that his \"intent is for people to treat each other with love, kindness, respect and mercy, to always remain calm and to rely on God.\"\nThe Investigative Committee for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia has been monitoring Pavel Chemrov since 2018. Later, in December 2023, a criminal case was initiated against him for participating in the activity of an extremist organization. His house was searched. The believer was interrogated and released under a recognizance agreement. In June 2024, the case went to court. Witnesses for the prosecution did not corroborate any of the prosecutor's allegations. During interrogation one woman said that she had heard \"only good\" from Chemrov. Despite this, the prosecutor requested 3.5 years in a penal colony for the believer.\nDuring the hearings, Chemrov drew the court's attention to the fact that the RF Supreme Court did not prohibit Jehovah's Witnesses from continuing to practice their religion individually or jointly. He added: \"It is insulting to expect that after the liquidation of a legal entity... believers... can conduct meetings for worship exclusively within the framework of other religious denominations, which in fact would mean renouncing their faith and would nullify the explanations of the Plenum of the RF Supreme Court.\"\nIn the Krasnoyarsk Territory, another 30 Jehovah's Witnesses are being prosecuted for their faith. Five of them are serving their sentences in penal colonies.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-12-26T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/12/271510/image_hu_eeba8df35a7a2418.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/12/271510/image_hu_2b83dfac0ae1fb8d.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/12/271510/image_hu_6bdf0d48fcbb5035.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/12/271510/image_hu_5b455062defa0053.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/12/271510.html","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"Believer from Krasnoyarsk Territory Received a 3-Year Suspended Sentence for Praying to Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor asks the court to send Pavel Chemrov to a general regime colony for 3 years and 6 months.\nThe defendant makes his final statement.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Chemrov in Nazarovo","date":"2024-12-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nazarovo2/index.html#20241224","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["punishment-request","defense-arguments","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator of the Korenovsk Interdistrict Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory D. S. Fomenko attracts Sergey Nazarov as a defendant in the activities of an extremist organization.\nAccording to the ruling, Sergey \"took a direct part in religious sermons, during which ... conducted and listened to lectures based on the religious literature of Jehovah's Witnesses, entered into conversations and religious discussions with other participants.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Nazarov in Vyselki","date":"2024-12-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki13/index.html#20241223","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Maria is charged with participating in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Mariya Ogoreva in Mednogorskiy","date":"2024-12-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mednogorskiy6/index.html#20241221","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Early in the morning, searches are carried out at the homes of four families in Dubna and the nearby village of Zaprudne. At least five people were taken for interrogation to the Investigative Committee in the city of Dmitrov and soon released.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Mladov and Inkina in Dubna","date":"2024-12-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/dubna/index.html#20241219","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["search","interrogation","ivs","282.2-2","new-case"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A series of searches and interrogations of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses took place from 19- 23 December 2024, in Dubna and the village of Zaprudnya near Moscow, as well as in the Krasnodar Territory. At least two people were detained on charges for extremism. One of them still remains behind bars.\nIn the Moscow Region, searches began on Thursday, December 19, at 5:30 a.m., and affected four families. At least five people were taken for interrogation to the Directorate of the Investigative Committee in Dmitrov. According to the believers, the investigators pressured them, insisting that they sign a waiver to participate in the court proceedings for the recognition of the searches as lawful. Everyone except Galina Inkina was released shortly after. The next day, the court imposed on her a preventive measure that was not related to detention. The believer was fitted with a tracking bracelet.\nDmitriy Mladov, 45, a resident of Novorossiysk, was detained by law enforcement officers four days later in the Krasnodar Territory. Traffic police officers stopped the car in which Dmitriy was traveling with his wife. After checking their documents, they took them for interrogation to the department for counteracting extremism. He was searched, after which he was taken to the Moscow Region and placed in a temporary detention facility in the town of Taldom.\nTwo weeks earlier, five believers had been arrested as a result of searches in Moscow and the Moscow Region. Thus, the total number of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses facing criminal prosecution for their faith in Moscow and the Moscow Region has exceeded 25.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2024-12-19T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/search.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/12/260909.html","regions":["moscow_obl","krasnodar"],"subtitle":"Elderly Woman from Moscow Region and Resident of Novorossiysk are Prosecuted for Their Faith","tags":["search","interrogation","ivs","282.2-2"],"title":"Further Raids Against Jehovah's Witnesses.","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 17, 2024, Aleksandr Korovenko, judge of the Pechora City Court of the Komi Republic fined a group of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, having found them guilty of organizing the activity of an extremist organization, participating in, and financing it.\nTaking into account the time spent in detention, Gennadiy Polyakevich must pay 200,000 rubles, and Gennadiy Skutelets — 250,000 rubles. The court imposed fines of 600,000 rubles on Nikolay Anufriyev, Eduard Merinkov and Aleksandr Vorontsov. The verdict has not yet entered into force and can be appealed.\nAleksandr Prilepskiy, who died during the proceedings at the age of 58 from the consequences of COVID-19, was also found guilty by the court, but it ruled to terminate the criminal prosecution due to his death. Thus, this is already the third case where one ofJehovah\u0026#39;s Witness has been posthumously found guilty of extremism. During the closing arguments, Prilepskiy\u0026#39;s lawyer, said: \u0026quot;Although my client is no longer with us, there are people who are ready to continue the fight, as my client did not admit his guilt.\u0026quot; Aleksandr\u0026#39;s wife and daughter maintain his innocence.\nThe Investigative Committee for the Komi Republic initiated a criminal case against the believers in January 2020. At that time, searches were conducted by law enforcement officers in the homes of 12 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. Polyakevich was sent to a pretrial detention center, where he spent about 10 months. Skutelets spent 1 year under house arrest. The other believers were placed under recognizance agreements. After about 1.5 years of investigation, the case went to court, however, after 8 months it was sent back for further investigation. In April 2023, the court hearings resumed — essentially starting the proceedings with different judges. The prosecutor requested 5 to 7 years imprisonment for the believers.\nThe support of friends and fellow believers helped the defendants cope with the hardships of criminal prosecution — they provided material assistance, attended hearings in any weather, gave cards, food, and wrote encouraging letters. Gennadiy Polyakevich, said in his final statement, that he received more than 5,500 letters while in the pretrial detention center.\nAnother case against five believers is being considered by a court in the Komi Republic. One of them, Sergey Ushakhin, a disabled person, died during the court hearings due to a sudden deterioration of his health.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-12-17T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/12/191313/image_hu_50e0216aedb73aa1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/12/191313/image_hu_7a71232502f1b03e.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/12/191313/image_hu_605b253ade6d9d6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/12/191313/image_hu_cfda4d44e2c71cf7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/12/191313.html","regions":["komi"],"subtitle":"One Of Those Convicted Died 2 Years Prior to This Decision","tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","elderly","died"],"title":"Court Imposes Fines Ranging from 200,000 to 600,000 Rubles on 7 Believers from Pechora.","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 12, 2024, the Irkutsk Regional Court upheld the sentence against nine Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. Earlier, the court of first instance had sentenced them to various terms of imprisonment in a penal colony. The believers maintain their innocence and have the right to appeal the verdict in cassation proceedings.\nAs noted by the defense, the meetings of worships in which the convicted Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses participated had nothing to do with the liquidated legal entities. Nevertheless, Sergey Vasiliyev was found guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization (Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC), the rest were found guilty of organizing the activity of an extremist organization (Article 282.2(1) of the RF CrC); six of them were also found guilty of financing it (Article 282.3(1) of the RF CrC). Aleksey Solnechny, commented during the closing arguments: \u0026quot;I am charged with allegedly collecting funds... However, there is no concrete proof that I collected and transferred funds specifically for the needs of extremist organizations and specifically for extremist purposes. The verdict does not mention such evidence.\u0026quot;\nMikhail Moysh has two minor children. The believer\u0026#39;s wife, Yelena, said: \u0026quot;Nikita [the eldest son — Ed.] misses his father; they only talk on the phone and during visits. The youngest son, David, was 6 months old when Misha was arrested. When I manage to take him on visits, he doesn\u0026#39;t recognize his daddy.\u0026quot; At the appeal hearing, Mikhail\u0026#39;s lawyer asked the judicial panel: \u0026quot;Why then did the court recognize M.F. Moysh having young children of as a mitigating circumstance? In order to impose an even harsher punishment than the prosecutor requested?\u0026quot; The court\u0026#39;s position regarding Andrey Tolmachev, who spent about 2.5 years in solitary confinement, has not changed either. He is the only son of elderly parents: his father has a disability, and due to health reasons his mother is unable to provide her husband with proper care.\nIn his final statement, Sergey Vasiliyev, who had fully served his sentence in a pretrial detention center and under house arrest before the appeal hearing, explained that his faith in God changed his life for the better: \u0026quot;I stopped swearing, quit smoking and began learning to love people. In total, it took me 9 years to overcome all the negative things within me with the help of Jehovah God. After that, for almost 20 years, the state had nothing on me. And suddenly, in 2021, there were searches and I was arrested. For what? Because I studied the Bible and tried, like Jesus Christ, to do good to people.\u0026quot;\nIt is noteworthy that neither the Oktyabrskiy District Court of Irkutsk nor the Irkutsk Regional Court questioned the expert Elbakyan, although in the first instance she was waiting in the courthouse to be questioned, having flown from Moscow to the hearing to testify. Yekaterina Sergeyevna is a well-known Russian religious scholar. At the appeal hearing, one of the lawyers noted: \u0026quot;This is the only specialist who has examined all the meetings for worship mentioned in the charges against our clients.\u0026quot; Another lawyer emphasized that the refusal to interrogate is a serious violation of the RF Criminal Procedural Code: \u0026quot;If this motion is not satisfied, then I believe that the appellate ruling will be unlawful.\u0026quot; In the end, the panel of judges rejected all motions filed by the defense.\nThe criminal case against the Irkutsk believers received wide publicity, since the mass searches were accompanied by torture and violence by law enforcement officers, for which they have not yet been held responsibile.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-12-12T09:36:31+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/12/120936/image_hu_9e9e8c7f750bc1bf.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/12/120936/image_hu_2c18f594d5837e91.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/12/120936/image_hu_a65f37f1ab956a02.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/12/120936/image_hu_4df5ffbbf6b6c808.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/12/120936.html","regions":["irkutsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","siloviks-violence","torture","elderly"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Irkutsk Upheld Verdict Against Nine Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 11, 2024, the Biysk City Court gave Sergey Lukin a 4.5-year suspended sentence. The believer does not admit guilt and, as a Christian, considers it his inherent right to talk to friends and other people about the Bible. \u0026quot;What\u0026#39;s extremist about wanting to follow Jesus\u0026#39; example?\u0026quot; he asked in court.\nThe Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Lukin in December 2022. The following month, the homes of four families of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Biysk were searched, including Sergey\u0026#39;s apartment and place of work. The law enforcement officers who took part in the investigative actions were armed. After his interrogation, Lukin was placed under a recognizance agreement.\nThe criminal case involved a man who pretended to be interested in the Bible: he secretly recorded conversations with Lukin on Bible topics and later handed over the recordings to the law enforcement agencies. The investigation considered these conversations to be involving others in the activity of an extremist organization, and participating in peaceful meetings for worship as continuing its activity.\nIn his final statement, Lukin drew an analogy between his situation and the repressions during World War II. He quoted a report on a group of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Nazi Germany: \u0026quot;... the accused, who for several years have called themselves \u0026quot;Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses,\u0026quot; held meetings in their apartments, read and distributed printed materials of the banned [organization] ... gathered together to listen to the Bible Students\u0026#39; radio broadcasts from abroad.\u0026quot; The believer noted that the accusations are identical to modern ones. \u0026quot;Hasn\u0026#39;t history shown that such persecution is a path to terrible consequences?\u0026quot; he said.\nNine Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been charged with extremism in the Altai Territory, two of them are serving sentences in penal colonies for their faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-12-11T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/12/120929/image_hu_c5c5644028b5a8c5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/12/120929/image_hu_1523efd1b10680ec.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/12/120929/image_hu_efdbbe2b186c6e4a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/12/120929/image_hu_8df50b28135b57e3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/12/120929.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"In Biysk, One of Jehovah's Witnesses Given Suspended Sentence for His Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 5, 2024, at least eight homes of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses were searched in Moscow and Lyubertsy near Moscow. In one of the cases, the law enforcement officers used force. Five believers — Zaur Murtuzov, Daria Petrochenko, Liliana Korol, Larisa Kislaya, and Oksana Ivanova — were sent to a temporary detention facility. A criminal case has been initiated.\nUpdate. By a court decision, Zaur Murtuzov, Liliana Korol and Darya Petrochenko were placed in a pretrial detention center, Larisa Kislaya and Oksana Ivanova under house arrest. In the early morning, officers of the Investigative Committee and the FSB, accompanied by the National Guard and SOBR, broke into the houses of believers, after waking them up with loud knocks on the door. In some apartments, law enforcement officers (numbering from five to eight people, some of them wearing masks and with weapons) broke down the doors using crowbars and sledgehammers. According to one of the believers, in her case the testifying witnesses turned out to be police.\nAccording to eyewitnesses, the officers demanded they unlock phones and laptops, provide access to correspondence, threatening them with criminal prosecution and detention. The officers beat one believer on the head and stomach and broke his nose. During the searches, passports for travel abroad,electronic devices, flash drives, hard drives, notebooks, cards, photographs, Bibles, religious books and a Bible atlas were seized. The searches lasted from 2 to 5 hours.\nFive believers were taken to the Investigative Department for the Southern Administrative District of Moscow, interrogated, and later placed in a temporary detention facility. On the same day, Senior Lieutenant of Justice Y. S. Shumilova,investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the city of Moscow, charged Zaur Murtuzov with participating in the activity of an extremist organization and involving others in it. This is how the investigation interprets conversations on Bible topics with a woman (Olga Grigoryeva), who for two years pretended to be interested in the Holy Scriptures.\nTo date, 19 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have been convicted for their faith in Moscow and the Moscow Region, 7 of them are serving time in penal colonies.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2024-12-06T17:16:03+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/search.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/12/061716.html","regions":["moscow","moscow_obl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["siloviks-violence","search","interrogation","new-case","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"New Wave of Searches of Homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow and the Moscow Region","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 6, 2024, the Blagoveshchensk City Court announced the verdict against four women - Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. Judge Stanislav Stanishevskiy sentenced them to different terms of punishment for their faith: Kristina Golik and Valentina Yermilova — 2.5 years, and Mariya Myasnikova and Yekaterina Olshevskaya — 2 years and 2 months forced labor with 10% of the salary being paid to the state.\nSearches, interrogations, arrest of relatives and separation from them — according to the recollections of the believers, they went through a lot during the 6 years their families were being prosecuted. The husbands of Golik, Yermilova and Olshevskaya were sentenced to long terms for their faith. As well as her husband, Yekaterina\u0026#39;s father also faced such a punishment. \u0026quot;It\u0026#39;s incredibly hard for me to see my little son, who has just begun to speak, asking me where his dad is,\u0026quot; said Yekaterina Olshevskaya. \u0026quot;I was emotionally exhausted by the constant participation in court hearings related to the criminal cases of my father, my husband, and now my own.\u0026quot; The execution of Olshevskaya\u0026#39;s sentence has been deferred for about 10 years, until her son reaches the age of 14.\nThe FSB accused the women of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. The investigation considered holding meetings for worship, discussing the Bible with friends and meetings with friends in a café to be illegal actions. Valentina Yermilova commented on the charges as follows: \u0026quot;I do not have to justify myself. I didn\u0026#39;t hurt anyone in any way. There were no victims. I did not take part in extremist actions. In our country, everyone has the right to freedom of religion.\u0026quot; Mariya Myasnikova echoed her comments: \u0026quot;My faith is the complete opposite of extremism. It teaches you to love people, respect authority and be a peacemaker.\u0026quot;\nHearings in the case began in May 2023. During the entire period of the preliminary and judicial investigation, the believers were under recognizance agreements. Even while in the colony, the husbands of the defendants assured their wives of their love and support through letters. Friends also helped the believers. \u0026quot;Despite heat, rain or frost, they came to the courthouse, always with smiles and words of encouragement,\u0026quot; Yermilova said.\nIn the Amur Region, 24 of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already faced criminal prosecution. In at least 5 families of believers, several people were under investigation - couples, brother and sister, father and daughter. The trend of prosecuting relatives who are Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses has also been gaining momentum in other regions in recent years.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-12-06T09:14:18+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/12/060914/image_hu_5c0efde937c113a3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/12/060914/image_hu_46af2366093660e4.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/12/060914/image_hu_8c36d4e703065945.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/12/060914/image_hu_69a8cc6cf2945abf.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/12/060914.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","labor","families"],"title":"Wives of Prisoners of Conscience from Blagoveshchensk Sentenced to Forced Labor","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Directorate for the Southern Administrative District of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in Moscow, Senior Lieutenant of Justice Y. Shumilova initiates a criminal case on participation in the activities of an extremist organization and involvement of third parties in it.\nThe reason for the criminal prosecution was the conversations of Petrochenko and her co-religionists with Olga Grigorieva, who feigned an interest in the Bible. The believers met with the woman in one of the Moscow shopping centers from September 2022 to April 2024.\nThe case contains a study by specialists of the ANO \"Center for Socio-Cultural Expertise\" — Natalia Kryukova, A. Tarasov and V. Kotelnikov. These experts are known to be extremely biased against Jehovah's Witnesses. They appeared in the cases of other believers, as well as in the process of liquidation of legal entities of this denomination.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Murtuzov and Others in Moscow","date":"2024-12-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/moscow6/index.html#20241204","regions":["moscow"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The head of the investigation group, investigator Smirnova, in the ward of the Shakhun Central District Hospital, interrogates Zhanna Zhavoronkova, who is there after suffering a stroke. The investigator announces to the believer that she has been charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Serdtseva and Others in Shakhunya","date":"2024-12-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shakhunya/index.html#20241202","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["282.2-2","health-risk"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 2, 2024, Margarita Dyadyusheva, judge of the Leninskiy District Court of Kursk, sentenced three Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses: Nikolay Kupriyanskiy received 6 years in a penal colony, Dmitriy and Oksana Chausov — 2.5 years. The believers were taken into custody in the courtroom.\nThe criminal prosecution of Kupriyanskiy and the Chausovs began with searches in the summer of 2023. They were led by Maksim Zaitsev, an investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Kursk Region, who had previously led a case against five other Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Kursk. Dmitriy Chausov was sent to a pretrial detention center, which interrupted the treatment he was having for a serious illness. At the same time, the couple lost their jobs. Six months later, the court placed Dmitriy under house arrest, but due to the ban on communicating with the defendants in the case, he was separated from his wife for more than a year. All three believers spent between 6 and 15 months under house arrest.\nIn June 2024, the case went to court. The guilty verdict was based, among other things, on the statement of a witness who testified in court in a similar case against five believers. For discussing the Bible among friends, the prosecutor requested 7 years in a penal colony for Kupriyanskiy and 3 years in a penal colony for the Chausovs. The defendants pleaded not guilty and can appeal the verdict.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-12-02T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/12/030813/image_hu_3cacf90d5ee54b17.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/12/030813/image_hu_158aedda656b7617.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/12/030813/image_hu_b3ad3a90dd561111.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/12/030813/image_hu_fadeeafdf870dd7f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/12/030813.html","regions":["kursk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.2-2","families"],"title":"Another Sentence for Faith in Kursk: A Couple and Another Jehovah's Witness Sent to Penal Colony","type":"news"},{"body":"T. A. Smirnova, senior investigator of the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Shakhunya, charges Larisa Serdtseva and Nina Smirnova with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe indictment ruling states that they \"held conversations and sermons with the residents of the city of Shakhunya, and also 'participated in religious meetings.'\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Serdtseva and Others in Shakhunya","date":"2024-11-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shakhunya/index.html#20241130","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Industrialnyy District Court of Barnaul sentenced Vitaliy Manuylov to 2 years of forced labor for his faith in God. Judge Yevgeniy Saprykin made this decision on November 19, 2024. On that day, the closing arguments of the parties and the defendant\u0026#39;s final statement were presented. The court announced the verdict 10 minutes after.\nMore than 20 years ago, studying the Bible changed the believer\u0026#39;s life for the better. In his final statement, he said: \u0026quot;My lifestyle was not entirely healthy — I drank a lot, fought a lot and got into different situations. As I got to know God better, I loved him with all my heart. And now I try to live according to Bible principles and not violate them.\u0026quot; However, investigator Yevgeniy Kozuchenko saw extremism in Manuylov\u0026#39;s peaceful meetings with friends.\nIn early August 2023, the law enforcement officers searched the believer\u0026#39;s home. Then he was interrogated as a witness in the case of Valeriy Klokov, after which he was released. Eight months later, Vitaliy was again summoned for interrogation, where he was accused of participating in the activity of an extremist organization because he \u0026quot;actively quoted the Holy Scriptures\u0026quot; at the meetings for worship of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. The believer was placed in a temporary detention facility, and the next day the court placed him under house arrest.\nManuylov told what helped him cope with stress when he could not leave the house for more than 3 months: \u0026quot;Of course, first of all, exercise in the morning. Running from corner to corner is uncomfortable, of course, but then you get used to it. I took care of all the household chores in order to somehow help my wife.\u0026quot; Fellow believers also supported Vitaliy — they brought food and helped financially.\nThe case went to court in June 2024. The prosecutor requested a sentence of 3 years imprisonment for 51-year-old Vitaliy Manuylov.\nIn total, in the Altai Territory 9 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been prosecuted for their faith. Two of them are serving their sentences in penal colonies.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-11-19T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/11/200907/image_hu_d5072dbe244139e0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/11/200907/image_hu_4e11830962f249ef.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/11/200907/image_hu_8e06010b4871e1bd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/11/200907/image_hu_e1a6295f19186ec8.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/11/200907.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":"The Court Deemed Peaceful Meetings for Worship to Be Extremism","tags":["sentence","labor","282.2-2"],"title":"One of Jehovah's Witnesses From Barnaul Will Serve Forced Labor for His Love of the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 19, 2024, Marina Zelenina, judge of the Korsakov City Court, gave Roman Gumenyuk, 42, a 5-year suspended sentence. The court considered participating in peaceful worship and conversations about God with other people to be participating in the activity of an extremist organization and involving others in it.\nAs additional punishment, the court sentenced the believer to restriction of freedom for 2 years with a 3-year probation period. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nRoman Gumenyuk is a third-generation Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness. In Soviet times, his father was sentenced to 3 years in prison for his religious beliefs but was later rehabilitated as a victim of political repression.\nNow Roman is also facing criminal prosecution. It all started in July 2023, when Major of Justice E. V. Maksimov initiated a criminal case against him under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC. Later, law enforcement officers searched his house and his car. The investigation lasted a year, and in June 2024, the case went to court. In his closing arguments the prosecutor requested 5 years in a penal colony for the defendant. During the court hearing, Roman tried to express his view of the charges, but the judge interrupted his statement. The court found the believer guilty of extremism in seven sessions.\nThe believer maintains his innocence. In his final statement, he expressed his feelings as follows: \u0026quot;For me, believing in and worshiping Jehovah God is like breathing. Law enforcement agencies, represented by investigators, FSB officers, the prosecutor and others, are trying, figuratively speaking, to cut off my oxygen... by making me renounce my best friend, God whose name is Jehovah.\u0026quot;\nIn the Sakhalin Region, already 10 people are being prosecuted for their faith in Jehovah God. Back in June 2018, the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights commented on the situation surrounding Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Russia: \u0026quot;The charges brought against believers in all cases are based on the allegation that a group of believers held a meeting for worship. [...] This cannot but cause concern, since criminal prosecutions and arrests have become systemic. The situation is reminiscent of the Soviet period, when \u0026quot;Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses\u0026quot; were subjected to groundless repression on the basis of religion, as a result of which the RF law dated October 18, 1991, No. 1761-1, on the rehabilitation of victims of political repression, was extended to them.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-11-19T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/11/200830/image_hu_36d1b0ea6fb6e585.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/11/200830/image_hu_841638213077094.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/11/200830/image_hu_9e328065f299a207.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/11/200830/image_hu_b6b772f80e2ce67e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/11/200830.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":"He Maintains His Innocence","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","suspended","presidential-council"],"title":"Roman Gumenyuk, Son of One of Jehovah's Witnesses Convicted in Soviet Times and Later Rehabilitated, Received a 5-Year Suspended Sentence for His Faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor requests a imprisonment for the believers: Nikolay Kupriyansky - 7 years, Dmitry and Oksana Chausov - 3 years in a general regime colony.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kupriyanskiy and Others in Kursk","date":"2024-11-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kursk2/index.html#20241115","regions":["kursk"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 1, 2024, the Samara Regional Court upheld the verdict against 63-year-old Galina Komissarova: a 2-year suspended sentence. The prosecutor insisted on a prison term for the pensioner from Tolyatti.\nSpeaking before the panel of judges at the court of appeal, Galina Komissarova expressed her disagreement with the charges: \u0026quot;I only participated in meetings for worship that do not contain signs of extremism and, therefore, are not a crime... All I feel is pain and regret because of the injustice of the serious charges brought against me.\u0026quot; Galina considers what is happening to her to be political repression.\nReligious persecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in the Samara Region continues despite the clarifications of the RF Constitutional Court on freedom of conscience and religion.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-11-01T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/11/040950/image_hu_e967fb210217f3d6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/11/040950/image_hu_58fc69baa644cede.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/11/040950/image_hu_4f8428545df8494b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/11/040950/image_hu_9be6a83c4902b95e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/11/040950.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","elderly","complaints","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"Court of Appeal Upheld Suspended Sentence for Teacher from Tolyatti for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 30, 2024, the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction took the side of the prosecutor regarding the verdict against Sergey and Yelena Chechulin and sent the case to the court of first instance for a new trial.\nYevgeniy Paul, Deputy Prosecutor of the Kamchatka Territory, considered that the court inappropriately mitigated the charge, reclassifying it from organizing the activity of an extremist organization (Article 282.2(1) of the RF CrC) to participating in it (Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC).\nThe Chechulins do not agree with the guilty verdict and maintain their innocence. Sergey, referring to the article of the RF Constitution on freedom of conscience, stated: \u0026quot;In fact, my wife and I were found guilty of practicing the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\u0026quot;\n","category":"trial","date":"2024-10-30T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/10/311103/image_hu_9f53eb68d9330b51.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/10/311103/image_hu_1ab2cc5aee9c97b5.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/10/311103/image_hu_aded6b412322121.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/10/311103/image_hu_37e8412cef6f2ec2.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/10/311103.html","regions":["kamchatka"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["cassation","282.2-2","families","retrial"],"title":"Reconsideration — Court of Cassation Overturns Verdict Against Chechulin Couple from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky for Their Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"The verdict in the large-scale case of believers from Magadan — seven men and six women aged 32 to 73 — entered into force on October 15, 2024, by decision of the Magadan Regional Court. The prosecutor sought to change suspended sentences to prison terms for some of them, but the panel of judges supported the decision of the court of first instance.\nAll of the believers disagree with the guilty verdict and the appeal decision, according to which they will serve suspended sentences from 3 to 7 years. In their appeals, they drew attention to the absence of corpus delicti in their actions and stated that, according to the RF Constitution, they had every right to meet to discuss the Bible and to associate.\nIn her appeal, prosecutor Marina Shvyreva requested tougher sentences for some of the believers. For example, she requested 6.5 and 7 years in a penal colony for Ivan Puyda and Konstantin Petrov, respectively.\nMost of the convicted persons noted that reading holy texts, participating in joint meetings for worship and in community life, as well as striving to tell others about their beliefs are generally accepted ways of expressing any Christian faith. The believers came to the conclusion that the court mistakenly regarded lawful behavior of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses as unlawful actions of an extremist nature. They also noted that the court did not establish the motives of religious hatred or enmity in their actions and did not determine against which specific social group they acted.\nGalina Dergacheva expressed her position on the verdict as follows: \u0026quot;By their actions, the state authorities present me and my fellow believers in a bad light before society, contribute to the spread of prejudice and form the impression that Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are a dangerous and dubious sect.\u0026quot; She added: \u0026quot;The state and all officials are obliged to maintain neutrality and impartiality. Therefore, they do not have the right to assess the legitimacy of religious beliefs or determine what can be believed and what not.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-10-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/10/160849/image_hu_b62de93596e6970.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/10/160849/image_hu_a75355bcac9d9be9.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/10/160849/image_hu_c318ac947cd10e94.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/10/160849/image_hu_70c3d7d9939d5038.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/10/160849.html","regions":["magadan"],"subtitle":"Court of Appeal Upheld the Decision of the Magadan Court","tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","suspended","elderly"],"title":"Thirteen Believers, Men and Women, Will Serve Suspended Sentences.","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 10, 2024, the Khabarovsk Territory Court reduced the terms imposed by the court of first instance on Vitaliy Zhuk, Nikolay Polevodov and Stanislav Kim by 1 year and changed them to suspended sentences with a 5-year probation period. The believers were released from the pretrial detention center.\nTatyana Zhuk, Maya Karpushkina and Svetlana Sedova surrounded by friends on the day of the appeal hearing Vitaliy Zhuk with his wife Tatyana after being released from the pretrial detention center. October 10, 2024 Nikolay Polevodov with his wife Tatyana and son Ilya after being released from the pretrial detention center. October 10, 2024 Stanislav Kim with his wife Olesya after being released from the pretrial detention center. October 10, 2024 The prosecution had sought a tougher punishment: in his statement, Assistant Prosecutor A.M. Snytko requested that 9 years in a penal colony for the men and from 4 to 5 years suspended sentences for women be imposed. The believers maintain that they are completely innocent of extremism. In her appeal, Tatyana Zhuk stated: \u0026quot;The sentence passed against me should be overturned, since it was made with significant violations of the norms of the RF Constitution, international legal acts, criminal and criminal procedural legislation, and the conclusions set out in it contradict the factual circumstances of the case.\u0026quot; Nikolay Polevodov emphasized: \u0026quot;I was convicted solely for my religious beliefs. Even though I expressed these beliefs in an absolutely lawful way.\u0026quot;\nIn response to the appeals from the believers and the prosecutor\u0026#39;s office, the court of appeal ruled to commute the sentences of the court of first instance for: Polyevodov — to 7.5 years, Kim – to 7 years and 2 months, Zhuk — to 7 years, his wife Tatyana and Svetlana Sedova — to 4 years, and Maya Karpushkina — to 3 years all suspended.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-10-10T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/10/101350/image_hu_5b65ff84cec93b63.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/10/101350/image_hu_8180c2f1c1b60c94.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/10/101350/image_hu_154d120ead4cc843.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/10/101350/image_hu_68c214890a8a078d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/10/101350.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":"Three Men Have Been Released and Will Serve Suspended Sentences","tags":["appeal","282.2-2","282.2-1"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Khabarovsk Commuted the Most Severe Verdict to Date Against Jehovah's Witnesses.","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 10, 2024, the Oryol Regional Court denied the appeal of one Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses against the verdict of the court of first instance. Dmitriy Ignatov, 27, will serve a sentence for reading the Bible at a meeting for worship – 2 years of forced labor.\nThe believer considers the charge of participating in the activity of an extremist organization to be groundless. Addressing the panel of judges, he said: \u0026quot;Unfortunately, it seems that law enforcement officers deliberately distort the laws and, as a result, attribute to me something that I did not actually do.\u0026quot; He added: \u0026quot;If you consider the charge that has been brought against me, it is basically like a Christmas ornament: shiny on the outside, but empty on the inside. There are a lot of scary words in it, but there is no concrete evidence.\u0026quot;\nIn his appeal, Ignatov pointed out that the verdict did not provide evidence of an unlawful motive and intent: \u0026quot;The court did not answer the question: what public danger should I have been aware of, in praying to God with others, reading the Bible, discussing various topics beneficial for society, for example, gratitude?\u0026quot;\nThe sentence against Ignatov that has entered into force is already the fifth in the Oryol Region since 2017. During this time, eight Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses were prosecuted, four of them were sentenced to long terms in a penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-10-10T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/10/151344/image_hu_be52684e7988db87.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/10/151344/image_hu_4f552b15e7fe3fc3.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/10/151344/image_hu_1d135573b151c9d0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/10/151344/image_hu_91d00904f935ef0b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/10/151344.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":"Court of Appeal in Oryol Upheld the Verdict Against Dmitriy Ignatov","tags":["appeal","282.2-2","complaints","labor"],"title":"Forced Labor for Faith in Jehovah God.","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 8, 2024, a cassation hearing was held in St. Petersburg in the case of 49-year-old Aleksey Khabarov, who practices the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The panel of judges did not overturn the verdict and the appeal ruling, so the believer will remain in the penal colony at least until January 2026.\nAleksey participated in the hearing via video conferencing. The defense stated in its cassation appeal: \"Law enforcement agencies have not established a single fact of unlawful activity by the believers. Even during surveillance, nothing was recorded to claim that Jehovah's Witnesses were committing or calling for unlawful acts. Also, not a single person has been identified who suffered from the activity of the believers.\"\nThe reason for the criminal prosecution of Aleksey was his religion, which he practised with his friends by \"peacefully gathering at their home, reading and discussing the Bible, praying and singing religious songs.\" The defense has repeatedly emphasized that the believer was the victim of arbitrary criminal prosecution.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-10-08T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/10/151333/image_hu_4f6cab46456b71e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/10/151333/image_hu_68aceb3bb637b241.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/10/151333/image_hu_ca18ae5b6cfb79fb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/10/151333/image_hu_b555e5dd63d06ce6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/10/151333.html","regions":["pskov","novgorod","stpetersburg"],"subtitle":"Court of Cassation Did Not Defend Religious Freedom","tags":["cassation","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Aleksey Khabarov from Porkhov will Remain Behind Bars.","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 3, 2024, the Primorye Territory Regional Court upheld the guilty verdict against Boris Andreyev, Anatoliy Li and Nataliya Sharapova. The panel of judges reduced the sentences of Li and Sharapova by 1 month. Nataliya served her term in full during her time in the pretrial detention center and is expected to be released soon.\nUpdate. Natalia Sharapova was released the day after the appeal hearing. Andreyev and Li will have to spend about 2 years in the penal colony. Speaking before the Court of Appeal, Anatoliy Li said: \u0026quot;I didn\u0026#39;t kill, I didn\u0026#39;t rob, I didn\u0026#39;t go to rallies, did I, but my family is suffering. I just don't believe in God the same as everyone. Is that really a crime?\u0026quot; Boris Andreyev noted: \u0026quot;In the court materials, there is not a single piece of evidence of the cruel charges. And even if someone wanted to look for something like this in my life of 70 plus years, they wouldn\u0026#39;t find anything... I simply lived, worshipped God the way it is written in the Bible, wanted to be happy and wished the same for others.\u0026quot;\nDue to suspected cancer, Andreyev needs regular medical examinations, which are difficult to organize in the detention center. This is how his wife, Aleksandra, commented on the situation: \u0026quot;Transferring him to the place where he will serve his sentence can again delay further tests indefinitely; and the stress that my husband will have to endure with the transfer and the new place, as well as his age and the approaching cold season, can trigger the development of cancer.\u0026quot;\nHaving expressed in their appeals their disagreement with the charges of extremism, Andreyev and Li also pointed out that they were kept in metal cages during the hearings in the court of first instance. Such actions are in violation of article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is noteworthy that in July 2024, the ECHR ruled in the case of several Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Russia and found such treatment of the defendants \u0026quot;amounted to degrading treatment and a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights\u0026quot; (Article 3).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-10-03T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/verdict.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/10/071647.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":"One of Them is a 72-year-old Believer with a Serious Illness","tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","elderly","health-risk","prison-treatment"],"title":"Term in a Penal Colony for Their Faith: Court of Appeal in the Primorye Territory Upheld the Verdict Against Three Jehovah's Witnesses.","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 27, 2024, the panel of judges of the Samara Regional Court agreed with the decision of the first instance in the case of Aleksandr Dolganov. Although the term of punishment for the believer, 35, remained the same, the court of appeal counted the time under house arrest toward the punishment at the rate of 1 day of house arrest for 1 day in a penal colony. According to this decision, Dolganov should complete his sentence a month and a half earlier.\nEarlier, the Avtozavodskiy District Court of the city of Tolyatti considered it a crime that Dolganov had held meetings for worship of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. According to the believer, this contradicts the explanations of the Plenum of the RF Supreme Court, so he appealed the verdict. Addressing the panel of judges, Dolganov said: \u0026quot;Bible principles taught me to be a kind, caring and patient person. I have a strong marriage; I took care of my beloved wife. I was officially working for the benefit of society, helped neighbors regardless of their faith... I was sentenced to 3 years in a penal colony for correction. What do I need to correct?\u0026quot;\nThe believer\u0026#39;s lawyer emphasized: \u0026quot;During the consideration of the case by the court of first instance, it was reliably established that there was no extremism in the actions of the convicted person. This was confirmed by both expert conclusions and the testimonies of witnesses, and can be clearly seen from the video recordings of the meetings for worship examined by the court of first instance.\u0026quot; Nevertheless, Anna Tokareva, judge of the court of first instance, drew the following conclusion: \u0026quot;The absence of statements calling for or justifying unlawful actions in the expert conclusions... does not question the presence of actions stated in Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC by the defendant.\u0026quot;\nIn the Samara Region, five other Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses were sentenced to long prison terms on similar charges for their faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-09-27T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/10/010815/image_hu_8223494b9118cbb7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/10/010815/image_hu_60176e6c43a9b729.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/10/010815/image_hu_8bc8cb29c459ae57.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/10/010815/image_hu_dff5a2224b77bd34.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/10/010815.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Samara Upheld the Guilty Verdict Against Aleksandr Dolganov — 3 Years in a Penal Colony for his Faith in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 26, 2024, the Rostov Regional Court, chaired by Judge Sergey Shumeyev, upheld the decision of the court of first instance: Gevorg Yeritsyan and Garegin Khachaturyan will continue to serve their sentences of 6 years and 2 months and 6.5 years respectively, in a penal colony. Lyubov Galitsyna\u0026#39;s term of 2 years and 3 months in a penal colony is considered served due to her time spent in pretrial detention.\nThe trial of the believers started in September 2023. Video recordings, which were secretely made in the house of Lyubov Galitsyna, were reviewed at the hearings. The defense drew attention to the fact that the defendants are not in these videos and nothing extremist is happening in them. They also looked at the notes in the believer\u0026#39;s notebooks, where she wrote her thoughts on passages from the Bible to \u0026quot;better understand how to apply qualities that are pleasing to God, such as compassion and mercy.\u0026quot; All three believers maintain their innocence.\nThe Rostov Regional Court has repeatedly upheld verdicts against Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. So far, 14 people have received up to 7 years imprisonment.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-09-26T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/verdict.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/09/271311.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":"Two Men Will Remain Behind Bars","tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2","elderly","sizo"],"title":"Court of Appeal Did Not Change the Verdict Against Three Believers from Novocherkassk, Including a 68-year-old Woman.","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 23, 2024, Marina Chipilenko, judge of the Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Yaroslavl, convicted Anton Kokovin, 34, and fined him for participating in the activity of an extremist organization. The decision has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nAbout 2.5 years ago, Aleksandr Grigoriyev, investigator of the Investigative Committee, initiated a criminal case against the believer for participating in an online conference where religious matters were discussed. A day later, Anton was detained on the street; the apartment of his friends, where he was staying, was searched, and after interrogation he was released under a recognizance agreement. Rosfinmonitoring added him to the list of terrorists and extremists, and his bank accounts were blocked.\nIn May 2023, Anton Kokovin\u0026#39;s case went to court. During the hearings, the defense noted that there were serious errors in the case materials, especially in the forensic audio expert study. Despite this, the prosecution requested 3 years imprisonment for the believer.\nIn total, 11 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have been subjected to prosecution for their religion in the Yaroslavl Region. Four of them have already served their sentences.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-09-23T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/09/241336/image_hu_4dc692146fa316c9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/09/241336/image_hu_c2252729a9c57c35.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/09/241336/image_hu_810a3fa56e1d1ef5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/09/241336/image_hu_2bfe0506b3b99522.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/09/241336.html","regions":["yaroslavl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"Court in Yaroslavl Fined a Believer 75,000 Rubles for Practicing the Religion of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"A court hearing of the Appellate Board for Criminal Cases of the Khabarovsk Regional Court is underway. Zhuk, Polevodov and Kim are present via video conferencing. About 30 people come to support them, of which 15 are allowed into the courtroom. The presiding judge briefly reads out the case file. The arguments of the parties are postponed until October 10, 2024.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Polevodov and Others in Khabarovsk","date":"2024-09-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/khabarovsk4/index.html#20240917","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 17, 2024, the Supreme Court of Kalmykia reclassified Kishta Tutinova\u0026#39;s actions from participating in to organizing the activity of an extremist organization, giving her a 4-year suspended sentence with a 3-year probation period and restriction of freedom for one year. The court added 6 months to the additional restriction of freedom for Yekaterina Menkova and Tsagan Khalgayeva.\nIn June 2024, the Elista City Court of the Republic of Kalmykia gave three believers suspended sentences: Khalgayeva and Menkova 2 years, and Tutinova 3 years. The court deemed the womens' peaceful conversations about God and the Bible unlawful. Assistant prosecutor Marina Bugdayeva appealed the verdict considering it to be \u0026quot;excessively lenient\u0026quot;.\nThe decision of the court of appeal has entered into force, but the believers still do not admit their guilt. Speaking in the court of first instance, Tutinova emphasized: \u0026quot;I have never carried out any extremist activity nor had any intention. I have never been motivated by enmity or hatred, no one suffered, I didn't hurt anyone. I am a believer and a law-abiding citizen.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-09-17T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/09/191323/image_hu_901e5241a8049285.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/09/191323/image_hu_7bc0fed43d30799a.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/09/191323/image_hu_ff64e0b57c260b53.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/09/191323/image_hu_6c9e72cd790f7bc7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/09/191323.html","regions":["kalmykia"],"subtitle":"Court of Appeal Found Women Guilty of Extremism Over Online Bible Discussions","tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2","suspended","elderly"],"title":"Court in Elista has Toughened the Punishment for Three Believers.","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 17, 2024, the Khabarovsk Territory Court commuted the sentence of Valeriy Rabota, 62, giving him a 5-year suspended sentence for participating in peaceful meetings for worship. Prosecutor Taisiya Kovtunova sought tougher punishment: she requested to replace the 6-year suspended sentence with actual imprisonment.\nValeriy Rabota completely denies being guilty of extremism. In his appeal, he noted: \u0026quot;My actions were completely peaceful. The prosecution did not state that I incited violence or religious hatred and enmity. On the basis of Article 28 of the RF Constitution, my fellow believers and I had every right to meet to discuss the Bible and associate, which in no way depends on the existence of any religious organization.\u0026quot; As noted by the defense, a guilty verdict, in fact, means that if the convicted person does not renounce his religious beliefs, he will again be subjected to criminal prosecution.\nTwo years of investigation and litigation did not pass without consequences for Valeriy: his chronic illnesses worsened and he suffered a stroke. Other prosecuted Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses face similar difficulties. Elderly believers are particularly at risk. In Russia, more than 200 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses over the age of 60 have already become defendants in criminal cases because of their religious beliefs.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-09-17T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/09/190844/image_hu_3f1a751e7090dc87.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/09/190844/image_hu_401627bd85603cd1.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/09/190844/image_hu_4b550ff69c719f50.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/09/190844/image_hu_9c8d0702a413ecd1.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/09/190844.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"Territory Court Reduced the Suspended Term of an Elderly Believer from Knyaze-Volkonskoye by 1 Year","type":"news"},{"body":"The Korenovsk Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for the Krasnodar Territory initiates a criminal case against Sergey Nazarov for participating in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Nazarov in Vyselki","date":"2024-09-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki13/index.html#20240916","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 12, 2024, the Supreme Court of the Altai Republic upheld Sergey Petrenko\u0026#39;s 4-year suspended sentence for peacefully practicing his faith, which was classified as participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\nDuring the trial in the Petrenko case, it turned out that five out of seven volumes were completely copied from the Kalistratov case materials. The trial lasted 1.5 years and ended in a guilty verdict. Sergey Petrenko still pleads not guilty: \u0026quot;As a result of a miscarriage of justice, I was convicted only for practiving my faith based on the Bible.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-09-12T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/09/160846/image_hu_39e39fd58934514e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/09/160846/image_hu_89bcff55134c718e.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/09/160846/image_hu_b057756d2329285.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/09/160846/image_hu_37fa14e1377f1276.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/09/160846.html","regions":["altai"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Altai Upholds the Sentence of One of Jehovah's Witnesses — 4 Years Suspended","type":"news"},{"body":"An appeal hearing in the case of Valeriy Rabota is underway. The prosecutor continues to insist on a punishment for the believer in the form of 6 years in prison, considering the sentence of the first instance too lenient.\nDuring the debate, the lawyer draws attention to the violations that were committed during the proceedings by the court of first instance. Thus, the court recognized as admissible evidence the opinion of a psychologist, which was made even before the initiation of the criminal case. The lawyer explains that this specialist expressed his personal opinion and it is impossible to verify the methods used to conduct the study. In addition, the specialist gave answers to legal questions, which is not within his competence, and did not disclose the essence of the concepts to which he referred in his conclusion.\nThe lawyer also says that during the court hearings, prosecution witness Martyn did not confirm the fact that Valery Rabota, through persuasion and persuasion, persuaded him to join a banned religious organization. The defense also notes that it is not clear from the verdict where Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which guarantees freedom of religion, ends, and Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code begins.\n8 people come to the meeting to support the believer.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Valeriy Rabota in Knyaze-Volkonskoye","date":"2024-09-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/knyaze-volkonskoe/index.html#20240905","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["appeal","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator for especially important cases Mukhin initiates a criminal case against Aleksandr Protasov on suspicion of participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Protasov in Novocheboksarsk","date":"2024-09-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novocheboksarsk2/index.html#20240903","regions":["chuvashia"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Relatives sent Igor a Bible in a parcel, but they do not give it to him. Only after several months in the pre-trial detention center, the believer was able to get a Bible in the library of the pre-trial detention center. The man is supported by letters from different countries.\nIgor suffers from a number of serious chronic illnesses, but he does not receive proper treatment in the pre-trial detention center.\nThe investigator charges the believer under Articles 282.2 (1.1) and 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Muravyov in Saint Petersburg","date":"2024-08-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/poronaysk2/index.html#20240826","regions":["stpetersburg"],"tags":["sizo","elderly","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Bushuev presents Novoseletskaya with a new version of the charge and interrogates her.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Novoseletskaya in Vyselki","date":"2024-08-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki10/index.html#20240820","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["interrogation","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok did not satisfy Valeriy Vyaznikov\u0026#39;s cassation appeal against the verdict. On August 20, 2024, the panel of judges decided to leave the sentence unchanged – 2.5 years suspended for conversations about God.\nSpeaking before the court, Valeriy expressed his disagreement with the court's decisions. He said: \u0026quot;I was actually sentenced for being one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, not for doing anything unlawful. The basis of the criminal case was the fact that the only time I was present at a Bible discussion with a person who was interested in this book... I just wanted the person I was having a conversation with via video to get accurate knowledge from the Bible... and find peace of mind.\u0026quot;\nAlready 58 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Primorye Territory, including Valeriy Vyaznikov, have faced criminal prosecution for their faith – this is more than in any other region of the Russian Federation.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-08-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/08/271443/image_hu_e7f3c3fc9ccd16c5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/08/271443/image_hu_5910d6b8a22925e2.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/08/271443/image_hu_34db0058c5d0557d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/08/271443/image_hu_6d6a50dc2d73a666.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/08/271443.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["cassation","282.2-2","suspended","elderly"],"title":"Court of Cassation Upheld the Guilty Verdict Against Miner Valeriy Vyaznikov for his Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 20, 2024, an appeal in the Amur Regional Court left the verdict unchanged in the case against Yevgeniy Sokolov in Zeya. The believer could not attend the court hearing in person, so he took part in it via video conferencing.\nAddressing the panel in the court of appeal, Yevgeniy stated that Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are citizens who respect the authorities, observe the laws of their country, pay taxes and do not participate in protests. He noted: \u0026quot;We don\u0026#39;t just pretend to be law-abiding people... We truly serve God, and our words are not at variance with our deeds.\u0026quot;\nThe believer was criminally charged for \u0026quot;preparing and conducting religious meetings.\u0026quot; In this regard, he reminded the court that the right to practice the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Yevgeniy said: \u0026quot;If I stopped preaching and meetings with others, then I would be breaking God\u0026#39;s own law. And in this instance there really will be no excuse for me.\u0026quot;\nYevgeniy Sokolov is being prosecuted simultaneously in two criminal cases. A second case on similar charges is being heard in a court in Voronezh.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-08-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/08/241233/image_hu_817c9181b92de5fd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/08/241233/image_hu_b94b4b11350ac3e0.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/08/241233/image_hu_589f69f48b524142.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/08/241233/image_hu_1ae49af26e903d6d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/08/241233.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":"The Sentence Remained Unchanged - Three Years Suspended","tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"The Verdict in One of the Two Cases Against Yevgeniy Sokolov Has Entered into Force.","type":"news"},{"body":"A guilty verdict was passed: 2 years and 6 months of suspended imprisonment.\n","caseTitle":"Glazov's case in Yaroslavl","date":"2024-08-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/yaroslavl3/index.html#20240819","regions":["yaroslavl"],"tags":["282.2-2","sentence","suspended"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 9, 2024, searches were carried out in three homes of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Karachay-Cherkessia and Stavropol. It is already the third invasion of the homes of believers by the security forces. Three criminal cases were initiated under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC.\nIn the village of Kardonikskaya, searches were carried out at the homes of Maria Ogoreva, 62, and her daughter Svetlana, as well as at Tatyana Pasynkova, 59, the mother of Aleksey Pasynkov. On the same day in Stavropol, FSB officers searched the house of Aleksey, this time in the case against his wife Yulia. The couple are raising a disabled child who is completely dependent on the help of his parents.\nThe criminal cases against Maria, Tatyana and Yulia were initiated on July 23, 2024. They are being investigated by Senior Lieutenant of Justice A.A. Khasanov, who works for the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic.\nThe Pasynkovs and the Ogorevs have been under prosecution since 2019. Their cases develop according to a similar pattern: first, the believer himself is suspected, and then his family members are prosecuted.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2024-08-09T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/search.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/08/260952.html","regions":["karachaevo","stavropol"],"subtitle":"Three women Became Suspects in Cases for Extremism","tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","families","elderly"],"title":"New Raids Against Believers in Karachay-Cherkessia and Stavropol.","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Nikita Rudenko charges Anatoliy Yevtushenko with extremism for the fact that he \"participated in holding collective religious events — worship services consisting of sequentially performed actions: singing songs related to the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, praying to Jehovah God, studying the provisions of the book 'Holy Scripture / New World Translation' (Bible).\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yevtushenko in Krasnodar","date":"2024-07-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/krasnodar3/index.html#20240731","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 30, 2024, the Nikolayevsk-on-Amur City Court found Igor Kletkin, Nikolay Kononenko, Vladislav Markov, and Nadezhda Korobochko guilty of extremism for reading the Bible together. Judge Roman Zhukov gave the believers suspended sentences. The decision has not entered into force.\nIgor Kletkin and Nikolay Kononenko received a 6-year suspended sentence with a period of probation of 4 years, Nadezhda Korobochko — 5 years and 3 years of probation. The court made the case of Vladislav Markov into a separate proceeding.\n\u0026quot;The charge against me is based on an erroneous interpretation and application of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated April 20, 2017 and on erroneous expert study conclusions,\u0026quot; Nikolay Kononenko said at one of the court hearings.\nThe case of 81-year-old Nadezhda Korobochko is based on an audio recording of just one meeting for worship, at which she spoke briefly on spiritual topics. The elderly believer noted: \u0026quot;The prosecution was interested only in the formal aspect — that the believers gathered to discuss teachings. However, neither the investigator nor the prosecutor even tried to get to the bottom of what these meetings were about. If they had, they would have understood that I had not committed any unlawful actions.\u0026quot;\nShe related what she had to go through during the criminal prosecution: \u0026quot;The search was the most difficult for me, because at that time I was sick, I had high blood pressure — a hypertensive crisis.\u0026quot; The recognizance agreement also created additional difficulties for Nadezhda, since she could not go to the regional hospital in Khabarovsk to have a pacemaker fitted.\nThe four believers noted that relatives, friends and fellow believers help them maintain a positive attitude by sending them cards and loving messages. Despite the verdict, the believers do not lose heart. \u0026quot;I am greatly strengthened by the example of our brothers and sisters. Everyone has a positive impact on me,\u0026quot; said Igor Kletkin.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-07-30T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/07/311437/image_hu_6c327c70ed7f6b96.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/07/311437/image_hu_9f19acba94423283.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/07/311437/image_hu_80d104321ba8f2f8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/07/311437/image_hu_dd3fe067ad9e42ae.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/07/311437.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2","sentence","suspended"],"title":"In Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, an 81-Year-Old Woman and Fellow Believers Sentenced to Suspended Terms for Discussing the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"Dmitriy Ignatov, 27, a believer from Oryol, was found guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. That is how Andrey Tretyakov, judge of the Sovetskiy District Court of Oryol, classified \u0026quot;the active study of religious literature\u0026quot; with fellow believers. The verdict was announced on July 24, 2024.\n\u0026quot;The charge that was brought against me is like a Christmas ornament: shiny on the outside, but empty on the inside,\u0026quot; the believer noted in his final statement. \u0026quot;There are a lot of scary words in it, but there is no concrete evidence.\u0026quot; According to Ignatov, the case materials only confirm that he practices the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\nThe believer considers himself innocent and intends to appeal the verdict. \u0026quot;The state prosecutor did not voice even one extremist statement or action on my part at any of the court hearings that would show that I am a criminal and dangerous to others,\u0026quot; Dmitriy said. \u0026quot;Because I\u0026#39;ve never done anything like that. If there had been something, during one year of gathering information about me something would have come to light.\u0026quot; The charge was based on the testimony of at least nine witnesses who did not know Ignatov and had not seen him before. The testimony of three witnesses for the prosecution, who did not appear in court, had nothing to do with the case.\nBack in December 2020, the Ignatovs\u0026#39; home was searched, their electronic devices were seized, and subsequently their bank accounts were frozen. At that time, Dmitry was a witness in the case of another local believer, Vladimir Piskarev. In October of the following year, the investigator initiated a case against Ignatov under Article 282.2(2) of the RFCrC. For some time, the believer was under surveillance by officers of the Center for Combating Extremism. Dmitriy Ignatov said: \u0026quot;Of course, because of this, we experienced a lot of stress. My wife started having severe migraines. Sometimes she had them every day. Also, we started to suffer from other illnesses which we are still struggling with.\u0026quot;\nIn Oryol, eight Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution because of their faith, three of them are in a penal colony. Dennis Christensen has already been released and deported.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-07-24T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/07/251041/image_hu_6ca435372cca0270.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/07/251041/image_hu_eba10b5aeeba86a.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/07/251041/image_hu_cd66eb48671829ba.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/07/251041/image_hu_6768022a4f7af79d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/07/251041.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":"Dmitriy Ignatov Sentenced to 2 Years of Forced Labor","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","labor"],"title":"Yet Another Guilty Verdict Against One of Jehovah's Witnesses in Oryol.","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator of the Zelenchuksky Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Senior Lieutenant of Justice A. A. Khasanov initiates criminal cases against the couple of Aleksey, Yulia, and his mother, Tatyana , under part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Pasynkov in Mednogorskiy","date":"2024-07-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mednogorskiy3/index.html#20240723","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Lieutenant of Justice A. A. Khasanov, investigator of the Zelenchuksky Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, initiates a criminal case against Yulia Pasynkova under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yuliya Pasynkova in Mednogorskiy","date":"2024-07-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mednogorskiy4/index.html#20240723","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Lieutenant of Justice A. A. Khasanov, investigator of the Zelenchuksky Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, initiates a criminal case against Tatyana Pasynkova under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Tatyana Pasynkova in Mednogorsk","date":"2024-07-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mednogorskiy5/index.html#20240723","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["new-case","families","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Anuar Khasanov, an investigator of the Zelenchuksky Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Karachay-Cherkessia, initiates a criminal case against Maria Ogoreva for participation in the activities of an extremist organization. The woman is suspected of \"maintaining contacts with persons professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, including those living in other regions of the Russian Federation, in order to participate in worship services and study the Holy Scriptures.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Mariya Ogoreva in Mednogorskiy","date":"2024-07-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mednogorskiy6/index.html#20240723","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The verdict against Mikhail Reshetnikov, 75, veteran of labor, Yuriy Kolotinskiy, 69, disabled and Anatoliy Sarychev, 74, entered into force with minor changes \u0026ndash; the corresponding decision was issued by the Altai Territorial Court on July 19, 2024. Each of the believers received a 2-year and 3-month suspended sentence.\nKolotinskiy, Reshetnikov and Sarychev received suspended sentences for charges of participating in the activity of an extremist organization because they participated in peaceful religious meetings of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. The court of appeal amended the part of the verdict regarding the restriction of freedom: the believers are forbidden to visit places of mass events and participate in them without the consent of supervisory bodies, while the ban on participating in other events was excluded from the verdict. The territorial court also ruled that some personal belongings of the believers, which the law enforcement officers seized as material evidence, should not be destroyed.\nYuriy Kolotinskiy on the day of the appeal hearing In the appeal, the Barnaul residents pointed out: \u0026quot;All the charges [of extremism] do not correspond to reality, as evidenced by the facts from the criminal case, from the expert studies, as well as from the words of witnesses interrogated in court; [...] wholly legitimate conduct aimed solely at expressing one\u0026#39;s faith in ways characteristic of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses around the world was wrongly regarded by the court as illegal actions.\u0026quot;\nAccording to the believers, the criminal prosecution exacerbated the difficulties already caused by old age and failing health. However, all three are grateful for the support from family and friends. \"They pray for us, come to court, stand and wait for us in the cold on the street and meet and see us off with applause. This touches my heart,\" said Anatoliy Sarychev earlier.\nIn total, 9 of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are being prosecuted on similar charges in the Altai Territory, two of them are serving sentences in a penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-07-19T16:53:16+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/07/191653/image_hu_be12bbe706363288.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/07/191653/image_hu_7dc732362bd826a6.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/07/191653/image_hu_91d4e12ace84f191.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/07/191653/image_hu_52d16a0f7e3f61c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/07/191653.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","suspended","elderly","disability"],"title":"Court of Appeal Upheld Suspended Sentences for Three Elderly Residents of Barnaul for Talking About Jehovah","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor asks the court to sentence the believer to 3 years of forced labor.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Ignatov in Oryol","date":"2024-07-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/orel/index.html#20240719","regions":["oryol"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 12, 2024, Vasiliy Meleshko, 63, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness from the village of Kholmskaya, was released from penal colony No.11 in the Krasnodar Territory. The believer served his sentence in full.\nThe criminal prosecution of Vasiliy Meleshko began in the spring of 2021, and in the fall of the same year, the Abinskiy District Court convicted Vasiliy in just two sessions - 3 years imprisonment. In fact, the believer spent a little more than 2 years and 9 months in the penal colony, but taking into account his time in pretrial detention, the sentence in terms of imprisonment is considered to be served. According to the verdict, Vasiliy\u0026#39;s freedom will be restricted to some extent for one more year after his release from the penal colony.\nMeleshko spent part of his term in the penal colony under strict conditions of detention, where the rights of prisoners are infringed more than usual. Several times he was transferred to a \u0026quot;prison within the colony\u0026quot; -- a cell-type room or a punishment cell. The believer\u0026#39;s chronic illnesses were exacerbated, and he was treated in the prison hospital.\nIt was especially difficult for Vasiliy to endure the long separation from his wife, with whom he has lived for 42 years; never being apart for more than a week. Zoya Meleshko said: \u0026quot;It wasn\u0026#39;t until nine months [after Vasiliy\u0026#39;s detention] that we saw each other on a long visit and were finally able to hug. We couldn\u0026#39;t hold back the tears and couldn\u0026#39;t stop talking.\u0026quot;\nDue to the fact that Vasiliy was kept in strict conditions, the couple saw each other only once every four months, so the main method of communication was letters. \u0026quot;Vasiliy wrote very affectionate, tender letters, assuring me of his love,\u0026quot; Zoya revealed.\nThe Abinskiy District Court has already sentenced eight Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from the village of Kholmskaya to imprisonment. Four have been released after serving their sentences.\n","category":"sentence","date":"2024-07-12T16:25:59+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/07/121625/image_hu_e18440252225d488.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/07/121625/image_hu_d6abc35466d4a51c.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/07/121625/image_hu_cf9f420050a22997.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/07/121625/image_hu_6acf6433bf9d876f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/07/121625.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["release","282.2-2","shizo","strict-conditions","prison-treatment","elderly"],"title":"Vasiliy Meleshko Released After Serving His Term in a Penal Colony for His Faith in Jehovah","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee Dmitry Laktionov summons Natalia for interrogation, during which he involves her as an accused.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Novoseletskaya in Vyselki","date":"2024-07-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki10/index.html#20240712","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["interrogation","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Dmitriy Laktionov brings Irina in as an accused.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Ushakova in Vyselki","date":"2024-07-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki11/index.html#20240711","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2","disability","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Natalia Sharapova, 51, Boris Andreyev, 72, veteran of labor, and Anatoliy Li, 39, received 3, 6 and 6.5 years respectively, in a penal colony. On June 10, 2024, Tatyana Pogorelaya, judge of the Khorolsky District Court of the Primorye Territory, found them guilty of extremism for their faith in Jehovah God.\nIn October 2022, searches took place in the village of Yaroslavskiy, where the believers live. Andreyev and Li were accused of organizing the activity of an extremist organization, and Natalia Sharapova was accused of participating in this activity. This is how law enforcement officers deemed conducting peaceful meetings for worship and \u0026quot;organizing religious talks\u0026quot; at them. The case was based on video recordings of peaceful meetings for worship, secretly made by a woman who appears in the case under the pseudonym \u0026quot;Elka\u0026quot;.\nAnatoliy Li drew the court\u0026#39;s attention to the fact that the psycho-linguistic expert study stated that there were no signs of extremism in his actions or the actions of the other defendants. \u0026quot;This was also confirmed by all the interrogated witnesses, who clearly stated that I had never incited anyone to hatred or enmity, had not called for illegal actions against any religious or other group of people,\u0026quot; Anatoliy added. The believers do not agree with the court\u0026#39;s decision and can appeal it.\nAll three believers were sent to a pretrial detention center, where they remained until the verdict was passed. Natalia Sharapova suffers from a neurological disease and has severe headaches, which made her detention especially difficult. During the first months of their imprisonment, the investigator did not allow Sharapova and Li to be visited by their relatives, but letters helped them a lot.\nBoris Andreyev is one of the oldest Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness behind bars in Russia. A total of 58 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are being prosecuted for their faith in Primorye Territory, five of them have already been sent to a penal colony, and 27 have been given suspended sentences.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-07-10T15:53:16+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/07/101553/image_hu_ce537d2e2d2d9c49.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/07/101553/image_hu_25428c647893110a.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/07/101553/image_hu_6032430ba00ca853.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/07/101553/image_hu_6ac1c52baee75dcb.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/07/101553.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2","elderly","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"In Primorye, Three Jehovah's Witnesses Received From 3 to 6.5 Years in a Penal Colony for Their Beliefs","type":"news"},{"body":"After a year and three months of legal proceedings, Valeriy Rabota, 62, received a suspended sentence. On June 10, 2024, Maria Luzhbina, judge of the Khabarovsk District Court, equated participating in peaceful meetings for worship to extremism.\nThe Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against the believer in the spring of 2022. During this time, he spent 2 days in a temporary detention facility, 116 days in a pretrial detention center and 100 days under house arrest. During the months spent in detention, Valeriy\u0026#39;s chronic illnesses worsened. Later, while under house arrest, he suffered a stroke. The case went to court in March 2023. Eight months later, at the final stage of the trial, Judge Angelina Sviderskaya recused herself and the hearings started over.\nValeriy Rabota was charged with participating in the activity of an extremist organization and involving others in it. However, the linguistic expert study indicates that the believer did not encourage extremist actions, but only \u0026quot;the reading and studying the material under discussion.\u0026quot; This point was emphasized by the lawyer: \u0026quot;My client is being tried solely for the ways he expresses his faith... Actions related to participation in religious meetings for worship with fellow believers and the dissemination of one\u0026#39;s beliefs are based not only on the RF Constitution, but also on the Bible \u0026ndash; the source of moral norms and natural law.\u0026quot;\nFSB officer Stanislav Martyn, who feigned an interest in the Bible to collect information about believers, during interrogation denied that Rabota had persuaded him to join the activity of any organization. The witnesses for the prosecution spoke positively about Valeriy. One of the interrogated, an FSB officer associated with the believer\u0026#39;s case, stated that he \u0026quot;did not witness any crime on Valeriy\u0026#39;s part.\u0026quot; Some of the interrogated persons spoke of falsifications in their written testimonies and pressure from the investigation. The defense pointed out violations of the law by experts, for example, religious scholar M.B. Serdyuk assessed the actions of the believer from a legal point of view, going beyond the limits of her authority.\nIn the Khabarovsk Territory, authorities initiated 19 criminal cases against 41 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. One of the believers died under investigation, and courts have already passed sentences on 20 people.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-07-10T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/07/101453/image_hu_3a38943526bd1733.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/07/101453/image_hu_807a53dce7aec5f1.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/07/101453/image_hu_1ebcb8e3501af3ea.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/07/101453/image_hu_f9a0ea2796d6ccdc.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/07/101453.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"After a Retrial of the Case, the Court in Knyaze-Volkonskoye Sentences One of Jehovah's Witnesses Valeriy Rabota to 6 Years Suspended for Talking About the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 8, 2024, Yelena Laskina, judge of the Tsentralniy District Court of Tolyatti, completed considering the case of Galina Komissarova, 63, finding her guilty of extremism for discussing the Bible with friends. The believer does not agree with the verdict and can appeal it.\nThe criminal case was initiated in September 2023. The believer was accused of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. Due to the stress, Galina ended up in hospital with a hypertensive crisis. She said: \u0026quot;My blood pressure increased every time I came home after the interrogation or started examining the materials of my criminal case... The accusations caused me pain because all the listed \u0026#39;actions\u0026#39; are against my nature.\u0026quot; Investigator Sysoyeva forced the believer to appear for interrogation, ignoring complaints of poor health and never called an ambulance for her.\nThe investigation lasted 7 weeks, after which the case went to court. Witnesses for prosecution, including a secret one, spoke positively of Komissarova and reported that they had not heard anything from her that can be viewed as extremism. The prosecutor requested 4 years in a penal colony for the believer.\nAs \u0026quot;evidence\u0026quot; of extremist statements, the prosecution presented to the court a religious expert study of video recordings of meetings for worship in which Galina participated, according to the investigation. As the defense emphasized, the expert study was carried out by specialist Lenar Galiyev, who does not have the specialized education and therefore, the necessary qualifications. \u0026quot;The expert draws conclusions based only on his assumptions, without consulting the works of scholars who have devoted decades to the study of the teachings of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses,\u0026quot; Galina Komissarova emphasized. She continued: \u0026quot;The questions posed to the experts contained clues as to who to blame and for what... Doesn\u0026#39;t this prompt us to question the objectivity of their conclusions?\u0026quot;\nGalina Komissarova was widowed when her children were 10 and 12, and she had to raise them alone. She worked as a kindergarten teacher for many years. The children's parents, her neighbors and former colleagues described her positively in court.\nDespite all the difficulties, Galina does not lose heart: \u0026quot;Fellow believers write me a lot of warm words, send me encouraging verses and assure me of their love. They say they are worried, they pray for me, and they are even proud of me.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-07-08T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/07/090943/image_hu_61266ab4caf78809.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/07/090943/image_hu_89b777f35dc5e711.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/07/090943/image_hu_8f608a2632ac8217.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/07/090943/image_hu_cd0f3d6fbcd095fa.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/07/090943.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":"She Received a 2-Year Suspended Sentence for Talking About the Bible Via Video Link","tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"Court Issued a Guilty Verdict Against a Pensioner From Tolyatti.","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 4, 2024, the Primorye Regional Court considered the prosecutor\u0026#39;s appeal for mitigation of the sentences of four of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Luchegorsk. The judicial board amended the verdict, reducing the suspended sentences by a month for each of the convicts. The decision came into force.\nIn the court of first instance, the prosecutor requested real terms: six years for Yuriy Ponomarenko and Oleg Sergeyev, two years and six months for Andrey Lyakhov, two years for Nikolay Dikhtyar, but the judge sentenced the believers to suspended terms: Yuriy Ponomarenko received six years and six months, Oleg Sergeyev — six years and four months, Andrey Lyakhov — two years and eight months, Nikolay Dikhtyar — two years and six months.\nProsecutor S.E. Mekesheva pointed out that the court of first instance had incorrectly applied the aggravating circumstance of \u0026quot;committing a crime as part of an organized group.\u0026quot; Since this circumstance is already provided for in the article of conviction and cannot be considered again when imposing punishment, the prosecutor requested to mitigate the sentence of the first instance.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-07-04T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/07/311346/image_hu_232065f1971ca888.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/07/311346/image_hu_c60567085afa1c3d.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/07/311346/image_hu_3edb90aedcc107c9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/07/311346/image_hu_cb429dd3ed46730b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/07/311346.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":"The Term for Each of Them Reduced by a Month","tags":["appeal","mitigation","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"At the Request of the Prosecutor, the Primorye Regional Court Commuted the Sentences of Four Believers from Luchegorsk.","type":"news"},{"body":"Judge Sergey Mikhin sentences Valery Bailo to 2.5 years in a general regime colony.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Baylo in Kholmskaya","date":"2024-07-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya7/index.html#20240703","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["sentence","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 3, 2024, Sergey Mikhin, judge of the Abinsk District Court, declared the peaceful believer Valeriy Baylo an extremist for discussing the Bible via video conferencing. He pleads not guilty and can appeal the verdict.\nThree months earlier, on April 2, the believer was summoned to the police department in the village of Akhtyrsky. From there he was taken to the Investigative Committee in Abinsk, where he was interrogated and then sent to a temporary detention facility. The next day, Baylo\u0026#39;s home was searched. They seized his electronic devices as well as literature, which he had found on the street and brought home to light the stove. Then the believer was placed in a pretrial detention center.\nOn June 13, the believer's case went to by the Abinsk District Court. The first hearing came as a surprise to Valeriy. He was given a few minutes to get ready, was put in a car and taken to court, therefore, he could not prepare for the trial. And already at the third session, the judge passed a guilty verdict under Article 282.2(2) of the RFCrC (participating in the activity of an extremist organization).\nIn the pretrial detention center, Baylo\u0026#39;s health has deteriorated: his chronic illnesses have worsened, he needs urgent dental care and knee surgery. The believer and his lawyer repeatedly sent requests for medical assistance to the administration of the pretrial detention center, but it has never been provided.\nBefore his arrest, Valeriy Baylo was living alone. After he ended up in the pretrial detention center, his relatives discovered that a large amount of money had disappeared from the house, which had not been seized during the search. He had already faced loss of property in the past. Due to a default, he lost all his savings and, with his children, whom he raised alone after the death of his wife, was forced to live on the territory of a factory for 7 years without electricity and water.\nValeriy Baylo is not the first Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness whose case was considered by the Abinsk District Court in the shortest possible time, making it impossible to grasp the essence of the charge and to exercise the right to a comprehensive defense. Vasiliy Meleshko was sentenced to a term in the penal colony in just 2 sessions, Aleksandr Ivshin — in 4. All 8 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, whose criminal cases were heard in the Abinsk District Court, received terms of imprisonment for their faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-07-03T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/07/081716/image_hu_1b0e618303ed7781.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/07/081716/image_hu_1881fcad232caa7d.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/07/081716/image_hu_c439dff5d809b2c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/07/081716/image_hu_d23f7c0f5e532f54.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/07/081716.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","sentence","elderly","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"In Three Hearings, the Court Sentenced One of Jehovah's Witnesses From Kholmskaya, 66, to 2.5 Years in a Penal Colony for His Beliefs","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 27, 2024, the court gave Sergey Petrenko, 45, a 4-year suspended sentence with a 3-year. Yelena Usoltseva, judge of the Mayminsky District Court, considered attending peaceful meetings for worship to be participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\nThe criminal prosecution of Petrenko began in January 2022, when his house was searched. In July of the same year, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against the believer, separating the materials from the case of Aleksandr Kalistratov. Sergey Petrenko was accused of participating in the activity of a banned organization (Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC) and was placed under a recognizance agreement. In December 2022, his management asked him to quit his job because he was being prosecuted, after which it became more difficult for him to provide for his family.\nPetrenko\u0026#39;s case was considered in court for 1.5 years. During this time, the judge was changed three times. At the hearings, witnesses for the prosecution stated that their testimonies in the interrogation protocols were distorted. Petrenko himself said in his final statement that, in his opinion, he was in the dock solely because he practises the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. He added: \u0026quot;People who are not Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses — my relatives, neighbors and colleagues — are perplexed that a decent and law-abiding citizen became a victim of a criminal prosecution.\u0026quot;\nThe believer can appeal the court\u0026#39;s decision.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-06-27T13:10:08+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/06/271310/image_hu_ad8b60b3412201da.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/06/271310/image_hu_673dfa827e61d71e.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/06/271310/image_hu_e8d4070fcb3e842f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/06/271310/image_hu_c57a6ac3abe131f3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/06/271310.html","regions":["altai"],"subtitle":"A Local Jehovah's Witness Sentenced in Gorno-Altaysk","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"A 4-Year Suspended Sentence for Faith in God.","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 26, 2024, Nikolay Yegorov, judge of the Novocherkassk City Court of the Rostov Region, sentenced Lubov Galitsina to 2 years and 3 months, Gevorg Yeritsyan to 6 years and 2 months, and Garegin Khachaturyan to 6.5 years in a penal colony. The court considered the term given to Galitsina to have already been served: she will remain at large.\nIn August 2022, V.V. Bardakov, the investigator for the Investigative Committee, initiated a criminal case against three believers. The men were accused of organizing the activity of an extremist organization, and the woman was accused of participating in it. On the same day, their homes were searched. All three were interrogated and detained. The law enforcement officers considered the meetings for worship, which were held using the Zoom program, to be a continuation of the activity of the local religious organization of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in the city of Novocherkassk banned by the RF Supreme Court in 2017. Khachaturyan and Yeritsyan spent almost 2 years in a pretrial detention center, and Galitsina was in detention for more than a year, after which she was released under house arrest.\nIn the pretrial detention center, her diabetes and hypertension worsened and her vision and hearing also deteriorated. The believer repeatedly requested the administration of the institution to have a medical examination, but for a long time she was refused. And then, when the doctor arrived, the staff of the institution did not let them see her. In the end, Lubov was visited by a representative of the Ministry of Health, who carried out an examination in the detention center conditions.\nThe believers are grateful to friends and relatives for their support. They were especially encouraged when they came and even traveled from other cities to court hearings. They were also strengthened by letters from fellow believers from all over the world.\nSpeaking at one of the court hearings, Lubov Galitsyna, 68, noted: \u0026quot;Disobedience to the laws of the state is a protest against God himself, which is completely unacceptable for me as a believer.\u0026quot; Gevorg Yeritsyan, 37, said: \u0026quot;The basis of my faith is love.\u0026quot; Garegin Khachaturyan, 56, cited the words of Jesus Christ: \u0026quot;Love even your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.\u0026quot; Then he said, \u0026quot;For me, these are not just words, but a guide to action — in the family, in society, with neighbors.\u0026quot;\nIn the Rostov Region, 18 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have been convicted for their faith, 10 of them are serving their sentences in penal colonies.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-06-26T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/06/271742/image_hu_8fd13f627334475.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/06/271742/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/06/271742/image_hu_9d725187609a11e5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/06/271742/image_hu_9df8e98346da258a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/06/271742.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2","elderly","prison-treatment","sizo"],"title":"Three Jehovah's Witnesses from Novocherkassk Sentenced to Up to 6.5 Years in a Penal Colony for Their Beliefs","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor requests a three-year suspended sentence for the believer.\n\"You have not had the opportunity to hear or read about the wonderful future of which the Bible is written. I am glad that I had the opportunity to talk about it,\" Yulia Globa makes her final statement.\nAt the same session, which lasts a total of 6.5 hours, the court convicts the believer.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Globa in Unecha","date":"2024-06-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/unecha/index.html#20240625","regions":["bryansk"],"tags":["punishment-request","final-statement","courtroom","sentence","282.2-2","suspended"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 25, 2024, the Kamchatka Regional Court upheld the verdict of the court of first instance against Yelena and Sergey Chechulin: 2-year suspended sentence for participating in the activity of an \u0026quot;extremist\u0026quot; organization.\nThe believers do not agree with the decisions of the courts. Yelena Chechulina noted in her appeal: \u0026quot;The court did not establish the presence of motives of religious hatred or enmity in my actions, and it did not establish against which specific social group I acted. All my actions were completely peaceful.\u0026quot; She added: \u0026quot;The law does not consider practicing the religion to which the liquidated religious associations belonged, including together with others, a sign of extremism. Therefore, declaring a legal entity extremist is not tantamount to imposing a ban on a religious denomination with its inherent teachings, spiritual terminology, and the procedure for holding meetings for worship.\u0026quot;\nThe state prosecutor Khramova requested that the court of appeal toughen the punishment and increase it to a 6-year suspended sentence \u0026quot;in connection with the aggravating circumstance that the crime was committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy\u0026quot; — this is how Khramova regarded reading the Bible together with other believers.\nDue to the guilty verdict, the Chechulins are deprived of the opportunity to travel outside the Kamchatka Territory. Their car has been seized, their accounts have been blocked and they cannot make their monthly mortgage payment themselves.\nThe authorities of the Kamchatka Territory continue the religious persecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses: to date, 10 believers have suffered from the judicial system because of their peaceful beliefs.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-06-25T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/06/261048/image_hu_5047d41405e76f2a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/06/261048/image_hu_4c41f9dbf375e364.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/06/261048/image_hu_4b3e9238481418ec.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/06/261048/image_hu_ffccc39bdf328f5e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/06/261048.html","regions":["kamchatka"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","families"],"title":"Court of Appeal Upholds the Guilty Verdict Against a Jehovah's Witness Couple from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 25, 2024, Tatyana Postavneva, judge of the Unecha District Court of the Bryansk Region, found Yuliya Globa guilty of extremism. English teacher, 42, got a 2,5-year suspended sentence for practicing her religion.\nIn May 2023, the Investigative Committee of the Bryansk Region initiated a criminal case against the believer. The investigation considered the conversations with people about the Bible to be participating in the activity of an extremist organization. Prior to that, the home of Yuliya and her husband, Ernest, had been searched three times. After 4.5 months of investigative actions the case went to court.\nWitnesses for the prosecution gave a positive description of Yuliya\u0026#39;s character. An Orthodox priest, who also appeared in court as a witness, said he was not familiar with the accused and her activity. The expert, professor of the Department of World History and International Relations, noted that the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses is not banned in Russia.\nIn her final statement, Globa said: \u0026quot;Your Honor, what do you think, can words from the Bible harm the constitutional order, a group of people, or an individual RF citizen? On the contrary, they give comfort and hope! Therefore, I do not consider myself guilty of the crime I am accused of.\u0026quot;\nEarlier in the Bryansk Region, four other fellow believers of Yuliya, including two women, were convicted on similar charges. A total of 116 women have already been convicted in Russia for belonging to that religion.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-06-25T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/06/271729/image_hu_6c21a7af5011e0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/06/271729/image_hu_7662c655f16e8dba.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/06/271729/image_hu_425da77e284a66c0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/06/271729/image_hu_859d64fe9822a7ac.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/06/271729.html","regions":["bryansk"],"subtitle":"Yuliya Globa From Unecha Got a 2.5-Year Suspended Sentence","tags":["282.2-2","sentence","suspended"],"title":"Yet Another Resident of the Bryansk Region Was Convicted for Her Faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"The longest terms of imprisonment since the liquidation of legal entities of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses were given to believers by Roman Chiskovskiy, judge of the Industrialniy District Court of Khabarovsk. The decision was handed down on June 20, 2024, after five years of litigation. For Nikolay Polevodov and Stanislav Kim, this is the second sentence for their faith.\nNikolay Polevodov was sentenced to 8.5 years in a penal colony, Vitaliy Zhuk — to 8 years and 4 months, and Stanislav Kim — to 8 years and 2 months. They were taken into custody in the courtroom. The court gave the women suspended sentences: 5 years for Tatyana Zhuk and Svetlana Sedova and 4 years for Maya Karpushkina.\n\u0026quot;During the entire trial,\u0026quot; said Vitaliy Zhuk, \u0026quot;I never heard what exactly in my words and actions constituted a crime of an extremist nature and what I should stop doing in order to not be considered a criminal.\u0026quot; Nikolay Polevodov expressed a similar thought: \u0026quot;All the facts considered during this trial clearly prove that I am being prosecuted not for actual crimes, but for my religious views. The prosecution is trying to promote the idea that I committed a crime, without even providing evidence.\u0026quot;\nThe Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against six Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in November 2018. On the same day, riot police arranged a raid on believers who had gathered in a cafe for a friendly party. As a result, Kim, Polevodov and Zhuk ended up in a pretrial detention center, where they spent 2 months. They were then under house arrest for between 6 and 12 months.\nThe case went to court in July 2019. For a year Judge Vera Pismennaya examined the case materials and interrogated witnesses, but the basis of the charges was never clarified. The case was returned to the prosecutor\u0026#39;s office, and 4 months later it again went to court.\nThe defense recused Judge Chiskovskiy, pointing to an obvious \u0026quot;bias against the defendants and the desire for a guilty verdict\u0026quot; at the stage of the judicial investigation. In their motion, the lawyers noted that, among other things, the judge limited the right of the accused to familiarize themselves with the evidence in the case, and also allowed himself to reprimand them in a raised voice, \u0026quot;perceiving\u0026quot; some motions \u0026quot;as personal insults.\u0026quot; Roman Chiskovskiy refused his recusal.\nMeanwhile, Stanislav Kim and Nikolay Polevodov were defendants in another criminal case for their faith. The Zheleznodorozhniy District Court of Khabarovsk gave them a 2-year suspended sentence \u0026quot;for participating in extremist activity,\u0026quot; namely: for discussing the Bible and Christian teachings. This sentence is already considered to have been served.\nAt the time of publication of this text, out of 811 defendants in criminal cases for their faith, 170 were sentenced to imprisonment. 108 of them (over 63%) received sentences of 5 years or more; 9 people were sentenced to 8 years or more.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-06-24T11:47:32+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/06/241147/image_hu_b5140fb9c01dd2db.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/06/241147/image_hu_66a285af63493f0f.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/06/241147/image_hu_cf8c3a0c95b29b68.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/06/241147/image_hu_cf6c697310fee25.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/06/241147.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","families","elderly","liberty-deprivation","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Court in Khabarovsk Handed Down Record Harsh Sentences to a Group of Jehovah's Witnesses—Up to 8.5 Years in a Penal Colony","type":"news"},{"body":"Lieutenant Anuar Khasanov, an investigator of the Zelenchuk Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, brings Svetlana Ogoreva as an accused.\nAccording to the investigation, Svetlana \"took part in the activities of a religious association,\" and also \"by means of remote communication (the Internet) maintained contacts with persons professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in order to participate in divine services and study the Holy Scriptures with reading and discussing quotations from the Bible.\"\nSvetlana is chosen a preventive measure in the form of a recognizance not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Ogoreva in Mednogorskiy","date":"2024-06-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mednogorskiy/index.html#20240624","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 24, 2024, Aleksey Polevshchikov, judge of the Elista City Court of the Republic of Kalmykia gave three believers suspended sentences: Tsagan Khalgayeva and Yekaterina Menkova 2 years, and Kishta Tutinova 3 years. The court considered the women\u0026#39;s peaceful conversations about God and the Bible via video conferencing a crime.\nIn February 2023, the FSB Directorate for the Republic of Kalmykia initiated a criminal case against pensioner Tutinova on suspicion of organizing the activity of an extremist organization. A week later, her hime and the homes of Khalgayeva and Menkova were searched. After that Tutinova was sent to a temporary detention facility for 2 days. In December 2023, Yekaterina and Tsagan were charged with participating in the activity of an extremist organization. A year later, the case went to court, where it was under consideration for 3 months.\nThe prosecutor requested suspended sentences of 6, 3 and 2.5 for Tutinova, Khalgayeva and Menkova, respectively. In passing the sentence, the court reclassified Tutinova\u0026#39;s charge from organizing to participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\nThe lawyer commented on the videos from the case materials, which were presented as evidence of illegal activity: \u0026quot;We observed everyday conversations about the weather, health, doctors, and culinary recipes. But most importantly, we observed the usual religious life of a believer: the video recorded how Kishta says prayers to Jehovah God, reads and discusses passages from the Bible with others, and talks about religious topics. Neither the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kalmykia nor the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has prohibited any of this.\u0026quot;\nThroughout the criminal prosecution, the women experienced various difficulties. During the search, Yekaterina Menkova fell ill, and the security forces had to call an ambulance for her. Tsagan Khalgayeva was dismissed from her job the day after the search and interrogation as a witness in the case. Pensioner Kishta Tutinova, who spent about 5 months under house arrest and more than 6 months under the ban on certain actions, said: \u0026quot;I was in a small one-bedroom apartment with my son\u0026#39;s family. There were seven of us. I also was not able to move around and go for walks, and this affected my well-being.\u0026quot;\nAccording to the believers, they managed not to lose heart thanks to the support of friends. \u0026quot;It is especially touching when those who have recently faced persecution themselves come, as well as those who are currently going through the same thing directly, but find the strength, time and have the desire to strengthen others,\u0026quot; said Yekaterina Menkova. Kishta Tutinova noted that the example of Andrey Vlasov and Dennis Christensen, who managed to maintain a positive attitude in prison, helped her in many ways.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-06-24T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/06/270954/image_hu_4ef0259f65ca4e10.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/06/270954/image_hu_7d5f08cb2f228505.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/06/270954/image_hu_f3fd1113f6aae0e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/06/270954/image_hu_d2ab455a3430265.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/06/270954.html","regions":["kalmykia"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2","elderly","suspended"],"title":"Jehovah's Witnesses Have Been Sentenced in Kalmykia for the First Time Since 2017: Three Women Received Suspended Sentences for Their Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Deputy Nazarov Interdistrict Prosecutor Y. Viltsan approves the indictment against Pavel Chemrov.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Chemrov in Nazarovo","date":"2024-06-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nazarovo2/index.html#20240621","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The closing arguments begin. The prosecutor asks to impose a sentence of 6 years in prison with restriction of freedom for 1 year for Valeriy.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Valeriy Rabota in Knyaze-Volkonskoye","date":"2024-06-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/knyaze-volkonskoe/index.html#20240619","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["first-instance","punishment-request","appeal","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 11, 2024, the sentence for Yelena Chernykh, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Prokopyevsk, entered into the legal force. The panel of judges of the Kemerovo Regional Court agreed with the 3-year suspended sentence imposed on her but removed from the additional punishment the deprivation of the right to participate in public and religious associations.\n\u0026quot;The court has not established that I have any motives of religious hatred or enmity. All my actions were completely peaceful,\u0026quot; said the believer, 47, as she appealed. \u0026quot;I believe in God, talk to others about the Bible, share my beliefs with them, pray to Jehovah God and sing songs of praise to him.\u0026quot; Yelena concluded that she was convicted for practicing her faith in the way common to Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses and not for any extremist actions.\nThroughout the investigation, Yelena and her husband, Yuriy, were not left without help from their fellow believers. She said: \u0026quot;From the very first day I have felt the prayerful support of my dear friends. It is also very nice to see how they come to the court hearings even from other cities.\u0026quot;\nIn Russia, 190 women have already been prosecuted for their faith in Jehovah; the oldest of them was 89 (Rimma Vashchenko) when the criminal case was initiated, the youngest was 18 (Darya Dulova).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-06-11T08:22:34+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/06/110822/image_hu_44d22c2c32a7843d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/06/110822/image_hu_3cff87b56f841e15.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/06/110822/image_hu_9f546a34d4ab1115.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/06/110822/image_hu_59c53f5e9701dda5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/06/110822.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","complaints","282.2-2","suspended","families"],"title":"Court of Appeal Upholds the Verdict Against Yelena Chernykh from Prokopyevsk for her Faith - a 3-Year Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee A. L. Zhokin attracts Aleksandr Popov as a defendant in a criminal case, charging him with participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\nThe indictment states, among other things, that the believer \"within the limits of strict regulations and the time allotted for speaking or studying a religious topic, personally read religious texts to those present.\" According to the investigation, \"officers of the FSB of Russia suppressed the criminal actions committed by Popov, namely, the dissemination in society of information related to biblical truths and prophecies, as well as explaining the Bible and touching on scientific, social, historical and other topics.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Popov in Kovrov","date":"2024-06-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kovrov5/index.html#20240607","regions":["vladimir"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Pavel Kazadaev from Barnaul will remain in a penal colony to serve his sentence — on June 6, 2024, the Eighth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Kemerovo upheld the verdict and appeal decision in the case against the believer.\nIn August 2023, Kazadaev\u0026#39;s case took an unexpected turn: instead of the 3-year suspended sentence imposed by the court, the court of appeal, satisfying the prosecutor\u0026#39;s request, sent the believer to a penal colony for the same period.\nKazadaev himself completely denies being guilty of extremism. \u0026quot;The actions I'm charged with were peaceful, and caused no harmful consequences to anyone,\u0026quot; the believer said in his cassation appeal.\nAt the time of the cassation hearing, he was kept in a strict regime penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-06-06T15:44:34+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/06/061544/image_hu_cd3cdcbc3a69e4d7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/06/061544/image_hu_873c75993c22b688.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/06/061544/image_hu_105ecdd706461ecd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/06/061544/image_hu_fc5a1c5be8547329.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/06/061544.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["cassation","complaints","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"Court of Cassation in Kemerovo Left Pavel Kazadaev Behind Bars","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator A. Zhokin makes a decision to bring Mikhail Sveshnikov as an accused. According to the investigation, the believer, among other things, \"in order to increase the psychological effect on those present [at the services] ... carried out religious performances... personally read religious texts to those present.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Sveshnikov in Kovrov","date":"2024-06-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kovrov4/index.html#20240606","regions":["vladimir"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Republic of Tatarstan Airat Giniyatullin initiates a criminal case against unidentified persons.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Kupreev in Naberezhnye Chelny","date":"2024-06-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"#20240606","regions":["tatarstan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator for especially important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Republic of Tatarstan, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Airat Giniyatullin issued a decision to initiate a criminal case against unidentified persons.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Ishberdin and Starikov in Naberezhnye Chelny","date":"2024-06-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/naberezhnye-chelny3/index.html#20240606","regions":["tatarstan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Manuilov case is separated into a separate proceeding from the Klokov case.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Manuylov in Barnaul","date":"2024-06-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/barnaul5/index.html#20240604","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 29, 2024, Arina Fedorova, judge of the Zeya District Court of the Amur Region, gave Yevgeniy Sokolov, 48, a 3-year suspended sentence. He attended the last hearings via video conferencing, as he is simultaneously being tried in another criminal case in Voronezh — 7400 kilometers from Zeya.\nThe court found him guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. The believer was also given a probation period of 3 years with deprivation of the right to engage in leading and participating in any activity of public organizations for 3 years and additional restriction of freedom for 10 months. The prosecutor requested a 3-year sentence in a penal colony. The verdict has not entered into force.\nThe Zeya case was initiated in December 2022. The charge was based on hidden audio and video recordings of meetings for worship, which, at the direction of the FSB, were made by a woman who pretended to be interested in the Bible.\nSpeaking before the court, Sokolov said: \u0026quot;I am not acting against the constitutional foundations of the state, but on the contrary, I am defending my constitutional right, which I am guaranteed — to practice my Christian religion together with others.\u0026quot;\nThe Amur Region today holds the record for the number of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses imprisoned in penal colonies — 13 believers are already serving time for their peaceful beliefs.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-05-29T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/05/281534/image_hu_2f24d738d16a270b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/05/281534/image_hu_2d54942e16169211.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/05/281534/image_hu_1a6f6e160ecb8bf5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/05/281534/image_hu_11803ca64211b6f7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/05/281534.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":"He Defends his Beliefs in Two Courts","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"Court in Zeya Gave Yevgeniy Sokolov a 3-Year Suspended Sentence.","type":"news"},{"body":"Lieutenant Colonel of Justice S. G. Ermolaev, senior investigator for particularly important cases of the FSB of Russia in the Kurgan region, initiates a criminal case against a resident of Kurgan, Irina Kamshilova, accusing her of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. The investigation interpreted meetings with friends to discuss biblical topics as a violation of anti-extremist legislation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kamshilova in Kurgan","date":"2024-05-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan4/index.html#20240528","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lieutenant Colonel of Justice S. G. Ermolaev, senior investigator for particularly important cases of the investigative department of the FSB of Russia in the Kurgan region, initiates a case against 28-year-old Anastasia Gaitur under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe decision to initiate a criminal case states: \"Gaytur A.A. takes part in conducting remote religious meetings of collective religious meetings for worship ... consisting of sequential actions in the performance of songs... studying and discussing articles of religious content, watching videos of religious content... with the followers of the Jehovah's Witnesses creed.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Gaytur in Kurgan","date":"2024-05-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan5/index.html#20240528","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The verdict against Tatyana Piskareva, sentenced to 2.5 years of forced labor entered into force \u0026ndash; on May 16, 2024, the Oryol Regional Court did not satisfy her appeal. The believer has already been separated for 3.5 years from her husband, who was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony on similar charges of extremism.\nIn March, the Sovetskiy District Court of the city of Oryol found Piskareva guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization for attending peaceful meetings for worship. According to the investigation, the believer acted out of religious \u0026quot;hatred and enmity.\u0026quot; However, this was not proven in court. The verdict was appealed. \u0026quot;I worshipped my God Jehovah peacefully ... I did not prevent anyone from living their personal lives, no one was hurt ... I obeyed the laws of the country in which I live. And suddenly I was falsely accused of something I had never participated in,\u0026quot; Piskareva said, addressing the court of appeal in her final statement.\n\u0026quot;My completely legitimate conduct, aimed only at expressing my faith in ways typical of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses around the world, was wrongly regarded by the court as illegal actions ... At the same time, the law does not consider practicing the religion, which the liquidated religious associations belonged to, including together with others, as a sign of extremism. Therefore, declaring a legal entity as extremist is not tantamount to imposing a ban on a religion,\u0026quot; Tatyana explained.\nIn the Oryol Region, 8 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been prosecuted for their faith, 3 of them have been sentenced to imprisonment.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-05-16T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/05/200812/image_hu_11568e91bbcaf048.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/05/200812/image_hu_bcd8f36337033f42.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/05/200812/image_hu_1fdabdf7b0075bb6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/05/200812/image_hu_7e851eb343a507e0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/05/200812.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","labor","elderly","families"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Oryol Upheld the Sentence of 68-year-old Tatyana Piskareva - 2.5 Years of Forced Labor for Her Faith in Jehovah","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 14, 2024, the consideration of the case of Igor Kasabov was completed in the Oktyabrsky District Court of Tambov. Judge Vladimir Chernov sentenced the believer to 2 years suspended with a 2-year probationary period. The investigation considered conversations with friends on biblical topics to be participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\nThe criminal prosecution exacerbated the already poor health of Kasabov and his wife. A few months before the search, which took place in April 2023, Igor suffered a heart attack, and his wife suffered a stroke. \u0026quot;During the interrogation, I faced serious pressure: the investigator, in order to obtain my confession, mentioned that my wife, a disabled person of group II, who cannot normally express her thoughts after a stroke, can also be brought to justice,\u0026quot; the believer said.\nThe case was initiated by the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Tambov Region, it was led by Pavel Salnikov. Commenting on the charges, Igor Kasabov noted that the actions imputed to him are the usual peaceful practice of a Christian. He declared his innocence in his last plea: \u0026quot;I am one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, and the teachings of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are dear to my heart. Yes, I attend meetings and love to discuss biblical thoughts and topics. I have nothing else to \u0026#39;confess\u0026#39; to.\u0026quot; Kasabov can appeal the court\u0026#39;s decision.\nThis is the first conviction of a Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness for religious beliefs in the Tambov Region. The courts of this region are considering similar criminal cases against three other believers.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-05-14T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/05/161346/image_hu_20559402883109d1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/05/161346/image_hu_d2ec3a7c793b2270.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/05/161346/image_hu_e54a1984e7fcf316.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/05/161346/image_hu_2166cf939c529644.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/05/161346.html","regions":["tambov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","elderly","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"A Court in Tambov Sentenced One of Jehovah's Witnesses, 68, to a Two-Year Suspended Sentence for Talking About the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 13, 2024, the Leninskiy District Court of Barnaul found Mikhail Reshetnikov, 74, Yuriy Kolotinskiy, 69, and Anatoliy Sarychev, 74, guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. Judge Lyubov Kurushina gave each of them a 2-year and 3-month suspended sentence.\nThe believers received such punishment for participating in peaceful meetings for worship that are not prohibited by law. They do not agree with the verdict and have the right to appeal it.\nIn May 2021, a special operation codenamed \u0026quot;Armageddon\u0026quot; took place in Barnaul and surrounding cities. One of the searches took place at the home of Mikhail Reshetnikov, a veteran of labor, and a criminal case was initiated against him. In the fall of 2022, new defendants appeared in the case: Yuriy Kolotinskiy, a veteran of labor who has a disability, and Anatoliy Sarychev. Both were added to the Rosfinmonitoring list and placed under a recognizance agreement.\nThroughout the trial, which lasted about a year and a half, the prosecution tried to prove that peaceful believers are dangerous criminals. Anatoliy Sarychev objected to this in his final statement saying that they only made use of \u0026quot;the legal right to freedom of religion provided for in Article 28 of the RF Constitution.\u0026quot; Mikhail Reshetnikov noted: \u0026quot;Your honor, we share the principles from the Word of God with people. Can this really be extremism?\u0026quot; Yuriy Kolotinskiy emphasized: \u0026quot;During the hearings, we listened to the recordings of meetings for worship, which are held peacefully and with dignity. And what is discussed at them can be called extremism prevention.\u0026quot;\nAll the defendants said that during the trial they were supported by friends who came to the courthouse in any weather, greeted and accompanied them with applause at each hearing and encouraged them with warm words.\nAt the moment, 9 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are being prosecuted for their faith in the Altai Territory. Of the 807 believers repressed by Russian law enforcement officers, 215 are over 60.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-05-13T16:31:35+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/05/131631/image_hu_4cc8f8d96b5ada79.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/05/131631/image_hu_2e1b0f1512d044fd.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/05/131631/image_hu_cfb17f7c6b9a95e5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/05/131631/image_hu_6abc29d8d1b9de82.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/05/131631.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["first-instance","282.2-2","elderly","disability","suspended"],"title":"Court Considered Three Pensioners From Barnaul Extremists and Gave Them Suspended Sentences for Their Beliefs","type":"news"},{"body":"Yuriy Yuskov is the oldest Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness convicted in Russia. On Monday, May 13, the Supreme Court of the Chuvash Republic approved the five-year suspended sentence assigned to him, but with a slight change - the ban on leaving the house at night was removed from additional restrictions.\n\u0026quot;I studied the Bible, met people who were also interested, and told them about my hope,\u0026quot; said the believer, 86, addressing the appeals panel with his last plea. \u0026quot;This is what I did until April 2017 [before the liquidation of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses\u0026#39; legal entities]. I continued to do the same thing later. What has changed? What is my crime?\u0026quot; Yuskov believes that the court baselessly equated his peaceful religious activities with participation in extremist activities and involvement in them (parts 1.1 and 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nDespite appeals by human rights organizations and ECHR rulings, criminal prosecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, including the elderly, continues in Russia. When published, 13 believers aged 80 and over were prosecuted for their faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-05-13T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/05/151458/image_hu_f9cd51ae661068e6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/05/151458/image_hu_fd4d04ed7b51e655.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/05/151458/image_hu_578dc3914a5528ce.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/05/151458/image_hu_cdc982206fc33530.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/05/151458.html","regions":["chuvashia"],"subtitle":"The Believer Will Turn 90 After Serving the Sentence","tags":["appeal","elderly","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"title":"In Chuvashia, the Appeal Approved the Verdict for Yuriy Yuskov.","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 7, 2024, the Court of Appeal considered the appeal of Danil Suvorov, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness, against the verdict for his faith. The panel of judges also found that the 28-year-old believer is guilty of extremism and that he should serve his sentence of 6 years in a penal colony.\nIn June 2023, Yekaterina Ostapenko, judge of the Central District Court of Sochi, found Danil Suvorov guilty of committing crimes specified in Article 282.2(1.1) (2) of the RF Criminal Code. By that time, the believer had spent almost two years in pretiral detention. Then for about another year he was in prison awaiting the decision on his appeal.\nThe verdict of the court of first instance was based on the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of April 20, 2017 on the liquidation of legal entities of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Russia. However, as emphasized in his appeal, this decision did not require individuals, including the defendant, to renounce their faith and stop worshiping God. Actions such as \u0026quot;participating in religious teaching and preaching\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;lectures based on the religious literature of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses\u0026quot;, and \u0026quot;conversations and religious discussions\u0026quot; are not prohibited by the RF Criminal Code, but, on the contrary, are guaranteed by the RF Constitution as fundamental human rights and freedoms belonging to him from birth. In fact, Danil Suvorov was convicted only because he remained a believer after the liquidation of the legal entities.\nThe defense also noted that the testimony of the Sochi expert, Natalya Yedneralova, and the expert study conducted by her should not have been accepted as evidence of the defendant\u0026#39;s guilt, since for a number of reasons she did not have the legal right to conduct a comprehensive psycho\u0026ndash;linguistic and religious expert study: the expert does not work for a state agency, but for a private firm; does not have the necessary qualifications; does not have the right to perform a comprehensive assessment on her own, in this case the participation of an expert commission is required.\nMoreover, in the appeal the defense referred to Article 14 of the RF Constitution: \u0026quot;Taking into account the constitutional principle of separation of church and state, the law does not establish norms as to which forms of practising religion are correct and which are not. Therefore, in each religion they are different: for some religions it is visiting their temples and using certain attributes of faith, and for the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses it is discussing the Bible together with others, whether at home or in the street.\u0026quot;\nProsecutions in the Krasnodar Territory have already affected 34 peaceful believers, including Danil\u0026#39;s older brother, Denis Suvorov. Four of them, including a woman, are serving sentences in penal colonies just because they did not stop believing in God at the demand of the court.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-05-07T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/05/080849/image_hu_7f25d6a9e4e730c5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/05/080849/image_hu_fe098da534352fc2.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/05/080849/image_hu_6cf10fd4407e604.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/05/080849/image_hu_c581c9b9932af7b4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/05/080849.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2","appeal","liberty-deprivation","families"],"title":"Krasnodar Territorial Court Upheld the Sentence Against Danil Suvorov from Sochi for his Beliefs: 6 Years in A Penal Colony","type":"news"},{"body":"Luchegorsk residents Nikolay Dikhtyar, Andrey Lyakhov, Yuriy Ponomarenko, and Oleg Sergeyev were found guilty of organizing and participating in an extremist organization because they continued to gather for peaceful religious meetings with other Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. The verdict was handed down on May 2, 2024 by the judge of the Pozharskiy District Court of the Primorye Territory, Mikhail Atroshko.\nYuriy Ponomarenko was given a suspended sentence of 6 years and 6 months, Oleg Sergeyev — 6 years and 4 months, Andrey Lyakhov — 2 years and 8 months and Nikolay Dikhtyar — 2 years and 6 months. The period of probation is from 2.5 to 5 years. The believers also received terms of restriction of freedom ranging from 1 to 1.5 years.\nOleg Sergeev has three young children. \u0026quot;The most difficult thing for me was to stay calm,\u0026quot; said the believer. \u0026quot;I was worried about what would happen to my wife and children if I was deprived of my liberty.\u0026quot; Nikolay Dikhtyar is a 69-year-old pensioner. He and his wife raised four children (three of their own and another boy who was orphaned). Now he takes care of his wife, who suffered a stroke a few years ago. Yuriy Ponomarenko is also retired.\nThe Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against the believers in July 2021. Ponomarenko was the first to fall under suspicion – he was added to the Rosfinmonitoring list and his accounts were blocked. A few months later, the others were charged.\nThe court considered the case for almost two years. One of the witnesses for the prosecution was FSB officer Prokhor Vasin, Ponomarenko\u0026#39;s neighbor. Pretending to be interested in the Bible, he secretly videotaped conversations with the defendant. During the interrogation, Vasin admitted that no one had encouraged him to do anything against the law.\nThe believers insist on their innocence. In his final statement, before the verdict was announced, Yuriy Ponomarenko, 65, said: \u0026quot;During four searches of my house, they searched for any notes where the name Jehovah was mentioned. It turns out that they want to charge me just because I practice the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, which is not banned in Russia ... There is no evidence in the case materials of incitement to hatred of others, i.e. extremism. There aren't any because I am following the Bible commandment, \u0026#39;Be peaceable with all men.\u0026#39;\u0026quot;\nAs Nikolay Dikhtyar stated, his conscience is clear before God, people and the law: \u0026quot;One thing I regret is that I only became one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses at the age of 40, having learned the truth that saved me from many rash actions.\u0026quot;\nAndrey Lyakhov, in turn, said: \u0026quot;I do not deny that I am a believer, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, that I read the Bible, sing songs and pray to God. But no legal entity has ever told me how to do this. My faith has never depended and does not depend on the presence or absence of a local religious organization in my city.\u0026quot;\nOleg Sergeyev emphasized: \u0026quot;Studying the Bible, I came to the conclusion that those who want to please God must love not only their neighbors, but all people.\u0026quot;\nEarlier, Oleg Sergeyev\u0026#39;s father, Sergey Sergeyev, was convicted for his faith on the basis of similar charges. As a result, 8 residents of Luchegorsk, a town with a population of just over 17 thousand people, have already been prosecuted for peaceful religious activity. A total of 58 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution for their faith in the Primorye Territory.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-05-02T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/05/011110/image_hu_f8e856c6ba7d30f1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/05/011110/image_hu_fd652d6c410f36b6.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/05/011110/image_hu_dd56a086a399affc.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/05/011110/image_hu_490ee4c3c343192.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/05/011110.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":"Two of Them Are Pensioners, and One is a Father of Three Minors","tags":["sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2","elderly","suspended"],"title":"The Court in Luchegorsk Found Four Jehovah's Witnesses Guilty of Extremism.","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Kozuchenko brings charges against Valery Klokov and Vitaliy Manuilov in the latest version. He sees extremism in the peaceful meetings of these believers with friends, where they \"actively quoted the book 'Holy Scripture.'\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Klokov in Barnaul","date":"2024-04-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/barnaul4/index.html#20240425","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Kozuchenko charges Vitaliy Manuilov in the latest version, seeing extremism in peaceful meetings of believers with friends, where he \"actively quoted the book \"Holy Scripture\".\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Manuylov in Barnaul","date":"2024-04-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/barnaul5/index.html#20240425","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"According to the decision of the Nakhimovsky District Court of Sevastopol, Maksim Zinchenko was sentenced to two years of forced labor for participating in peaceful meetings for worship. Judge Valeriy Kuznetsov announced this decision on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.\nA year earlier, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against Zinchenko. The law enforcement officers searched Maksim\u0026#39;s house in Feodosia, then took him to Sevastopol, and after interrogation, he was held in a temporary detention facility for two days. The court later placed him under house arrest for 8 months.\nThe charge brought against Zinchenko of participating in the activity of an extremist organization was based on hidden recordings of meetings for worship, during which, according to the investigation, the believer \u0026quot;preached\u0026quot; and \u0026quot;actively participated in the study of religious literature.\u0026quot; At one of the court hearings, Maksim commented on this as follows: \u0026quot;I see from the facts of the charges, that only the name of my religion and the fact that I am not ashamed to be one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses constitute a crime and not the presence of extremism [according to the investigation] in my words and actions.\u0026quot; He believes that his right to worship God freely has been unlawfully restricted. He has the right to appeal the court\u0026#39;s decision.\nAccording to Zinchenko, he and his wife felt supported throughout the proceedings: \u0026quot;Karina and I feel so much love and care of friends from all over the world — video messages and assurances of love from different countries, strong support at the courtroom . . .\u0026quot;. He also noted that he appreciates the practical help provided by friends.\nIn Crimea, 10 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been sentenced: nine men are serving sentences in penal colonies and another received a suspended sentence.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-04-16T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/04/181425/image_hu_3e7e9c5a271ef455.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/04/181425/image_hu_3d95014a4bb8d11.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/04/181425/image_hu_3faf904523a5fe6e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/04/181425/image_hu_9087e52bc13aa96d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/04/181425.html","regions":["crimea"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","labor"],"title":"One of Jehovah's Witnesses Maksim Zinchenko Sentenced to 2 Years of Forced Labor in Crimea for Talking About the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"Yelena Chernykh, a 47-year-old Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness from Prokopyevsk, was found guilty of extremism for continuing to practice her faith. The verdict was passed on April 12, 2024 by Yelena Karamova, judge of the Tsentralniy District Court of Prokopyevsk, who gave the believer a 3-year suspended sentence.\nIn 2020, the home of Yelena and her husband Yuriy, parents of three, one of whom is a minor, was searched. Then they were interrogated as witnesses in the case of Andrey Vlasov (who is serving time in a penal colony for his faith). The Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kemerovo Region initiated a criminal case against Yelena under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC. The investigation and the court considered the practice common for all Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in the world of jointly discussing the Bible and Christian teachings as \u0026quot;participating in the activity of a banned religious organization.\u0026quot; According to the investigation, Yelena\u0026#39;s actions posed a threat to the state and society, incited interreligious discord, although during the trial not a single fact of a real crime or evidence of intention to commit it was presented.\nSpeaking in court, in her final statement, Yelena Chernykh said: \u0026quot;I have been a believer for 30 years. For all these years, I have never had any malicious intent, let alone any actions aimed at undermining the constitutional order or security of the Russian Federation.\u0026quot;\nIn September 2023, based on similar charges, the court sentenced Yelena\u0026#39;s husband to 3 years of forced labor.\nIn the Kemerovo Region, 18 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are being prosecuted for their faith. Two of them are serving sentences in a penal colony for their faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-04-12T16:23:13+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/04/121623/image_hu_2db876af4b4a4e18.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/04/121623/image_hu_b7e29315f4a3bc41.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/04/121623/image_hu_dc9464cbcf6e66d1.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/04/121623/image_hu_912a45426eb8fecb.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/04/121623.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":"Earlier, the Same Court Had Convicted Her Husband","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended","families"],"title":"In Prokopyevsk, Yelena Chernykh, One of Jehovah's Witnesses, Was Given a 3-year Suspended Sentence for Her Faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"It becomes known that two more cases were opened against Semyonov - for participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and involvement of other persons in this activity (part 1.1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). All three cases have been merged into one proceeding.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Semenov in Cherkessk","date":"2024-04-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk5/index.html#20240412","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Seventh Court of Cassation refuses to consider the prosecutor's submission. The court agrees with the previous instances that the indictment does not contain essential elements of a crime sufficient to pass a sentence or other decision. The cassation considers the prosecutor's arguments untenable.\nThe decisions of the first and second instances to return the case to the prosecutor remain in force.\n","caseTitle":"Second Case of Prianikov and Others in Karpinsk","date":"2024-04-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/karpinsk2/index.html#20240410","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"tags":["cassation","case-to-prosecutor","families","282.2-1.1","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 8, 2024, in the Avtozavodsky District Court of Tolyatti, the hearings in the case of 35-year-old Aleksandr Dolganov ended. In one session, Judge Anna Tokareva heard the closing arguments of the parties and the final statement of the defendant and immediately passed a sentence – 3 years of imprisonment.\nThe prosecution of the believer began in May 2023. Anatoliy Grekov, investigator of the Investigative Committee for the Samara Region, separated the case against Aleksandr from the criminal case against his fellow believer Aleksandr Chagan. For reading and discussing the Bible and Christian teachings, Dolganov was accused of participating in the activity of an extremist organization (Article 282.2(2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). His home and those of other believers were searched. Dolganov was placed in a temporary detention facility, and then under house arrest. Aleksandr said: \u0026quot;Due to the ban on leaving the apartment, using a mobile phone, the Internet and mail, I lost the opportunity to provide for my family, therefore this responsobility became a burden for my wife.\u0026quot;\nAfter two months of investigation, Dolganov\u0026#39;s case went to court. At the hearing, the prosecution presented a standard set of evidence: hidden video recordings of peaceful worship services made by an undercover agent, the testimony of a secret witness and a psycho-religious expert study. The defense stated that the latter is inadmissible evidence, since it was obtained in violation of the law; the specialists who performed it — Lenar Galiev and Kirill Kirushin from Naberezhnye Chelny State Pedagogical University — did not have the required education, and therefore, did not have the right to conduct the expert study.\nGaliev and Kirushin had previously conducted expert studies in the cases of other Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Tolyatti, who also unsuccessfully asked the court to exclude these materials from their cases. The undercover agent, a woman, had also previously participated in lawsuits against other believers from Tolyatti. Testifying in the Dolganov case, she did not hide her negative attitude towards Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses on religious grounds, and also admitted that she did not personally know the defendant and could not accuse him of anything specific.\nIn his final statement, Aleksandr said: \u0026quot;I have never hidden and will never hide my faith in the living God. I enjoy learning about the Creator, acquiring knowledge from the Scriptures, and sharing what I\u0026#39;ve learned with others. The videos provided by the prosecution do not contain calls for violence, the overthrow of the constitutional order, disrespect toward government officials, or the breakup of families, because all this is alien to me and my friends.\u0026quot;\nIn the Samara Region, 10 believers have faced criminal prosecution, most of them have already been sentenced to various forms of punishment for their religion.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-04-08T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/04/091339/image_hu_bf67d8f8e2f91a85.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/04/091339/image_hu_f268448ffc836e1a.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/04/091339/image_hu_6866c5877353365a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/04/091339/image_hu_eb37ec67536a14a0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/04/091339.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"In Tolyatti, Court Found Aleksandr Dolganov Guilty of Extremism.","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 8, 2024, a panel of judges of the Oryol Regional Court, chaired by Judge Yuliya Orlovskaya, approved six years in prison for the faith of Piskarev, Melnik and Putintsev. Taking into account the 3 years and 4 months spent in pre-trial detention before the verdict came into force, they may be released in April 2025.\nThe accusation of organizing the activities of an extremist organization and participating in it was based on audio recordings of a biblical speech that Piskarev rehearsed aloud in his apartment. As a result, on October 13, 2023, the judge of the Sovetskiy District Court of the city of Oryol, Natalya Tishkova, found the three believers guilty.\nPensioner Vladimir Piskarev is experiencing particular difficulties in prison—he had a stroke in the pre-trial detention center and hypertensive crises were recorded twice. In his last plea, he emphasized: \u0026quot;All the accusations that are in the indictment do not correspond to reality, as evidenced by the facts from the criminal case, from the examinations, as well as from the words of prosecution witnesses.\u0026quot; Among other things, it was established that his religion was not prohibited by law, he did not incite religious hatred and never promoted the superiority of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\nEight Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been prosecuted in the Oryol Region, including Dennis Christensen, the first Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness in modern Russia who ended up behind bars only because of his faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-04-08T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/referee%27s%20hammer2_hu_8e65ea830d23305d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/referee%27s%20hammer2.jpg","webp":"/news/common/referee%27s%20hammer2_hu_bd25408061f40e20.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/referee%27s%20hammer2_hu_1dd92405d6c2c02a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/04/101552.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":"They Will Remain Behind Bars","tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","rosfinmonitoring","elderly","hidden-surveillance","health-risk"],"title":"The Verdict Against Three Believers in Oryol Came Into Force After an Appeal.","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 3, 2024, in the city of Poronaysk, Sakhalin Region, a search was carried out at the home of Daler Tokhtayev, 33, and his wife. The believer was detained and taken to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. He is accused of extremism.\nAt about 8 a.m., law enforcement officers, including two FSB officers, arrived at the workplace of Daler Tokhtayev. From there, they took the believer to his home, where his wife was, and conducted a search there until 11:30 a.m. Electronic devices, personal notes and a Bible were seized from the couple. The search warrant was issued by the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court on February 22, 2024.\nA criminal case under Parts 1.1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the RF Criminal Code was initiated against Tokhtayev on February 6, 2024. The investigation suspects him of \u0026quot;conducting conversations with RF citizens\u0026quot; on Bible topics, which is interpreted as a continuation of the activity of a banned religious organization and an attempt to involve others in it.\nThe search was conducted by the investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Sakhalin Region, Yuliya Che, who also took part in the investigation of the criminal case of another local believer, Roman Gumenyuk. Tokhtayev became the tenth Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness to be prosecuted for his faith on Sakhalin.\nUpdate. The court imposed pretrial detention for 2 months as a preventive measure on the believer. He is in detention center No. 1 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. ","category":"siloviki","date":"2024-04-03T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/police_hu_c2b408d29a0866a9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/police_hu_77177c4f3bb7b17b.jpg","webp":"/news/common/police_hu_38a613f39b8476.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/police_hu_7739329aeb3bcc37.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/04/081511.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":"One of Jehovah's Witnesses Daler Tokhtayev Detained in Poronaysk","tags":["new-case","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","search","sizo"],"title":"A New Search on Sakhalin.","type":"news"},{"body":"Pavel Sidorenko, 66, a resident of a suburb of Krasnodar, received a suspended sentence of 3 years for talking to local residents about the Bible. On April 3, 2024, the decision in his case was made by Zhanna Velichko, judge of the Goryachy Klyuch City Court.\nIn 2019, the believer took an Orthodox encyclopedia to work to show his colleagues the name \u0026quot;Jehovah\u0026quot; in it. An acquaintance of Pavel Sidorenko gave copies of the pages of this publication to the law enforcement officers. After that, the FSB began wiretapping telephone conversations and found out that he had been talking about the Bible with several local residents. This was enough to initiate a criminal case against Sidorenko on extremism in January 2022. His home was searched, and the believer was placed under a recognizance agreement.\nIn his final statement, Pavel Sidorenko emphasized: \u0026quot;My life in general, as well as the actions that I am charged with, are entirely peaceful. My views as a believing Christian with 33 years of experience are based on love for God and love for people, and have nothing to do with extremism.\u0026quot;\nSidorenko lived in Kuban all his life. He and his wife are now retired; due to the criminal prosecution, the believer was fired from his job. \u0026quot;We both have a small pension. In addition, our adult daughter lives with us, who, due to illness, cannot work. I also can\u0026#39;t get a job to have additional income,\u0026quot; he said. \u0026quot;Our fellow believers help us financially; if necessary, they provide us with transport, and bring food and medicine.\u0026quot;\nAccording to an OSCE statement dated July 28, 2020, \u0026quot;all people, including Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, should be able to peacefully exercise their rights, including the right to freedom of religion, peaceful assembly, and expression without discrimination, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation.\u0026quot; Nevertheless, the number of believers who are prosecuted by the law enforcement officers continues to grow.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-04-03T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/04/041721/image_hu_e4aec22b9157f1ce.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/04/041721/image_hu_e0ba52a6a099c010.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/04/041721/image_hu_2bf5e8673e21c7db.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/04/041721/image_hu_ee8637fef04a384a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/04/041721.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":"This is Already the 18th Jehovah's Witness Convicted for his Faith in the Krasnodar Territory","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended","elderly"],"title":"In Goryachy Klyuch, the Court Gave Pavel Sidorenko a 3-Year Suspended Sentence for Talking About the Bible.","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 3, 2024, the Samara Regional Court upheld the verdict of Sona Olopova — 2 years of forced labor. The court deemed her participation in joint Bible discussions via video link to be extremism.\nIn her appeal, Sona noted that the court of first instance did not consider ordinary religious practice as exercising the right to freedom of practicing the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, which the RF Supreme Court did not prohibit. Instead, in the opinion of the believer, only the fact of professing the religion was enough for the court to pass a sentence. The court did not clarify or establish any other circumstances. In her final statement before the judicial panel, she said: \u0026quot;The materials of my criminal case do not contain a single criminal act, not a single statement against the state, against people of other religions or against people of other nationalities.\u0026quot;\nThe \u0026quot;evidence\u0026quot; included an expert study from another criminal case, in which Olopova is not even mentioned, as well as the testimony of a secret witness who claimed that Sona was distributing banned literature but had not seen it himself.\nIn the Samara Region, 10 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been prosecuted for their faith, five of whom have been sentenced to imprisonment for terms from 7 to 8 years.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-04-03T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/04/051403/image_hu_2496c7ce11997d4b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/04/051403/image_hu_9202fff57af9c7a4.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/04/051403/image_hu_462d5534496f5ff5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/04/051403/image_hu_72b67071c2a26a0a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/04/051403.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","labor","282.2-2","secret-witness","fabrications","studies-violations"],"title":"The Sentence of Sona Olopova from Tolyatti Entered Into Force After an Appeal — Two Years of Forced Labor for Believing in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"Bailo is summoned for questioning by the Investigative Committee. He was charged with participating in the activities of an extremist organization, after which he was placed in a temporary detention facility in the city of Krymsk.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Baylo in Kholmskaya","date":"2024-04-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya7/index.html#20240402","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["search","interrogation","elderly","282.2-2","ivs"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The prosecutor requests a punishment for the believer in the form of 5 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony with restriction of freedom for 10 months.\nAlexander Dolganov speaks with the last word: \"No matter what sentence is pronounced, I will not renounce my faith.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Dolganov in Tolyatti","date":"2024-04-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tolyatti3/index.html#20240401","regions":["samara"],"tags":["first-instance","defense-arguments","final-statement","282.2-2","punishment-request","courtroom"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"E. V. Shevchenko, investigator of the Investigative Directorate for the Abinsk District of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory, initiates a criminal case against 66-year-old Valery Bailo under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Baylo in Kholmskaya","date":"2024-03-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya7/index.html#20240328","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","elderly","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A. D. Bushuev, investigator of the Korenovsky Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee, initiates a criminal case against Natalia Novoseletskaya under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The believer is suspected of \"taking a direct part in religious teaching and sermons ... entered into conversations and religious discussions with other participants... read aloud to other participants the religious books of Jehovah's Witnesses, emphasizing that these books contain true knowledge about God.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Novoseletskaya in Vyselki","date":"2024-03-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki10/index.html#20240328","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee A.D. Bushuev makes a decision to initiate a criminal case against Vladimir Lepsky under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. As an accusation, Bushuyev puts forward the following facts: \"He read aloud to other participants the religious books of Jehovah's Witnesses, emphasizing that these books contain true knowledge about God.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Lepskiy in Vyselki","date":"2024-03-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki12/index.html#20240328","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 22, 2024, Anastasiya Fedorova, judge of the Central District Court of Tolyatti, gave Yelena Yurenkova, 53, a 2-year suspended sentence. For reading and discussing the Bible, she was found guilty of the activity of an extremist organization.\nIn her final statement before the court, Yelena stated: \u0026quot;Today, Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses do not lose their joy when they are persecuted for Jesus\u0026#39; name. For me, as for the ministers of old, suffering in itself is not a cause for joy. But if I remain faithful to God during trials, he will help me endure and gain his approval. This is my hope, the foundation of my faith, for which I am being judged today.\u0026quot;\nThe believer and her husband surrounded by friends near the court building The prosecution of Yelena Yurenkova began in May 2023, when the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against her. The basis for this were hidden video recordings of meetings for worship, which were made over 1.5 years. After the search and interrogation, the believer was made to sign a recognizance agreement. In August of the same year, court hearings began, in which a secret witness participated.\nThe prosecutor requested a sentence of 4 years in a penal colony and 1 year restriction of freedom for Yurenkova. Yelena does not agree with the court\u0026#39;s decision and can appeal to higher courts. There are no victims, no damage caused and no proven facts of extremist activity in the case.\nIn Tolyatti, 6 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, including 4 women, have already been prosecuted.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-03-22T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/03/251357/image_hu_b0e49e1033f0c2d2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/03/251357/image_hu_e45c97f646026524.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/03/251357/image_hu_d8d1611cb5b28b06.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/03/251357/image_hu_6a4126f85e17d743.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/03/251357.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","secret-witness","hidden-surveillance","suspended"],"title":"Court in Tolyatti Gave Yelena Yurenkova a 2-Year Suspended Sentenced for Her Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Aslan Shabanov, senior investigator of the Investigative Committee for the city of Cherkessk, initiates a criminal case under part 1.1 of article 282.2 and part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Vladimir Fomin.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Fomin in Cherkessk","date":"2024-03-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk4/index.html#20240321","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 21, 2024, Vladimir Fomin, 44, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses with a disability, was sent to a temporary detention facility in Cherkessk. A criminal case has been initiated against him under two articles for extremism. During the hearing regarding preventive measure, he lost consciousness and an ambulance had to be called.\nA month earlier, on February 21, the home of Vladimir Fomin and his wife was searched. Electronic devices and data carriers were seized from them.\nThe believer is charged with participating in the activity of an extremist organization and involving other persons in it. The case was initiated by Aslan Shabanov, senior investigator of the Cherkessk Investigative Committee. On March 23, the Cherkessk City Court imposed pre-trial detention on Fomin.\nThe reason for initiating the criminal case against Fomin was an incident related to the case of Menchikova, a resident of Cherkessk who earlier had been convicted for her faith. The charges against Vladimir were based on conversations about the Bible with a woman, which the investigation deemed to be involving others in the activity of a banned organization.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2024-03-21T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_4c19bccc616a0461.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_e7ed3c04c528ed3b.jpg","webp":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_e58593e77498609.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_3097a2541128b86e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/03/280841.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":"He Was Placed in a Detention Center","tags":["new-case","sizo","search","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","disability","interrogation"],"title":"A Criminal Case Initiated in Cherkessk Against Vladimir Fomin who Has a Disability.","type":"news"},{"body":"A. Grigoriev, investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Yaroslavl Region, terminates the case against the believers and withdraws their recognizance not to leave. The ruling states: \"The investigation believes that the actions of E. I. Samoylova, O. V. Golovacheva, D. V. Lebedev and M. V. Ovchinnikov do not contain signs of a crime under part 2 of article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\"\nIn addition, the very fact of participation of believers in the activities of the local religious organization \"Jehovah's Witnesses\" in the city of Rybinsk has not been reliably established. According to the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 28.06.2011 No. 11, to which the investigator refers, participation in the activities of an extremist organization is understood as \"the commission by a person of intentional actions directly related to the continuation or renewal of the activities of this organization.\"\n","caseTitle":"The case of Samoilova and Others in Rybinsk","date":"2024-03-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rybinsk/index.html#20240320","regions":["yaroslavl"],"tags":["case-dismissed","282.2-2","elderly","disability"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Rimma Popova is charged under two parts of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — participation in the activities of an extremist organization and involvement of persons in it. The investigation sees a crime in peaceful conversations with residents about God.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Popova in Cherkessk","date":"2024-03-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk3/index.html#20240317","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 15, 2024, the trial one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, Yuriy Yuskov, who will be 86 in less than a month, was completed in the Novocheboksarsk City Court of the Chuvash Republic. Judge Aleksandr Zubov gave him a 5-year suspended sentence with a 4-year probation period and 1 year and 4 months of restriction of freedom.\nAccording to the investigation, Yuriy Yuskov is guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization and involving others in it, as he \u0026quot;carried out the preaching activity, conducting conversations and teaching religious beliefs.\u0026quot; Without evidence he was accused of promoting the breakup of families. In response, the widower talked about his marriage to Lyudmila, who did not share his religious views: \u0026quot;My wife and I lived together for 59 years and 43 days. Your Honor, are many families today able to maintain their marriage for more than 1 year? I know for a fact that the Bible only strengthens family ties, not destroy them, even if family members practice different religions.\u0026quot;\nOn April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation liquidated the legal entities of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses but did not ban practicing this religion. This thought was emphasized by Yuriy Yuskov at one of the hearings: \u0026quot;The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated publicly that the ban applies only to legal entities and does not prevent believers from practicing their religion. And I understood that I had not lost the right to peacefully practice the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\u0026quot;\nThe prosecution of pensioner Yuriy Yuskov began in November 2020, when they searched his home in the case of three believers from Cheboksary. The security forces returned for a second search in May 2023, when A. Mukhin, a senior investigator of the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Chuvash Republic, initiated a criminal case against him. The charge was based on the testimony of two secret witnesses; part of the court hearings was held behind closed doors, but the court allowed five listeners to attend the announcement of the verdict. About 30 more people who came to support the believer were waiting for the decision outside the courthouse.\nYuriy Yuskov intends to appeal the verdict.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-03-15T14:19:40+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/03/151419/image_hu_1eda5153206f0b5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/03/151419/image_hu_969044aca1143e89.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/03/151419/image_hu_5941c3c636082295.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/03/151419/image_hu_80beda85fc7187fa.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/03/151419.html","regions":["chuvashia"],"subtitle":"Yuriy Yuskov was given a 5-year suspended sentence","tags":["sentence","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","secret-witness","elderly","suspended"],"title":"Court in Chuvashia Announced the Verdict Against One of the Oldest Prisoners of Conscience for his Faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"Pavel Brilkov, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Prokopyevsk, will serve a 2-year suspended sentence for his faith based on the March 12, 2024 decision of the Kemerovo Regional Court. Two months earlier, a lower court had sentenced him to 2 years and 10 months of forced labor, despite his disability and retirement age.\nAddressing the appeal panel, Brilkov said that he considers the case fabricated, and himself innocent. \u0026quot;My conscience is calm because I have not violated either the Criminal Code or the law of God \u0026ndash; my actions have not caused any harm to anyone,\u0026quot; he said in his final statement.\nThe criminal prosecution of Brilkov began in March 2023. Until the verdict was passed, he was under a recognizance agreement.\nIn the Kemerovo Region, 18 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are being prosecuted, including three women.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-03-12T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/03/131340/image_hu_412fa964d25f15fc.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/03/131340/image_hu_2256679fd8c3944.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/03/131340/image_hu_69ec8793bf48fff4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/03/131340/image_hu_6ab63637bbf884c7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/03/131340.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":"In Kemerovo, The Court of Appeal Changed the Sentence of a Pensioner","tags":["appeal","282.2-2","labor","suspended","elderly","disability","rosfinmonitoring"],"title":"Two Years Suspended Instead of Three Years of Forced Labor for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"One of the largest cases for faith of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Russia, in which the investigation and trial lasted almost 6 years, ended in a guilty verdict. On March 6, 2024, Tatyana Belayeva, judge of the Magadan City Court, gave suspended sentences to believers aged 31 to 73.\nSergey Yerkin, Konstantin Petrov and Ivan Puyda received 7 years, Yevgeniy Zyablov received 5 years, Sergey Agadzhanov, Viktor Revyakin, Mikhail and Oksana Solntsev, Irina Khvostova, Lyubov Asatryan, Galina Dergacheva, Inna Kardakova and Galina Pechko received 3 years — all suspended with a probation period of 2 to 5 years. As an additional punishment, believers were given a restriction of freedom from 10 months to 1 year.\nA criminal case was initiated in May 2018, followed by searches. Ivan Puyda was detained by the law enforcement officers in Khabarovsk, 1600 km from Magadan. He, as well as Petrov, Zyablov and Yerkin were behind bars between 2 and 4 months. As a result of the second wave of searches in March 2019, Lyubov Asatryan, Irina Khvostova, Mikhail and Oksana Solntsev, Inna Kardakova, Galina Dergacheva, Viktor Revyakin and Sergey Agadzhanov became defendants in the case. Galina Pechko was added to the list 2 years later.\nThe charges of organizing, financing and participating in the activity of an extremist organization was based on hidden recordings of meetings for worship, during which the believers discussed compassion and love for people and forgiveness and hope. The testimonies of witnesses, including the FSB officer who conducted operational work within the case, did not reveal any expression of extremism at these religious meetings. At court hearings, the defense has repeatedly noted that all 13 believers have a reputation of being decent, intelligent and hardworking people.\nThe support of relatives and friends helped the believers to cope with the difficulties caused by the criminal prosecution. Galina Pechko said: \u0026quot;I can reach out to them at any time. I hear so many words of encouragement that warm my heart and help me endure everyday difficulties.\u0026quot; According to Ivan Puyda, during his imprisonment his grandfather\u0026#39; example of resilience, who was also persecuted for his faith in Soviet times, strengthened him: \u0026quot;If he were alive, he would be proud of me ... His example inspired me to remain faithful and courageous.\u0026quot;\nThe convicted persons deny their guilt of extremism, as they said in their final statements.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-03-06T15:40:55+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/03/061540/image_hu_d4268defdd51729f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/03/061540/image_hu_5dbaaa40b1106758.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/03/061540/image_hu_f2b5dc69280b052a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/03/061540/image_hu_f86f427d433e7116.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/03/061540.html","regions":["magadan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","suspended","elderly","families"],"title":"Court In Magadan Gave 13 Jehovah's Witnesses Suspended Sentences From 3 to 7 Years","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 5, 2024, Andrey Slavinskiy, judge of the Oktyabrskiy District Court of Irkutsk, issued a verdict in the case of 9 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. He found them guilty of extremism and sentenced them to various terms of imprisonment in a penal colony.\nThe maximum term — 7 years — were received by Yaroslav Kalin, Sergey Kosteyev, Nikolay Martynov, Mikhail Moysh, Aleksey Solnechny and Andrey Tolmachev. Igor Popov and Denis Sarazhakov received 6 years and 4 months, and Sergey Vasilyev received 3 years. The verdict has not entered into force; the believers do not admit their guilt and plan to appeal.\nA criminal case was initiated in October 2021, when searches were carried out in the homes of the believers. Law enforcement officers behaved rudely: they broke windows and entered through windows and balcony doors. Some of the raids were carried out with beatings.\nAfter the searches, six men — Yaroslav Kalin, Sergey Kosteyev, Nikolay Martynov, Mikhail Moysh, Aleksey Solnechny, and Andrey Tolmachev — were taken into custody, where they spent more than 2 years. The oldest of the detainees is Sergey Vasilyev, who is now 72 years old, stayed for 2 days in the temporary detention facility, after which he was placed under house arrest (and now again taken into custody in the court). In the pretrial detention center some of the men were often ill. \u0026quot;My friends and I suffered a lot of hardships and deprivation during the criminal prosecution,\u0026quot; said Yaroslav Kalin. \u0026quot;We were in the worst cells and conditions possible. We have experienced the misery of imprisonment firsthand.\u0026quot;\nAs part of this case, in November 2021, searches were also carried out at the homes of Denis Sarazhakov in Khakassia and Igor Popov in the Kemerovo Region, after which the men were placed in a pretrial detention center; they also spent more than 2 years in prison.\nAfter a year of investigative actions, in December 2022, the case was submitted to the Oktyabrskiy District Court of Irkutsk. The prosecutor requested 3 to 7 years in a penal colony for the believers.\nSpeaking in court, Aleksey Solnechny said in his final statement: \u0026quot;I have been detained for more than two years on charges of a crime I did not commit. When you read the indictment, you can see that the investigator included in it all the fiction that he found on the Internet regarding Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\u0026quot; He added: \u0026quot;Either I am one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses or I am an extremist. It is impossible to be both at the same time. And I declare: I am one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, but I am not an extremist!\u0026quot;\nYaroslav Kalin emphasized in his final statement: \u0026quot;I truly wonder for what act such a term was requested for me. I did not sit just doing nothing during this trial. I looked deeply into the accusation and the arguments of the investigation and was convinced of the complete incompetence of the accusation and its illegality. I have not received an answer to the question: where and what is extremism? Neither my conscience nor my reasoning accepts the unfounded accusations that were made in court. And the requested punishment simply defies logic.\u0026quot;\nAt one of the court hearings, he also spoke about how his relatives were exiled to Siberia for their faith during the Soviet era: \u0026quot;I was sure that history could not repeat itself. Russia cannot make the same mistakes. It cannot first imprison believers, then apologize to their children, and then again imprison their children and grandchildren for their faith in God.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-03-05T11:41:36+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/03/051141/image_hu_55afbcc49d5ec30e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/03/051141/image_hu_9a000d0223c49810.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/03/051141/image_hu_24c4bdbd6deff63a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/03/051141/image_hu_57e66eb58d070625.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/03/051141.html","regions":["irkutsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","siloviks-violence"],"title":"Nine of Jehovah's Witnesses from Irkutsk Received 3 to 7 Years in a Penal Colony for Their Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Dmitriy Yankin, a senior investigator-criminalist of the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia, initiates a second criminal case against Vladlena Kukavitsa, this time under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). The cases are consolidated into one proceeding.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kukavitsa in Birobidzhan","date":"2024-03-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan20/index.html#20240305","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 4, 2024, Irina Onuchina, judge of the Central District Court of the city of Tolyatti, found Yelena Kozhevnikova guilty of extremism and gave her a 2-year suspended sentence for \u0026quot;actively participating in the activity of the religious organization of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses through video conferencing.\u0026quot;\nThe prosecutor had requested 4 years of imprisonment for the believer.\nRegarding the charges, Kozhevnikova stated that she does not pose any public danger, as she respects people of any nationality and religion as well as the laws of the state. \u0026quot;This what the Bible teaches, which for me is the most important law,\u0026quot; the believer highlighted. \u0026quot;I do not think that talking about God and Bible principles in any way violates the constitutional order or threatens state security.\u0026quot;\nThe criminal prosecution of Yelena began in May 2023, following searches that took place simultaneously at several addresses of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Tolyatti. The Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against the believer, and she was placed under a recognizance agreement. Already within 2 months, the case went to court. The charge was based on the testimony of a secret witness and hidden video recordings of meetings for worship.\nIn the Samara Region, 10 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been prosecuted, one of whom was sentenced to 8 years in prison for their faith, and four more to 7 years in a penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-03-04T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/03/050830/image_hu_e9e60e4296e97e36.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/03/050830/image_hu_18f0188bbd25678f.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/03/050830/image_hu_3a84e8e12ea4a8a8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/03/050830/image_hu_40b484186116e4a9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/03/050830.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":"The Court Gave a Suspended Sentence to 62-year-old Yelena Kozhevnikova","tags":["282.2-2","sentence","hidden-surveillance","suspended"],"title":"Another Sentence for Faith in Tolyatti.","type":"news"},{"body":"Tatyana Piskareva, a pensioner from Oryol, was found guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization because of her faith. On March 1, 2024, Dmitriy Sukhov, judge of the Sovetskiy District Court of Oryol, sentenced her to 2 years and 6 months of forced labor.\nThe believer\u0026#39;s case continues the trend of prosecuting several family members at once: Tatyana\u0026#39;s husband, Vladimir, received 6 years in a penal colony under an article for extremism and is now awaiting an appeal. He was arrested after searches in December 2020 and has been behind bars ever since. There he suffered several hypertensive crises and a stroke; he was diagnosed with coronary artery disease. Tatyana said: \u0026quot;I wanted to help my husband when he had a crisis, but I could not help in any way. It was painful to watch the inactivity of the pretrial detention center.\u0026quot;\nThe RF Investigative Committee initiated a case against Piskareva in October 2021. She was accused of participating in meetings for worship via video conferencing. A year and a half later, the trial began. At the hearing, it turned out that 11 of the 13 prosecution witnesses did not know the believer.\n\u0026quot;I love all people regardless of their nationality, race, skin color and language, religion and other beliefs. I hate extremism in any form,\u0026quot; Tatyana said during the trial. \u0026quot;I am a believer, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, and this is not a crime.\u0026quot; The decision of the court may be appealed in higher instances.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-03-01T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/03/041031/image_hu_884711d79ce518d0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/03/041031/image_hu_b0b283b5b9f75276.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/03/041031/image_hu_ca945b746266c03f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/03/041031/image_hu_40ae29615f64db1b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/03/041031.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":"Earlier, her Husband Had Received 6 Years in a Penal Colony for Similar Charges","tags":["sentence","labor","282.2-2","families","elderly"],"title":"A Court in Oryol Sentenced Tatyana Piskareva, 67, to 2.5 Years of Forced Labor for Participating in Peaceful Worship.","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 29, 2024, Sergey Kochetkov, judge of the Teykovo District Court of the Ivanovo Region, sentenced Vladimir Spivak, Aleksandr Vasichkin, Sergey Galyamin and Anatoliy Lyamo to large fines for practicing their faith.\nNone of the convicted persons pleaded guilty. They can appeal the verdict. The state prosecutor requested fines between 700,000 and 1,200,000 rubles be imposed on the men. The court fined the believers slightly less: Vladimir Spivak 600,000, Sergey Galyamin 650,000, Aleksandr Vasichkin and Anatoliy Lyamo 1,100,000 rubles each.\nFriends came to the courthouse to support the believers, February 29, 2024. Vasichkin and Spivak first encountered searches back in 2015; Vladimir and his wife were under surveillance by security forces. Later, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020, the homes of the believers were again searched, and a criminal case was initiated. It went to court in January 2023 and was examined for just over a year. Throughout this time, the men were under recognizance agreements.\nTwo secret witnesses who had attended meetings of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses\u0026#39; several times in the past, testified in court. They explained that they had not heard any calls for violence, religious hatred or overthrow of the government; they also could not confirm the accusations against the believers and admitted they had not been threatened by them. Other witnesses for the prosecution described the defendants positively.\nThe charges were based, among other things, on the expert study of Tatyana Belova, PhD in Philosophy. She allegedly identified the voice of Sergey Galyamin on one of the recordings and made her conclusions based on this. However, a phonetic expert study conducted by another expert proved that it was not Galyamin\u0026#39;s voice.\nDespite their own difficulties, the four believers try to support their fellow believers who find themselves in similar circumstances. Aleksandr Vasichkin said: \u0026quot;I try to attend court hearings of other believers. I went to help one of my friends rebuild their house after a fire.\u0026quot;\nIn the Ivanovo Region, 13 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are currently being prosecuted for their faith in 5 criminal cases.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-02-29T09:29:54+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/03/010929/image_hu_56414810654010ca.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/03/010929/image_hu_fa8b8527c6a06c45.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/03/010929/image_hu_12de3bfd55c7faca.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/03/010929/image_hu_868e743892d250b9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/03/010929.html","regions":["ivanovo"],"subtitle":"Four Believers Were Ordered to Pay Between 600,000 and 1,100,000 Rubles for Their Beliefs","tags":["elderly","sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2","fine","282.3-1"],"title":"Court in Teykovo Considered the Common Religious Practice of Jehovah's Witnesses to Be Extremism.","type":"news"},{"body":"Based on the materials separated from the case of Maxim Khamatshin , the investigator of the Investigative Committee, Colonel Alexander Chepenko, initiates two criminal cases against 28-year-old Oleg Artemov - on charges of participation in the activities of an extremist organization and its financing.\nAccording to Chepenko, the believer \"in the period from 06.09.2017 to 08.09.2022 ... at least 5 times intentionally... took part in the activities of a religious association... in the form of participation in religious meetings... conducting conversations with residents of Chelyabinsk, demonstrating and watching educational videos\".\nArtemov is also suspected of financing the activities of an extremist organization, since he allegedly \"made at least 20 payments ... by paying for \"Zoom\"... to ensure the holding of meetings of members of the said religious association by videoconference.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Oleg Artemov in Chelyabinsk","date":"2024-02-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk11/index.html#20240229","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The prosecutor requests 4 years of imprisonment and 1 year of restriction of liberty for Elena Kozhevnikova.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kozhevnikova in Tolyatti","date":"2024-02-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tolyatti4/index.html#20240228","regions":["samara"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation V. I. Danilin initiates a criminal case against Irina Ushakova for the fact that the believer \"participated in the discussion of the content of the religious books of Jehovah's Witnesses, including the so-called 'Holy Scripture' (the Bible).\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Ushakova in Vyselki","date":"2024-02-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki11/index.html#20240215","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families","disability"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Isaev charges Sokolov. The investigation believes that Sokolov took an active part in meetings aimed at preparing preaching activities, providing information, consulting and other assistance necessary for the implementation of the religious activities of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nSokolov learns that the woman with whom he spoke about the Bible made covert audio-video recordings of meetings for worship and handed them over to the FSB.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Sokolov in Zeya","date":"2024-02-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/zeya5/index.html#20240215","regions":["amur"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Tatyana Galkevich, 64, and Valentina Vladimirova, 67, Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Smolensk, were each given a 2-year suspended sentence with restriction of freedom for a year for their faith. This decision was made by the Promyshlennyy District Court of Smolensk on February 14, 2024. The believers deny being guilty of extremism and consider the verdict groundless.\n\u0026quot;Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, as law-abiding citizens, have stopped using their buildings for worship, but they cannot stop worshiping God and keep silent about the beautiful Bible truths,\u0026quot; Vladimirova said. Galkevich commented on the trial as follows: \u0026quot;The example of Jesus Christ himself helps me ... not to be embittered under these circumstances, when I am prosecuted without grounds and given the dreadful label of an extremist.\u0026quot;\nAfter searches in May 2019, both believers ended up behind bars. They spent 6 months in a pretrial detention center, then they were placed under house arrest: Tatyana for 9 months, and Valentina for 2 years and 4 months. The believers were accused of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. The investigation was conducted by the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Smolensk Region.\nThe Promyshlennyy District Court returned the case to the Prosecutor\u0026#39;s Office twice because of violations. The final hearing began in April 2023 and the trial was led by Judge Lyudmila Kovaleva. During the proceedings, Galkevich and Vladimirova repeatedly stressed that the case materials only indicate their religious affiliation with Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. However, they do not mention any extremist actions or statements. The believers were also baffled by a religious expert study carried out by a graduate of the Orthodox Theological Academy, PhD in Theology, specializing in the \u0026quot;elders of Valaam ascetics.\u0026quot;\nValentina Vladimirova and Tatiana Galkevich can appeal the verdict in the court of appeal.\nIn the Smolensk Region, six more of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have faced prosecution by the authorities. Five of them were given suspended sentences ranging from 6 to 6.5 years.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-02-14T14:20:47+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/02/161420/image_hu_e435ca0ec3f4995f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/02/161420/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/02/161420/image_hu_902fc27cb0b90ff.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/02/161420/image_hu_38f2acaee5f077b0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/02/161420.html","regions":["smolensk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","elderly","suspended"],"title":"Court in Smolensk Gave Two Elderly Women a 2-year Suspended Sentence — They \"Participated in Joint Prayers to Jehovah and Discussion of Bible Interpretations\"","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 8, 2024, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court considered the case of Aleksandr Pryanikov and Venera and Daria Dulova for the fourth time. Now the court of appeal has upheld the suspended sentences for Aleksandr and Venera (2.5 and 2 years, respectively) and released Darya from criminal liability.\nThe court explained its decision by the fact that during the period of allegeed guilt, Darya Dulova was 17 years old, and in this case the statute of limitations is 5 years (Article 78 of the RfCrC). It expired in June 2023. The appeals of the defendants and the ruling of the prosecutor were denied by the panel of judges. The believers do not agree with the verdict and deny being guilty of extremism.\nIn 4.5 years, three verdicts were passed in the case of the believers from Karpinsk: two guilty and one acquittal. The court of first instance considered the case twice, the court of appeal four times, and the court of cassation twice. The trial even went before the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. Since 2021, another case against the Dulovs and Pryanikov is being considered in court, also on charges of extremism.\nThe European Court of Human Rights recognized that the prosecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Russia is unlawful and ruled in their favor in June 2022.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-02-08T14:06:28+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/02/091406/image_hu_2f02ae2e5c930b93.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/02/091406/image_hu_946ed035aace4567.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/02/091406/image_hu_541570dc579115f0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/02/091406/image_hu_98eeabd08466b0a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/02/091406.html","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"subtitle":"The Verdict Against the Remaining Defendants in the Case Entered into Force","tags":["2-appeal","282.2-2","suspended","disability"],"title":"Darya Dulova Was Released from Criminal Liability due to the Expiration of the Statute of Limitations After the Fourth Appeal Hearing.","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Committee for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region, Major of Justice G. S. Kopylova, initiates a criminal case against Liliya Dolinina and combines it with another case opened against her in February 2023. Now the believer is accused not only of involvement, but also of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. This is how the investigation interprets the correspondence of the elderly woman with her acquaintances on religious topics.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Dolinina in Dormidontovka","date":"2024-02-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/dormidontovka/index.html#20240207","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Sakhalin Region, Captain of Justice Yulia Che, initiates a criminal case for faith under Parts 1.1 and 2 of Article 282.2 against Daler Tokhtayev.\nThe investigation suspects the believer of \"conducting conversations with citizens of the Russian Federation\" on biblical topics, and interprets this as a continuation of the activities of a banned religious organization and an attempt to involve him in it.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Tokhtaev in Poronaysk","date":"2024-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/poronaysk/index.html#20240206","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigator initiates a second criminal case against Igor Muravyov, this time under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and merges it with the first.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Muravyov in Saint Petersburg","date":"2024-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/poronaysk2/index.html#20240206","regions":["stpetersburg"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The deputy head of the investigation department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice S. N. Galyamov, initiates a criminal case against unidentified persons for participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Serdtseva and Others in Shakhunya","date":"2024-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shakhunya/index.html#20240206","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["search","interrogation","new-case","282.2-2","elderly","minors","health-risk"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 29, 2024, Anton Mokin, judge of the Shuya City Court of the Ivanovo Region, sentenced Aleksey Arkhipov, Svetlana Ryzhkova, Svetlana Shishina, and the couple Dmitriy and Yelena Mikhaylov to large fines for their faith in Jehovah God.\nAleksey Arkhipov was fined 380,000, Svetlana Shishina 400,000, Svetlana Ryzhkova 480,000, Yelena Mikhaylova 560,000, and her husband Dmitriy Mikhaylov 950,000 rubles. The prosecution requested a fine of 1,200,000 rubles for Mikhaylov, taking into account the time of detention; for Mikhaylova and Ryzhkova — 600,000 rubles; for Shishina and Arkhipov — 400,000 rubles. The believers insist on their innocence and have the right to appeal.\n\u0026quot;Actually, I am accused of believing in God,\u0026quot; commented Dmitriy Mikhaylov on the accusation. \u0026quot;I am charged with discussing religious topics with my friends.\u0026quot; He also emphasized that the linguistic forensic expert study did not reveal signs of extremism in the materials examined. His wife Yelena said: \u0026quot;The charges against me are serious, but there is no concrete evidence.\u0026quot;\nSvetlana Shishina, a mother of two, said: \u0026quot;I have always respected people of different religious denominations, and I teach my children to do the same.\u0026quot; \u0026quot;The charges against me are far-fetched, unfounded and not lawful,\u0026quot; said Svetlana Ryzhkova. Aleksey Arkhipov, in turn, emphasized: \u0026quot;I have never plotted or intended to commit any illegal actions against the authorities, nevermind undermining the foundations of the constitutional order and state security, as this contradicts my beliefs as a Christian and a God-fearing person.\u0026quot;\nCriminal prosecution of the believers began in 2018; their homes were searched. Later it turned out, that prior to that, a hidden video camera had been installed at least at one of the addresses, and one person, on the instructions of the special forces, feigned interest in the Bible. After his arrest, Dmitriy Mikhaylov spent 6 months in a pretrial detention center. His wife, together with other women whose husbands were imprisoned for their faith in God, sent an open letter to the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights. In response to this letter, a request was sent to the General Prosecutor\u0026#39;s Office to check the legality and validity of the criminal prosecution of citizens professing the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. However, the criminal prosecution did not stop. The case was returned twice to the investigator for revision and after 4 years it was re-submitted to the court, which considered the case for 1.5 years.\nOn April 26, 2019, the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion on Dmitriy Mikhaylov\u0026#39;s complaint, calling on the Russian authorities to stop his criminal prosecution and grant him the right to compensation and reparation.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-01-29T16:05:39+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/01/291605/image_hu_994e19bb312b86b9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/01/291605/image_hu_56be0241ab7ca51e.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/01/291605/image_hu_6984153ca51a1a68.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/01/291605/image_hu_4baf6ff7f4f7804d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/01/291605.html","regions":["ivanovo"],"subtitle":"They Must Pay the State From 380 to 950 Thousand Rubles","tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","sentence","secret-witness","hidden-surveillance","fine","minors","elderly","families"],"title":"Court in Shuya Fined 5 Jehovah's Witnesses for Reading the Bible Together.","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 25, 2024, Tatyana Begunova, judge of the Central District Court of Tolyatti, found Sona Olopova guilty of extremism because of her religion and sentenced her to 2 years of forced labor. She will serve her sentence in a correctional facility. The believer considers the verdict unfair.\n\u0026quot;The evidence presented by the prosecution does not confirm my guilt in committing a crime. All arguments boil down to the fact that . . . in the city of Tolyatti, a small group of people practicing the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses held meetings for worship, which began with song and prayer and were aimed at discussing the Bible,\u0026quot; Sona said in court.\nThe state prosecutor requested 4 years in a penal colony and 8 months of restriction of freedom for the believer. However, according to the believer, the prosecutor could not explain what specific crimes were committed and where and how Olopova committed them.\nSona faced criminal prosecution in May 2023, when an investigator of the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against her for participating in the activity of an extremist organization. The security forces searched her home, interrogated her and released her under a recognizance agreement.\nThe believer spoke about the support she received from friends: \u0026quot;When I left the building of the Investigative Committee, I saw how my friends came to meet me and hug me. Many were very worried about me and were crying. So much love, attention and gifts, cards, various messages assuring me of their love and our Father\u0026#39;s.\u0026quot;\nDuring the trial, it became clear that the prosecution had no evidence of the believer\u0026#39;s guilt. According to Olopova\u0026#39;s lawyer, one of the expert studies presented by the prosecution was prepared as part of another criminal case, and conclusions were made in relation to third parties, so this material should not have been attached to her case. Witnesses for the prosecution questioned at the hearing, including one secret witness, confirmed that there were no calls for violence or religious hatred at the meetings of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, and that the meetings were always peaceful.\nCurrently, in the Samara Region, in addition to Sona Olopova, 9 more Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are defending their constitutional right to freedom of religion in the courts.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-01-25T16:02:42+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/01/251602/image_hu_5626a5ea3ee45ae5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/01/251602/image_hu_f86c79c076ace14.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/01/251602/image_hu_2c3c6981d4e9f8c3.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/01/251602/image_hu_a0922cd99b1d8e3d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/01/251602.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":"Sona Olopova, 36, From Tolyatti Was Sentenced to 2 Years of Forced Labor","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","secret-witness","studies-violations","labor"],"title":"The First Sentence for Faith in the Samara Region.","type":"news"},{"body":"According to the decision of the Orenburg Regional Court, on January 24, 2024, the verdict entered into force for five Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses — Vladislav Kolbanov, Vladimir Kochnev, Pavel Lekontsev, Nikolay Zhugin, and Sergey Logunov received suspended sentences from 2.5 to 3.5 years for friendly meetings with fellow believers.\nThe state prosecutor requested that the court of appeal uphold the verdict. The believers\u0026#39; lawyer called the prosecution\u0026#39;s demands groundless, stressing that in the verdict the court specifically noted: \u0026quot;Actions aimed at inciting hatred and enmity, calls for violence... the defendants are not charged.\u0026quot;\nThe believers themselves once again stated that they consider any guilty decision unjust and infringing on their right to freedom of religion. \u0026quot;It is impossible to establish from the appealed verdict on what basis the court refused to consider the actions imputed to me as exercising my right to freedom of religion within the framework of the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses,\u0026quot; Nikolay Zhugin noted in his appeal. Vladimir Kochnev emphasized: \u0026quot;The court did not establish the presence of motives of religious hatred or enmity in my actions. All my actions were completely peaceful.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-01-24T17:10:21+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/01/241710/image_hu_93a3f4a9d25a06b0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/01/241710/image_hu_629aad76f92b144d.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/01/241710/image_hu_dfb50f5a251f60d8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/01/241710/image_hu_c40fa49f0c453651.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/01/241710.html","regions":["orenburg"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","elderly","282.2-2","282.3-1","282.2-1","suspended"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Orenburg Upholds the Suspended Sentence of Five Believers","type":"news"},{"body":"Yelena Menchikova, 59, was again found guilty - on January 23, 2024, Nauruz Shukurov, judge of the Cherkessk City Court, gave the woman with a disability a 4.5-year suspended sentence with a probation period of 2.5 years because of her religion.\nAs Yelena said in court, the charges boil down to the fact that she invited friends \u0026quot;to study the Holy Scriptures (Bible), ingluding singing songs together, praying, and studying religious articles.\u0026quot; \u0026quot;I never imagined that in the Caucasus hospitality would turn out to be such a grave crime and that if would lead to punishment,\u0026quot; the believer said. However, the indictment does not contain a specific description of how, when and under what circumstances Menchikova expressed extremism.\nYelena Menchikova in the courtroom. January 24, 2024 The prosecution of Yelena on religious grounds has been going on since December 2019. The first verdict — a 5-year suspended sentence and legal costs — was handed down to her in December 2021. Two months later, the court of appeal released her from paying court costs, and later the court of cassation sent the case for a new trial.\nIn Karachay-Cherkessia, four more of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have been prosecuted, and two of them have already received sentences for their faith. The world community calls on the Russian authorities \u0026quot;to drop charges and release all those detained for exercising their rights to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression, as well as the right to peaceful assembly and association.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-01-23T16:27:11+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/01/241627/image_hu_340309037787cd11.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/01/241627/image_hu_744319c376fdc108.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/01/241627/image_hu_956b8687dda7f8f9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/01/241627/image_hu_bc2ba5efb675ec84.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/01/241627.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["disability","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","retrial","suspended"],"title":"Court in Cherkessk Reviewed Yelena Menchikova's Case and Again Found Her Guilty of Extremism for Talking About the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 16, 2024, a panel of judges of the Kemerovo Regional Court upheld the sentence of 64-year-old Tatyana Sushilnikova from Novokuznetsk — a 4-year suspended sentence for participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\nAccording to the believer, the verdict of the court of first instance was reached with gross violations of the law and should be canceled. In her appeal, Sushilnikova noted that the court\u0026#39;s decision does not contain a description of the illegal actions of which she was accused or specific dates and places when they were committed. Witnesses interrogated by the court admitted that they did not know Tatyana, did not talk to her on religious topics, and did not receive Bible literature from her. A sample of the believer\u0026#39;s voice for forensic audio analysis was taken in violation of procedural norms.\n\u0026quot;More than 200 pieces of evidence are listed in the verdict... [however] the court does not provide information on how they confirm my guilt. In particular, there are numerous references to personal notebooks, notepads, documents, etc., seized from third parties, in which I am not mentioned and which I have nothing to do with,\u0026quot; Sushilnikova stated. Thus, the court considered telephone conversations with her husband to be part of the \u0026quot;evidence\u0026quot; of guilt, while audio recordings were not provided and, accordingly, the content of the conversations was not established.\nTatyana Sushilnikova said that the decision of the court of first instance in reality means the introduction of a ban on religion. She noted: \u0026quot;All my numerous references to the Bible, which requires Christians to worship God together, and was the real motive for my behavior, were not evaluated.\u0026quot; By passing the verdict, the court ignored the explanation of the RF Supreme Court that the Russian legal entities of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses had been liquidated, and not the actual teachings. At the same time, the expressions mentioned in the verdict \u0026quot;Religious Organization of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;International Religious Organization of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses\u0026quot; and \u0026quot;Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses\u0026quot; are not legal entities and have not been liquidated by the Supreme Court.\nThe court of appeal refused to take Tatyana\u0026#39;s arguments into account. A similar decision was made by the same court in March 2023 against the the believer\u0026#39;s hudband, 67-year-old Sergey Sushilnikov, upholding his 6-year suspended sentence. Judge Zinovyev earlier also declared the detention of the Sushilnikovs\u0026#39; fellow believers, Maksim Morozov and Yuriy Usanov from the town of Taiga, as lawful.\nSince the ban on the activity of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in 2017, more than 2,000 homes of believers have been searched, about 400 people have been imprisoned, and more than 730 believers have been charged with extremism.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-01-17T14:14:07+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/01/171414/image_hu_c91ef834839be1de.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/01/171414/image_hu_77aebddd873c6c4f.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/01/171414/image_hu_4cf14a5a0714c0a5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/01/171414/image_hu_2940d45a405f7b17.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/01/171414.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","elderly","families"],"title":"Court of Appeal in the Kemerovo Region Upheld the Verdict Against Pensioner Tatyana Sushilnikova — a 4-Year Suspended Sentence for Her Faith in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 15, 2024, Alena Novoselova, judge of the Central District Court of Prokopyevsk, found Pavel Brilkov, 65, who has a disability, guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization and sentenced him to 2 years and 10 months of forced labor only because of his faith.\nIn November 2021, the home of Pavel Brilkov and his wife was searched as part of the case of Andrey Vlasov, a disabled person who is serving a sentence in a penal colony for his faith. In March 2023, Brilkov himself became a defendant in a criminal case. Testimony against the believer was given by two men recruited by the FSB, one of whom once talked with Pavel about the Bible, and a second, who said that he saw the believer at a meeting for worship.\nPavel Brilkov with his wife and friends on the day of the verdict The case went to court at the end of April 2023. Brilkov pleaded not guilty. In his final statement, he said: \u0026quot;My faith in God is based on love, not hatred or extremism. What danger do I pose to the public? Who have I harmed? Where are the people or families who have suffered through my fault? What irreparable damage have I done to our country? Are conversations on topics such as family happiness, consolation for those who mourn, or the future earthly paradise so dangerous that a person is tried under a serious article and can be thrown into prison? \u0026quot; Despite, the age and disability of the defendant, the prosecutor requested the court to impose 3 years of forced labor. The convicted person intends to appeal the verdict.\nEarlier, Judge Novoselova convicted another Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness from Prokopyevsk, Yuriy Chernykh. He, like Brilkov, was a witness in the case of Andrey Vlasov. The Tsentralnyi District Court of Prokopyevsk is also hearing the case of Yuriy Chernykh\u0026#39;s wife, Yelena. A total of 18 believers are facing criminal prosecution for their faith in the Kemerovo Region.\nThe August 2022 ECHR ruling in favor of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Russia notes that believers have the right to practice their religion \u0026quot;individually or in community with others\u0026quot; and this right \u0026quot;has always been considered an integral part of freedom of religion\u0026quot; (§ 268).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-01-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/01/120859/image_hu_20bd36da55c8bb5e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/01/120859/image_hu_8d42d695bd28a0b8.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/01/120859/image_hu_ce999ab838ef5e31.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/01/120859/image_hu_4580668e9f02bc72.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/01/120859.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":"Pavel Brilkov Received 2 Years and 10 Months of Forced Labor for Talking About the Bible","tags":["sentence","disability","282.2-2","elderly","labor"],"title":"Court in the Kemerovo Region Sentenced Yet Another Jehovah's Witness.","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 11, 2023, the Primorye Territory Court upheld the verdict of Valeriy Vyaznikov, a 60-year-old resident of Luchegorsk, \u0026ndash; a 2.5-year suspended sentence for participating in the \u0026quot;activity of a banned organization.\u0026quot; The believer considers this decision unjust.\nThe court considered the fact that Vyaznikov is one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses to be evidence of extremism. The defendant noted: \u0026quot;I was convicted only for peacefully practicing my religion, which was demonstrated by the fact that I once talked about my beliefs and the teachings of the Bible with a young man who turned out to be a law enforcement officer.\u0026quot;\nThe book \u0026quot;The People Who Are Steadfast Under Persecution,\u0026quot; published in 2023 by religious scholar Sergei Ivanenko, PhD in Philosophy, and Elena Volkova, PhD in Cultural Studies, notes: \u0026quot;Russia is the only country where they [Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses] are accused of extremism.\u0026quot;\nIt is noteworthy that about 26% of the nearly 800 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses prosecuted in Russia for their faith are over 60 years old.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-01-11T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/01/120854/image_hu_e62f95ad568c1154.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/01/120854/image_hu_40c704624c0b2b80.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/01/120854/image_hu_fcf80bb57249179e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/01/120854/image_hu_ddf14abddbeaf6bb.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/01/120854.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":"Court of Appeal Upheld the Suspended Sentence for Valeriy Vyaznikov","tags":["appeal","282.2-2","suspended","elderly"],"title":"\"I Was Found Guilty Only for Being One of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"","type":"news"},{"body":"Kolomytsev, a senior investigator of the investigation department for the Sovetsky district of the city of Orel, of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, presents Ignatov with a decision to bring him as an accused.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Ignatov in Oryol","date":"2023-12-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/orel/index.html#20231230","regions":["oryol"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator V. A. Boranukov initiates a criminal case against Svetlana Ogoreva, who was previously a witness in the case against Alexei Pasynkov. The investigator considers communication through instant messengers with fellow believers, participation in worship services using the Internet and discussion of quotes from the Bible to be signs of a \"crime\".\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Ogoreva in Mednogorskiy","date":"2023-12-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mednogorskiy/index.html#20231227","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Lieutenant of Justice M. Kozharin, investigator of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Pavel Chemrov. On the same day, the believer's house was searched. His tablet and personal records were seized.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Chemrov in Nazarovo","date":"2023-12-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nazarovo2/index.html#20231221","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","search"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 20, 2023, a panel of judges of the Pskov Regional Court, chaired by Dmitriy Kazantsev, slightly changed the sentence of Aleksey Khabarov: the fact that the believer handed a Bible to a woman was excluded from the verdict. Khabarov will serve his sentence of 2 years and 4 months in a penal colony.\nIn his appeal, Aleksey Khabarov stated: \u0026quot;I did not engage in extremist or other illegal activity. I lead a peaceful life, respect authority, and obey the law because I am a believer. The display of hatred, enmity and violence is incompatible with my views. I respect members of other religions and nationalities. I was convicted only for my faith in God.\u0026quot;\nThe reputation of peaceful believers suffers due to the criminal prosecution. Aleksey Khabarov put it this way: \u0026quot;By their actions, the state authorities present me and my fellow believers in a bad light before society, contribute to the spread of prejudice and form the idea that Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are a \u0026#39;dangerous and dubious sect.\u0026#39; Such abusive, unlawful and grossly disproportionate actions cannot be justified in a democratic society.\u0026quot;\nAt the moment, the believer is in pretrial detention center No.2 in the Pskov Region in the city of Velikiye Luki and later he will be transferred to a penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-12-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/12/220909/image_hu_78d551aa41ff17d5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/12/220909/image_hu_334fc4928490ffea.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/12/220909/image_hu_703e5f2ca83094d7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/12/220909/image_hu_aef34bad78523650.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/12/220909.html","regions":["pskov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"In Pskov, the Third Appeal Decision Reduced the Term of Imprisonment for Aleksey Khabarov in the Penal Colony by 2 Months","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 19, 2023, the Amur Regional Court released 71-year-old Vladimir Balabkin from custody. The court reclassified his actions from Part 1 (organizing extremist activity) to Part 2 (participating in such) of Article 282.2 of the RFCrC and imposed a 1-year suspended sentence. Before that he had spent 96 days in a pretrial detention center.\nA panel of three judges chaired by Natalya Trofimova considered an appeal against the verdict of the court of first instance, which found Vladimir Balabkin guilty under Article 282.2(1) of the RFCrC. The more lenient second part of the same article allowed for the actions of the believer to be reclassified and for him to be released from custody in the courtroom. His sentence is suspended.\nThree months earlier, Natalya Kramar, judge of the Belogorsk City Court of first instance, sentenced the elderly believer who has a hearing impairment and a serious stomach issue to 4 years in a penal colony. Immediately after the verdict was announced, Vladimir was arrested in the courtroom, and before the appeal he was in pretrial detention center No.1 in the Amur Region.\nThe believer disagreed with the guilty verdict, found many violations in it and appealed. He drew attention to the fact that it was impossible to establish from the verdict on what basis the court considered the usual worship of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses as a continuation of the activity of an extremist organization. According to the explanation of the Supreme Court practicing the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses is allowed in Russia.\nBalabkin also stressed that the verdict was passed in violation of international law: \u0026quot;For example, the court did not apply the provisions of Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, according to which everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes ... freedom to practice one\u0026#39;s religion and belief, either individually or jointly with others and in public or private.\u0026quot;\nIn the Amur Region, 13 of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already received from 6 to 8 years in a penal colony for participating in meetings for worship.\n","category":"other","date":"2023-12-19T10:48:27+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/12/191048/image_hu_ac93c6b585167c32.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/12/191048/image_hu_6a5861ff4da712b1.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/12/191048/image_hu_7b873cf695a45bec.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/12/191048/image_hu_18af86dbdb58e5a4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/12/191048.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","elderly","282.2-2","suspended","mitigation"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Blagoveshchensk Mitigated the Punishment for Pensioner Vladimir Balabkin and Released Him from Custody","type":"news"},{"body":"Major of Justice Menkenov is prosecuting 41-year-old Ekaterina Menkova and 45-year-old Tsagan Khalgaeva as defendants under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigator considers the meeting of friends to discuss the Bible a crime of an extremist nature.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Tutinova and Others in Elista","date":"2023-12-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/elista/index.html#20231219","regions":["kalmykia"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Bondarenko issues an indictment against Elena Rumyantseva.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Rumyantseva in Vyselki","date":"2023-12-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki9/index.html#20231219","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 18, 2023, Oleg Karpets, judge of the Novosibirsk District Court, sentenced Marina Chaplykina to 4 years in a penal colony, and Valeriy Maletskov to 6 years in a penla colony just because of practicing their religion. They were taken into custody in the courtroom. The believers do not admit their guilt and can appeal the verdict.\nIn April 2019, FSB investigator Selyunin initiated a criminal case against the believers, charging them with extremism. On the same day, searches were carried out at a total of 12 addresses. In one case, the planting of banned literature was noticed. The home of Valeriy Maletskov, who lives with his wife and young child, was invaded by armed security forces, breaking down the front door. He was charged with organizing the activity of an extremist organization, and Marina Chaplykina was charged with participating in and financing it. He was placed under house arrest, and she was placed under a recognizance agreement.\nAfter three years of investigation, the case was submitted to the Novosibirsk District Court. The charges were based on recordings of conversations with believers made by a secret witness \u0026quot;Ivan\u0026quot;, who attended meetings for worship of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\nThe support of friends helped the believers cope with what was happening. Marina recalls: \u0026quot;When they found out that I had lost my job, [fellow believers] immediately put together a food parcel and gave me the money. They sent messages with words of encouragement. I felt part of a big family. When it was especially difficult emotionally, I unexpectedly received letters from Belarus and later from Japan. They were beautiful words of assurance of love. These letters came always at the right time!\u0026quot;\nValeriy said: \u0026quot;Under house arrest, I could not work, so I lost the source of income for my family. But, most interestingly, our family received help from fellow believers in the first 2 months; when we ciunted how much we received in total, it turned out that this isit was exactly the amount that I would have earned if I had been working at my job for 2 months\u0026quot;.\nThe believers were among 8 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses prosecuted for their faith in the Novosibirsk Region. Aleksandr Seredkin, whose case was separated the case proceedings of Maletskov and Chaplykina, is serving 6 years in a penal colony for his believes.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-12-18T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/12/190827/image_hu_f5d26688cf65dc0b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/12/190827/image_hu_1fe48d20999cc2c9.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/12/190827/image_hu_4e802231ed5ee50c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/12/190827/image_hu_7d47ff52db2f37e5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/12/190827.html","regions":["novosibirsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","282.2-3","secret-witness","sentence","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Court in Novosibirsk Sent Valeriy Maletskov and Marina Chaplykina to a Penal Colony for Their Faith in Jehovah God for 6 Years and 4 Years, Respectively","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor announces the indictment, the accused express their attitude to it. Alexander Shchetinin and Oleg Katamov declare that extremism is absolutely unacceptable for them and they have been peacefully professing a faith based on love for God and neighbor for more than one year.\nKatamov adds: \"I have the impression that in order to avoid criminal liability, I must renounce my religious beliefs or stop expressing them. But this is nothing less than discrimination.\"\nSergey Naumenko says: \"I never had and could not have a motive of hatred or enmity. Moreover, in his youth... I asked to replace military service with alternative civilian service, because my conscience does not even allow me to \"learn to fight.\" For three and a half years I worked in a psychiatric hospital as a ward orderly. I wonder how a person can be called an extremist just because of his religious beliefs.\"\nAlexander Starikov notes: \"Joint discussion of the Bible and prayer are an expression of my faith and love for God, not extremism ... That's why I was shocked to the core by the accusation of extremism.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Starikov and Others in Konakovo","date":"2023-12-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/konakovo/index.html#20231214","regions":["tver"],"tags":["first-instance","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The prosecutor announces the indictment, the accused express their attitude to it. Aleksandr Shchetinin and Oleg Katamov say that extremism is absolutely unacceptable for them and that for years they have been peacefully professing a faith based on love for God and neighbor.\nKatamov adds: \"I have the impression that in order to avoid criminal liability, I must renounce my religious beliefs or stop expressing them. But this is nothing but discrimination.\"\nSergey Naumenko says: \"I have never had and could never have had a motive of hatred or enmity. Moreover, in his youth... I asked to replace military service with alternative civilian service, since my conscience does not allow me to even \"learn to fight\". For three and a half years I worked in a psychiatric hospital as a ward orderly. I wonder how a person can be called an extremist just because of his religious beliefs.\"\nAleksandr Starikov notes: \"Joint discussion of the Bible and prayer are an expression of my faith and love for God, not extremism ... Therefore, I was deeply shocked by the accusation of extremism.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Naumenko in Konakovo","date":"2023-12-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/konakovo2/index.html#20231214","regions":["tver"],"tags":["first-instance","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 5, 2023, a panel of judges of the Khabarovsk Territorial Court overturned the verdict against Lyubov Kocherova and Lyubov Ovchinnikova from the village of Knyaze-Volkonskoye — 6-year suspended sentence for their faith in Jehovah God — and sent the case back for a new trial. The court thus granted the prosecutor's appeal.\nThe case will be heard in the same court that passed the original verdict (Khabarovsk District Court), but comprising a different panel of judges.\nLyubov Kocherova emphasized in her appeal: \"The court did not substantiate in the verdict why the peaceful way of expressing faith in God was regarded by the court as committing a crime.\" She also noted: \"The Constitution of the Russian Federation allows me to be a religious person.\" Lyubov Ovchinnikova pointed out: \"The court verdict is an act of direct and indirect gross religious discrimination.\"\nIn an additional appeal, the defense drew attention to the fact that, when considering a criminal case, the court did not establish what specific actions directly aimed at continuing the activity of any banned organization were committed by the women. In other words, the court did not identify the crime.\nProsecution of Jehovah's Witnesses continues in the Khabarovsk Territory. The verdicts against 17 believers have already entered into force in the region.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-12-05T15:14:34+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/12/051514/image_hu_9697f024df6298da.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/12/051514/image_hu_1e9732ff64a11125.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/12/051514/image_hu_50aef759abe02ed8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/12/051514/image_hu_982e24aae3a3ed9a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/12/051514.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":"The Case Will Be Considered by the Same Court of a Different Composition","tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Khabarovsk Overturned the Guilty Verdict Against Two Pensioners.","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 5, 2023, the high-profile trial against Jehovah's Witnesses from Surgut concluded. Dmitriy Lupin, a judge of the Surgut City Court, found 18 believers guilty of extremism and gave all suspended sentences ranging from 4 to 7 years.\nSergey Loginov and Timofey Zhukov received the longest suspended sentence — 7 years. Yevgeniy Kayryak received 6 years and 10 months; Leonid Rysikov — 6 years and 9 months; Pavel Romashov — 6 years and 7 months; Vyacheslav Boronos, Saveliy Gargalyk, Artem Kim, Igor Trifonov, Yevgeniy Fedin — 6 years and 6 months; Igor Petrov — 6 years and 5 months; Vasiliy Burenesku, Sergey Volosnikov, Igor Kobotov and Viktor Fefilov — 6 years and 4 months; Aleksey Plekhov and Artur Severinchik — 6 years and 3 months.\nThe only woman in the case, Viola Shepel, received a 3-year and 3-month suspended sentence.\nAll defendants were given probation periods from 2 to 4 years.\nThe Surgut trial became one of the most widely discussed after the decision of the Supreme Court to liquidate the legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses: the believers faced unprecedented cruel treatment by the security forces. A criminal case against 17 men and 1 woman between 31 and 71 years was initiated by the Investigative Department for the city of Surgut of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area. In February 2019, after a series of searches in the homes of believers, at least 40 people were detained for interrogation, 7 of them were tortured. The security officials applied beatings, electric shocks and suffocation until they lost consciousness.\nThe victims appealed to the Investigative Committee of Russia, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and the ECHR with calls to bring law enforcement officers to justice for criminal actions. Human rights defenderd actively spoke out. Despite this, no criminal case for torture was ever initiated, and two months after the incident, Vladimir Yermolayev, head of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee, where Jehovah's Witnesses were tortured, and his subordinate Sergey Bogoderov received awards, and the soldiers of the National Guard of Russia who participated in the operation received commendation.\nBelievers from Surgut who peacefully practiced their religion were accused of organizing, participating in and financing the activity of an extremist organization. A man mistaken for one of Jehovah's Witnesses was also prosecuted. During the investigation, the homes of several defendants were searched again; three men spent from 1 to 2 months in a pretrial detention center, and Timofey Zhukov underwent a compulsory psychiatric examination, which the court later declared illegal.\nFriends who came to support believers in minus 30-degree frost The case materials received by the court amounted to 222 volumes. However, as the defense emphasized, they do not list specific unlawful actions, and the gathered evidence only shows that the defendants continued to practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses after the liquidation of legal entities, which is not against the law. The court considered the believers' case for 2 years. For the last months, meetings were held behind closed doors every working day. It is known that one of the witnesses for the prosecution was an undercover agent for the special forces, who feigned interest in the Bible and secretly recorded conversations with the believers.\nOne of the convicted persons, Timofey Zhukov, a lawyer with many years of experience, called what was happening \"legal absurdity and physical lawlessness.\" He added: \"At first, to be honest, I didn't believe that in a secular state governed by the rule of law, in which the constitution guarantees freedom of religion, there could be repression for faith, and moreover, that believers would actually be imprisoned... From a legal point of view, the ban on legal entities should in no way affect regular believers.\"\nMost believers faced financial difficulties due to criminal prosecution – many lost their jobs and some had their accounts blocked; despite seven of the convicted persons having minor children. Aleksey Plekhov, who was unemployed for about a year, recalls: \"The judge scheduled court hearings 2-3 times a week. For many of us, such a schedule meant possibly losing our job.\" Leonid Rysikov, a 73-year-old pensioner who ended up on the Rosfinmonitoring list, said: \"Every month I had to apply and wait for how much funds they would allow me to withdraw. Usually, it's 10 000, but once they allowed me to withdraw only 670 rubles.\"\nYevgeniy Fedin, who spent almost 2 months in a pretrial detention center, faced another difficulty: \"When the investigation was going on, my father was very ill and I needed to be near him. I wrote a motion detailing the reason for the trip, but the investigator did not allow me go. A few days later, my father died. About six months later, my sister died, and the investigator again did not let me go to her funeral. My mom had to bury her daughter alone. For her it was the greatest stress.\"\nAll the while, the Surgutians felt the support of their fellow believers from different cities and countries. Igor Kobotov said: \"After suffering stress [due to the raid], my wife did not want to return home and we stayed overnight with friends. Literally the next day, brothers and sisters started coming to us, to support and strengthen us. They brought money and food, assured us of their love and support.\" Yevgeniy Fedin related: \"In the pretrial detention center, I received about 800 letters in 2 months. It was a great encouragement and support.\"\nShortly before Judge Lupin began his consideration of the case of Jehovah's Witnesses from Surgut, the association of former prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp (Lagergemeinschaft Dachau) sent an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin. \"Not a day passes on which there is no report of state repression against Jehovah’s Witnesses,\" the letter says. \"The homes of members of the religious denomination are searched and ravaged by the Russian secret service, FSB, and the police. Violent assaults and mistreatment occur. Women and men are condemned to long-term prison sentences. Requests to ease detention conditions or for parole are regularly refused.\" The letter concludes: “We urge you to grant every resident of the Russian Federation the constitutional right to free exercise of religion. Please end this injustice!”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-12-05T14:13:16+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/12/051413/image_hu_f403bb5262627e07.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/12/051413/image_hu_c98f1de4b1a135a9.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/12/051413/image_hu_c25377ee6e3a28fd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/12/051413/image_hu_c22c42f966e9d3a0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/12/051413.html","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","torture","siloviks-violence","families","elderly","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Court in Surgut Ruled in a High-Profile Case of 18 Jehovah's Witnesses, Some of Whom Had Been Tortured Earlier","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Kirill Deshko issues a decision to bring Potapova and Kalinnikova as accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kalinnikova and Potapova in Kurilsk","date":"2023-11-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurilsk/index.html#20231129","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 28, 2023, a panel of judges of the Kemerovo Regional Court, chaired by Yelena Fedusova, upheld the verdict against Yuriy Chernykh from the city of Prokopyevsk. The believer will have to serve a sentence of 3 years of forced labor.\nThis punishment was imposed on the father of a minor child in September 2023 by the judge of the court of first instance, Alyona Novoselova. The believer did not agree with the verdict and appealed to a higher court. In his appeal, he stated: \"All my actions were completely peaceful. The prosecution did not state that I incited violence or religious hatred and enmity. I did not do anything that would indicate the continuation of the activity of any extremist organization. According to Article 28 of the RF Constitution, my fellow believers and I had every right to meet to discuss the Bible and associate, which in no way depends on the existence of any religious organization.\"\nThe believer has the right to appeal the court's decision in the cassation process.\nChernykh has been defending the right to practice his religion for more than 2 years. Prior to that, Yuriy was a witness in the case of his fellow believer Andrey Vlasov, a disabled person, who is serving his sentence in a penal colony. Yuriy's wife Yelena was also prosecuted; her case is now being considered by the court of first instance.\nAccording to the statement of the Government of the Russian Federation dated March 23, 2018, \"the decision of the Supreme Court... and the appellate ruling of the Appellate Board... do not assess the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain any restriction or prohibition to individually practice the above teachings.\" Despite this, more and more believers are being prosecuted for individual religious practice. Often, as in the case of Yuriy and Yelena Chernykh, when one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, is accused of extremism, other family members are then under threat.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-11-28T16:06:40+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/12/011606/image_hu_5711bbe183e9ebbd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/12/011606/image_hu_c17ce89969d678b4.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/12/011606/image_hu_7945c8489876634a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/12/011606/image_hu_6c29ee7b2726a9fc.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/12/011606.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":"As One of Jehovah's Witnesses He Was Sentenced to Forced Labor","tags":["appeal","282.2-2","labor","families"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Kemerovo Left the Verdict Against Yuriy Chernykh Unchanged.","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Bulat Urazov prosecutes Anton Bashabayev, Aleksey Efremov and Aleksey Vasilyev as accused of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the ruling, the believers are accused of \"preaching and spreading the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses among residents of the city of Saratov and the Saratov region,\" as well as \"participating in meetings held using the Zoom software.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Bashabaev and Others in Saratov","date":"2023-11-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saratov3/index.html#20231124","regions":["saratov"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 23, 2023, on Iturup Island security forces searched the homes of two women who practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Olga Kalinnikova, 47, and Larisa Potapova, 59, were placed under a recognizance agreement.\nA three-hour search took place in the apartment of Olga Kalinnikova, who lives with her minor daughter in the town of Kurilsk. The operation was led by K.P. Deshko, investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Sakhalin Region. Electronic devices, various data storage devices, notebooks and personal notes were seized from Kalinnikova. According to her, law enforcement officers spoke rudely about the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nOn the same day, at about 9 a.m., representatives of the border guards of the FSB of Russia with two attesting witnesses went to Larisa Potapova, who lives in the village of Reidovo. The security forces seized the Bible and other books, as well as video discs. The believer's elderly mother who is 87, felt ill as her blood pressure rose sharply due to great stress. After the search, Larisa was interrogated in the investigator's office.\nThe Korsakov Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation had already initiated a criminal case against Olga Kalinnikova and Larisa Potapova on October 12, 2023. Investigators suspect the women of \"extremist activity,\" by which they mean conversations with local residents about God.\nOn Sakhalin, this is the fourth criminal case for believing in God.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2023-11-23T15:51:09+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/11/291551/image_hu_2e490b5dd4dd9bea.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/11/291551/image_hu_aa070b536aecc5b8.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/11/291551/image_hu_c51742191b7fb50b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/11/291551/image_hu_366ce223752e9a65.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/11/291551.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":"Criminal Case Initiated Against Two Women for Their Faith","tags":["search","interrogation","recognizance-agreement","new-case","minors","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"Searches on Kuril Islands.","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 21, 2023, the panel of judges of the Amur Regional Court upheld the verdict of the court of first instance against Margarita Moiseyenko, Yelena Yatsyk and Galina Yatsik, excluding from it additional punishment in the form of deprivation of the right to engage in activity related to participation in the work of public organizations.\nIn September 2023, the Zeyskiy District Court of the Amur Region gave Margarita Moiseyenko a 3-year suspended sentence, Yelena Yatsyk 2.5 years, and Galina Yatsik 2 years, finding them guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\nMargarita Moiseyenko is one of three female residents of Zeya convicted for their faith. Her husband, Konstantin, had also previously been convicted as one of Jehovah\u0026rsquo;s Witnesses. November 2023 The believers still insist on their complete innocence and can appeal this decision in the cassation procedure. \"The verdict is based only on the fact that I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I was convicted because I believe in God and use the right guaranteed by Article 28 of the RF Constitution,\" Margarita Moiseyenko said at the appeal hearing.\nMargarita's lawyer called the verdict unlawful and said that it should be cancelled: \"I believe that a miscarriage of justice occured due to the incorrect assessment of my client's day to day practice of her religious beliefs as criminal acts, which led to her conviction and unjustly severe punishment... The RF Supreme Court notes that a guilty verdict must be decided on reliable evidence.”\nMargarita added: \"The court did not establish in my actions such motives for behavior as political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-11-21T13:17:23+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/11/221317/image_hu_7c6779ea6d932df3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/11/221317/image_hu_92ad5e9e27f17ab9.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/11/221317/image_hu_17183d7a2f5a038f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/11/221317/image_hu_34a00beb1bad63d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/11/221317.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","appeal"],"title":"Court of Appeal Upheld Suspended Sentences for Three Women from the Amur Region, Removing Some of the Additional Restrictions","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 16, 2023, searches were carried out at no less than at 6 addresses in Saratov. They affected at least 13 believers. Aleksey Vasilyev, 47, and Aleksey Yefremov, 59, were placed in a temporary detention facility, and a day later they were placed under house arrest.\nThe investigative actions were sanctioned by the Volzhsky District Court of Saratov on November 9, 2023, at the request of investigator Bulat Urazov. The raids began around 6 a. m. and lasted on average until noon. The security forces seized electronic devices, storage media, personal notes and greeting cards. The RF internal passport was also seized from one of the believers.\nAfter the searches, all of the believers were interrogated at the local office of the Investigative Committee. Among them are a woman with a disability and a man, 64, suffering from heart disease, who felt ill during the interrogation. Despite this, he was kept at the investigative office for the longest time.\nThe criminal case on the basis of which the searches were carried out was initiated on October 31, 2023, under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC (participating in the activity of an extremist organization).\nIn the Saratov Region, 12 Jehovah's Witnesses have already become defendants in criminal cases for their faith in God: seven of them have served time in penal colonies, the other five men are defending their right in court to practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nRussian human rights activists and the world community condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The ECHR found these prosecutions groundless and unlawful.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2023-11-16T14:55:09+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/11/221455/image_hu_99dc544cbd75a2d2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/11/221455/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/11/221455/image_hu_ab1029e1ee3e46bf.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/11/221455/image_hu_eaa0dc106b024473.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/11/221455.html","regions":["saratov"],"subtitle":"Two believers under house arrest","tags":["search","interrogation","ivs","house-arrest","elderly","disability","new-case","282.2-2"],"title":"In Saratov, searches were carried out at the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses.","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 15, 2023, the Kuznetskiy District Court finalized its hearing of the case of Tatyana Sushilnikova, 64, one of Jehovah's Witnesses from Novokuznetsk. Judge Valeriya Shipitsyna found her guilty of extremism for peaceful religious practice and gave her a 4-year suspended sentence with a 3-year probation period, as well as 10 months restriction of freedom after serving the main sentence.\nSushilnikova faced prosecution for her faith in June 2021. The armed law enforcement officers raided the home of her and her husband Sergey in the early morning. \"My husband was put on the floor like some kind of criminal, and I was pushed against the wall,\" Tatyana recalls. A year later, a case was initiated against her. The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kemerovo Region - Kuzbass charged her with participating in the activity of an extremist organization. As one of the FSB officers later stated during interrogation in court, Tatyana became a defendant in the criminal case, \"because she is Sergey's wife, actively participated in meetings, engaged in visits and conversations with the local residents.\"\nThe believer pleads not guilty to any crimes against the state or persons: \"I have not violated any law of the state, no one has suffered in any way from my actions.\" According to Tatyana, during the trial, the prosecution did not present any evidence of her guilt. Neither the testimonies of witnesses nor the expert studies (religious, linguistic and phonographic) showed any extremist actions on the part of the believer. It is worth noting that the expert studies were dated at a time when the criminal case had not even been initiated.\nAs Tatyana says, the unjust prosecution caused a lot of emotional stress and difficulties. She receives support from her husband, who himself is serving a 6-year suspended sentence for his faith, and from friends: \"During the prosecution, we try to encourage each other even more, to support each other in word and deed... When we go to court, we naturally feel anxious. And then we see our dear fellow believers, their smiles, their eyes - the anxiety disappears, and it is as if we grow wings.\"\nAt the courthouse, a group of friends came to support Tatyana. November, 2023. Tatyana and Sergey Sushilnikov near the courthouse. November, 2023. In the Kemerovo Region, 18 Jehovah's Witnesses have already been subjected to religious repression. Six men were imprisoned for terms ranging from 3 to 7 years for their faith. Another six residents of Kuzbass were given a suspended sentence. The ECHR judgment in the case of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia stated that \"the Russian authorities have not presented any evidence which, in accordance with the Court's jurisprudence, could justify an interference with the applicants' rights to freedom of religion, expression or association\" (§ 158).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-11-15T15:46:49+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/11/171546/image_hu_379d4e7b05f2898c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/11/171546/image_hu_c18f48fa1af306fe.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/11/171546/image_hu_fc9e9968736aa72a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/11/171546/image_hu_bb2bd691c8cbb3a5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/11/171546.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":"I'm on Trial for Ordinary Worship of God","tags":["elderly","sentence","282.2-2","suspended","studies-violations"],"title":"Court Gave Pensioner Tatyana Sushilnikova a 4-Year Suspended Sentence.","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 7, 2023, Nina Kalashnik, judge of the Pozharsky District Court of the Primorye Territory, found Valeriy Vyaznikov guilty of participating in extremist activities—this is how the confession of faith in Jehovah is interpreted. A peaceful 59-year-old believer from the village of Chegdomyn was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months of suspended sentence.\n\"My conscience is clear before God, people and the court. It is for the fact that I am trying to convey life-saving truths from the Word of God that I am now being judged,\" the believer said in his last word. Although there are no victims and facts of extremist actions in the case, the prosecutor asked to sentence Vyaznikov to 3 years conditionally with restriction of freedom for 1 year. The verdict can be appealed.\nThe Investigation Department for Dalnerechensk of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Primorsky Territory opened a criminal case against Valery Vyaznikov in July 2021, almost 1.5 years later it went to court in Luchegorsk, located more than 1000 kilometers from the believer's place of residence. The accusation was based on recordings of conversations on biblical topics between informants-operatives and believers. Vyaznikov was allowed to participate in most of the hearings via videoconferencing from the local courthouse in the village of Chegdomyn.\nSince December 2022, Vyaznikov, the father of four children (two of them minors), has been under recognizance agreement. Talking about the difficulties associated with the persecution, Valeriy says: \"The most difficult thing was to find out that I was put on the wanted list in absentia, and then to receive a summons. The message and the expectation of something unpleasant always weigh on the heart. My wife and children were very worried.\" The believer has health problems, during the criminal prosecution he underwent surgery.\nIn total, 58 Jehovah's Witnesses are being prosecuted on similar charges in Primorye Territory. Convictions for 25 of them have already entered into force, three are serving terms in penal colonies.\nSuch a number of criminal cases for faith in the region is bewildering for both Russian and foreign human rights activists. Willy Fautré, founder and director of the Brussels-based organization Human Rights Without Borders, said: \"Jehovah's Witnesses are the religious group that has been the most persecuted in Russia since their ban in 2017, thus they are deprived of freedom of communication, assembly, worship and preaching. Statistics on the magnitude of the repression are alarming. Freedom of religion or belief is the cornerstone of all freedoms.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-11-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/11/030949/image_hu_b995a1e467f9b948.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/11/030949/image_hu_f05a5618fff002d7.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/11/030949/image_hu_fa5b523885d0b820.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/11/030949/image_hu_d5844e4d5ed9b158.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/11/030949.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"In Primorye, Valery Vyaznikov, a retired miner, received a suspended term for his faith in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 7, 2023, Judge Anton Yerofeyev of the Kalininskiy District Court of Chelyabinsk found Yevgeniy Bushev, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, guilty of extremism. The court considered peaceful gatherings and conversations on Bible topics to be a crime. There were only five hearings.\nThe case against Bushev was initiated by Aleksandr Chepenko, investigator of the Investigative Committee, who has at least 12 similar cases in the region. In September 2022, Yevgeniy's house was searched. A year after that, the case went to court, and 2 months later it reached its final stage. The prosecutor requested 6 years in a penal colony for Bushev.\nAccording to the investigation, the believer \"took deliberate, purposeful actions of an organizational nature aimed at continuing the illegal activity of a banned religious organization.\" However, Yevgeniy was not a member of any extremist organization, but only practiced his religion, as Jehovah's Witnesses do all over the world. This religion is also not banned in Russia.\nThe defense emphasizes that there is no single evidence of an extremist statement or action on the part of Bushev in the case materials. There is a linguistic expert study in the case, according to which Yevgeniy \"persuaded\" an agent of the special services, an employee of the National Guard, who was pretending to be interested in the Bible, to \"accept the faith\" of Jehovah's Witnesses. According to Bushev, the authors of the expert study took his phrases out of context and distorted their meaning. In fact, the believer only discussed with the man Bible questions that interested him.\nYevgeniy Bushev has been under house arrest since September 2022. Due to the criminal prosecution, he lost his job and his accounts were blocked.\nAlready 15 of Jehovah's Witnesses from the Chelyabinsk Region have been prosecuted on religious grounds.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-11-07T13:31:13+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/11/030954/image_hu_4f2f76a205cb8e8d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/11/030954/image_hu_bdf9b22396d04ed8.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/11/030954/image_hu_36319733b061f2bf.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/11/030954/image_hu_cb81539b74c4f575.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/11/030954.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","sentence","studies-violations","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Court in Chelyabinsk Sentenced Yevgeniy Bushev to 7 Years in Prison After Just Five Hearings","type":"news"},{"body":"The Sverdlovsk Regional Court issues a ruling according to which the indictment in the case against believers from Karpinsk must be eliminated. Judge Natalya Aubakirova rejects the prosecutor's appeal against the decision of the court of first instance.\n","caseTitle":"Second Case of Prianikov and Others in Karpinsk","date":"2023-10-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/karpinsk2/index.html#20231031","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"tags":["appeal","case-to-prosecutor","families","282.2-1.1","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Saratov Region Bulat Urazov initiates a criminal case against unidentified persons.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Bashabaev and Others in Saratov","date":"2023-10-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saratov3/index.html#20231031","regions":["saratov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 30, 2023, the judicial chamber of the Yaroslavl Regional Court commuted the sentences of Petr Filiznov and Andrey Vyushin, giving them a suspended sentence of 2.5 years instead of 6.5 years. For the Kuznetsov couple, the suspended sentence of 2.5 years remained the same.\nThe reason for commuting the sentence of Filiznov and Vyushin was the fact that the court reclassified the charge from Article 282.2(1) of the RF CrC to Аrticle 282.2(2) of the RF CrC. Now th believers are found guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization, and not of organizing such activity. The court considered Bible discussions and prayers, including by videoconference, a crime. The verdict has entered into force, but believers can appeal it in cassation procedure.\nThe defendants' appeal stated: \"In this criminal case, during the trial, the court could see that the actions and statements of the convicted persons ... are exclusively peaceful and do not indicate the presence of hatred or enmity. [...] None of the actions listed in this article (of the Criminal Code) was committed by any of the convicted persons in this criminal case. All witnesses for the prosecution questioned during the trial confirmed this.\"\nSpeaking about the expert study, which formed the basis of the charges, the defense stated that \"the expert's conclusions only allowed for the identification of the peculiarities of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses and, based on this, to establish the religious affiliation of the convicted persons.\" The defense also drew attention to the fact that \"the court in effect imposes a ban on practicing faith or religion, which violates basic constitutional and international human rights\" and that \"the law does not recognize the dissemination and practice, including together with fellow believers, of the religion to which the liquidated religious associations belonged, as a sign of extremism.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-10-30T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/11/030827/image_hu_45f7e09f90fb1f89.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/11/030827/image_hu_d5a1bd0bb42cf044.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/11/030827/image_hu_f257d31b5eb03256.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/11/030827/image_hu_4e66a127ed4d5939.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/11/030827.html","regions":["yaroslavl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","mitigation"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Yaroslavl Reduced the Suspended Sentence of Petr Filiznov and Andrey Vyushin by 4 Years","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Lobada involves Sergey Lukin as an accused. The ruling states that the believers, while holding meetings in the apartment, \"observed strict measures of secrecy of the congregation ... where they studied the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, gave comments and expressed their views on the issues discussed.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Lukin in Biysk","date":"2023-10-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/biysk/index.html#20231027","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 24, 2023, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region considered for the second time the appeal of Oleg and Agnessa Postnikov against the guilty verdict for practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The verdict was upheld: Oleg received a 5.5-year suspended sentence, Agnessa — a 4.5-year suspended sentence with a 5-year probation period.\nIn their appeal against the guilty verdict, the believers drew attention to the fact that instead of establishing specific criminal actions and extremist motives, the court of first instance only revealed their religious affiliation, which they did not hide. Oleg Postnikov noted: \"The verdict contradicts the RF Constitution, Criminal Code and explanations of the Plenum, according to which, after a court decision to liquidate a religious organization, subsequent actions of citizens that are exclusively religious in nature do not constitute a crime.\" The believers maintain their innocence and can appeal the verdict in the cassation procedure.\nThis is already the second appeal in the case of the Postnikovs. In 2022, the court of first instance gave them suspended sentences of 5.5 and 5 years; the court of appeal overturned the verdict and sent the case for a new trial. The believers were given suspended sentences of 5.5 and 4.5 years by a different panel of judges.\nThe criminal prosecution of the Postnikovs began in May 2018. Their house was raided as part of the special operation, \"Judgment Day\". The charges against the couple were based on the testimony of a police officer and another woman feigning interest in studying the Bible, in whose house a hidden video camera was installed to record conversations.\nAccording to the ruling of the RF Supreme Court, \"the joint performance of rites and ceremonies [of Jehovah's Witnesses] does not in itself constitute a crime under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-10-24T14:28:55+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/10/241428/image_hu_579dfcef713f663.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/10/241428/image_hu_244141b216b1337b.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/10/241428/image_hu_87600b7acb452a8c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/10/241428/image_hu_5857e91084f9e207.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/10/241428.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["2-appeal","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"Verdict Against the Postnikovs Was Upheld in a Second Hearing at Court of Appeal in Birobidzhan: Suspended Sentences of 4.5 and 5.5 Years","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 20, 2023, the Porkhovskiy District Court of the Pskov Region issued a verdict already for the third time in the case of Aleksey Khabarov, one of Jehovah's Witnesses. This time, judge Natalya Kapustina found him guilty of extremism and sentenced him to 2.5 years in a penal colony. He was taken into custody in the courtroom.\nKhabarov's charges for extremism were based on ordinary religious activities. The believer explained: \"Practicing religion is not just silently believing that there is a God. Jehovah's Witnesses ... study the Bible, discuss it with others, and try to live in harmony with what is written in the Bible.\" In his final statement, he added: \"My real motive — love — is directly opposite to enmity and hatred, which means that there is no criminal intent. Consequently, there is no corpus delicti.\" Once again, the believer has the right to appeal the court's decision.\nThe criminal prosecution of Khabarov began in 2019. The case did not go to court the first time — the prosecutor's identified shortcomings in it and returned it to the investigator. Since October 2020, court proceedings have been ongoing at various levels. At first, the court gave Khabarov a 3-year suspended sentence, although the prosecutor requested 3.5 years in a penal colony. The court of appeal overturned this decision, and the court, comprised of different judges, acquitted Khabarov. But at the second appeal the court disagreed with such a verdict and sent the case for the third consideration in the court of first instance.\nThis is not the first time that cases against Jehovah's Witnesses have been reviewed several times. This was the case with the Bazhenov couple and Vera Zolotova, Dmitriy Barmakin and Aleksandr Pryanikov, Venera and Darya Dulova. Russian and international law scholars are calling for an end to the repression of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-10-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/10/250843/image_hu_b5babf3b8022f9ea.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/10/250843/image_hu_dec2b56943e38622.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/10/250843/image_hu_efc94890374f3463.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/10/250843/image_hu_17f0600d50085313.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/10/250843.html","regions":["pskov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["retrial","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Court Sentenced the Previously Acquitted Aleksey Khabarov to 2.5 Years in a Penal Colony for His Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 18, 2023, the Ninth Court of Cassation of Vladivostok upheld the verdict and decision of the court of appeal against Svetlana Monis, 46, — a 2.5-year suspended sentence.\nThis is already the second hearing in the Ninth Court of Cassation in Vladivostok. In 2019, Monis was accused of extremism for reading the Bible, singing religious songs, and praying with friends. The court of first instance imposed a fine. The court of appeal toughened the sentence, but the court of cassation overturned this decision.\nThen the court of cassation directed that the court of appeal reconsider the case and take into account explanation No.11 of the RF Supreme Court Plenum, freedom of religion as guaranteed within the RF Constitution (Article 28), as well as Comment 2 to Article 282.1 of the RF CrC, according to which extremism means, in particular, a crime \"committed on the grounds of... religious hatred or enmity.\" No evidence of such actions on the part of Svetlana Monis was presented during the investigation or trial. Also, her activity does not correspond to the description of extremism stated in Article 1 of the Federal Law \"On Counteracting Extremist Activity\".\nDespite this, the court of appeal returned the case to the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, which gave the believer a 2.5-year suspended sentence. At the third appeal hearing this decision was upheld.\nAlready 23 Jehovah's Witnesses from the Jewish Autonomous Region have been prosecuted simply for their faith. Four of them, including Svetlana's husband, Alam Aliyev, are serving their sentences in a penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-10-18T09:53:02+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/10/200953/image_hu_5e69afa63597ae19.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/10/200953/image_hu_a449a7ba8e49aa6c.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/10/200953/image_hu_bdffb98124da43b4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/10/200953/image_hu_c1ed9885242780ca.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/10/200953.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":"She Will Continue to Serve Her Suspended Sentence","tags":["2-appeal","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"Court of Cassation Again Rejected the Appeal Against the Verdict of Svetlana Monis From Birobidzhan.","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 17, 2023, the First General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation in Saratov upheld the verdict against six believers from Mordovia. By court decision, they were sent to penal colonies for terms ranging from 2 to 6 years.\nVladimir Atryakhin, Georgiy Nikulin and Elena Nikulina, Aleksandr Shevchuk, Aleksandr Korolev and Denis Antonov have been charged with extremism and imprisoned for peaceful religious activity. Aleksandr Shevchuk is due to be released from prison in November this year having fully served his sentence. A criminal case has also been initiated against his brother Mikhail on similar charges.\nThe world's public opinion is against the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Back in 2019, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights appealed to the Russian authorities: \"We call on the Russian government to revise the Law on Counteracting Extremist Activity [...]. We also call on the authorities to drop charges and release all those detained for exercising their rights to freedom of religion.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-10-17T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/10/181526/image_hu_49bd44b10856475b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/10/181526/image_hu_396080588993ddb0.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/10/181526/image_hu_b80f3f43449dd229.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/10/181526/image_hu_67c4d59178b87c78.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/10/181526.html","regions":["mordovia","saratov"],"subtitle":"One Of Them Will Be Released in November","tags":["families","cassation","282.2-1.1","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Court of Cassation Upheld the Verdict Against Six Believers from Saransk.","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor asks the court to impose punishment on the believers: from 3 years and 3 months to 9.5 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony.\nThe longest term requested for Sergey Loginov is 9.5 years in prison. The prosecutor requested 8.5 years for Timofey Zhukov and Pavel Romashov, 8 years and 4 months for Leonid Rysikov and Viktor Fefilov, 8 years and 8 months for Vyacheslav Boronos, Vasily Burenesk, Igor Petrov, Aleksey Plekhov and Igor Trifonov, 7 years and 10 months for Artem Kim, Igor Kobotov and Savely Gargalyk, 7 years and 8 months for Yevgeny Kayryak, 6 years and 8 months for Sergey Volosnikov and Yevgeny Fedin, Artur Severinchik was sentenced to 6.5 years and Viola Shepel to 3 years and 3 months in prison.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Loginov and Others in Surgut","date":"2023-10-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/surgut/index.html#20231016","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 13, 2023, Natalya Tishkova, judge of the Sovetskiy District Court of the city of Oryol, sentenced Vladimir Piskarev, Vladimir Melnik and Artur Putintsev to 6 years in a penal colony and 1.5 years restriction of freedom after their release from prison.\nThe criminal prosecution of the believers began back in December 2020, when the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Oryol Region initiated a case under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC. On the following day, their homes were searched. After that, all three ended up behind bars. The believers spent more than 2 years and 9 months No.1 Detention Center Oryol Region. The investigation lasted just over 1 year. During this time, the number of the original charges was reduced to one – organizing the activity of an extremist organization. Since January 2022, the court has been considering the case.\n\"Neither I, nor Piskarev, nor Putintsev have ever carried out extremist activity,\" said Vladimir Melnik, in his final statement: \"We practiced the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, including meeting and discussing our beliefs with fellow believers.\" The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed in the courts of appeal and cassation.\nVladimir Piskarev has already suffered two hypertensive crises and a stroke in the pretrial detention center, was in the regional hospital for more than a week under guard due to an acute attack of cholecystitis. Doctors also diagnosed him with coronary artery disease. Despite this, the court repeatedly extended his detention. As Vladimir's wife, Tatyana, said, prayer, the help of friends, as well as \"the example of fellow believers when they were exiled to Siberia\" for their faith, help them to survive adversity with dignity.\nArtur Putintsev, while in detention, faced a serious shock – his 32-year-old younger brother died. In addition, Artur was not given the necessary medications, and also was not provided with dental treatment. Artur's wife, Lyudmila, says: \"Artur tries to talk about positive things in his letters and sees the care of our [heavenly] Father. He becomes more and more courageous and maintains his joy. Reading the Bible also gives him a lot of support.\"\nSince 2009, in the Oryol Region there have been cases of pressure, threats, and provocations by the FSB against local Jehovah's Witnesses. Over the past 6 years, five criminal cases have been initiated in the region, including against Danish citizen Dennis Christensen.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-10-13T17:21:19+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/10/131721/image_hu_dd538c29240de9be.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/10/131721/image_hu_1f2f646d91679111.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/10/131721/image_hu_40033ed3ac82209a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/10/131721/image_hu_f1573b383f79f362.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/10/131721.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","282.2-1","sentence","health-risk"],"title":"In Oryol, Three Believers Were Sentenced to 6 Years in a Penal Colony for Discussing the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"Kirill Deshko, investigator of the Korsakov Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, issues a decision to initiate a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Larisa Potapova and Olga Kalinnikova.\nThe ruling states: \"In the course of the procedural check, it was established that since 2013, Potapova and Kalinnikova have been members of a religious organization, the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group, consisting of residents of the Sakhalin Region professing the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kalinnikova and Potapova in Kurilsk","date":"2023-10-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurilsk/index.html#20231012","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Shabanov charges the believer with extremism under two criminal articles. The ruling states that the woman committed \"inducing, recruiting or otherwise involving a person in the activities of an extremist organization ... by conducting classes with E. V. Miroshnik on the study of the foundations of the religious activity of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\nLaw enforcers considered the believer's conversations about the Bible to be \"recruiting conversations\" and accused her of \"undermining the foundations of the constitutional order and state security by her actions.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Popova in Cherkessk","date":"2023-10-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk3/index.html#20231011","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 28, 2023, the Tsentralniy District Court of the City of Prokopyevsk found Yuriy Chernykh guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. Judge Alena Novoselova sentenced him to 3 years of forced labor with 15% of his salary going to the government.\nThe case was initiated on November 5, 2021. Previously, Yuriy was a witness in the case of Andrey Vlasov. In July 2020, the Chernykhs' home was searched, after which he and his wife were interrogated by the FSB. When the Chernykhs' home was searched again in November 2021,their electronic media drivers, a TV, as well as cards and personal notes, were seized. The believer was under an obligation to report and after five months he was placed under a recognizance agreement. In June 2022, the case went to court. Chernykh expressed his opinion about the charge as follows: \"I want to state that I maintain my innocence and I believe that the charge against me is unlawful. I am not a criminal!” The prosecutor requested 2.5 years of forced labor for the believer with 15% of his salary going to the government.\nYuriy, a former miner with 20 years of experience, now works as a track fitter in the transport industry. He and his wife are happily married and have three sons, the youngest is still at school. Yuriy and Yelena love their grandchildren very much.\nIn the Kemerovo Region, 19 people have already been prosecuted for their faith. Five of them have received terms of punishment in a penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-09-28T14:56:41+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/09/281456/image_hu_1f50a8c1fda950f2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/09/281456/image_hu_4460a76a929b82df.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/09/281456/image_hu_76eb5bad8374f4d2.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/09/281456/image_hu_64a18bdf18bdb03.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/09/281456.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":"Yuriy Chernykh, Father of a Minor, Was Found Guilty of Extremism","tags":["sentence","282.2-2"],"title":"Three Years of Forced Labor for Reading the Bible.","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 22, 2023, the Novosibirsk Regional Court upheld the verdict against Dmitriy Dolzhikov. Earlier, the court of first instance sentenced him to 3 years in a penal colony, but replaced the term with forced labor. Taking into account the time spent under arrest, he will only have to serve 2 years of forced labor.\nThe court of appeal ignored the arguments of Dolzhikov, who stated: \"The law does not consider practicing, including together with others, the religion to which the liquidated religious associations belonged as a sign of extremism.\" In his appeal, Dmitriy stated: \"The court did not establish any motives of religious hatred or enmity in my actions; it has not been established which specific social group I acted against. All of my actions were completely peaceful. I did not do anything that would indicate continuing the activity any extremist organization.\"\nIn total, 8 Jehovah's Witnesses are being prosecuted for their faith in the Novosibirsk Region, one of whom is in a penal colony, and another was recently released.\nBack in 2018, human rights defenders, commenting on the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, said: \"What is happening to them, in fact, is happening to us: this is a test of the immune forces of society. The prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses shows the failure of anti-extremist legislation in general. If society does not protect Jehovah's Witnesses, if their rights are not restored, this will mean that anyone can be declared an extremist.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-09-22T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/09/251331/image_hu_c7d99b7ba0303d8d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/09/251331/image_hu_e157d682c1e96f2e.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/09/251331/image_hu_88b05b040e2cbd00.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/09/251331/image_hu_892b6197027f1e79.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/09/251331.html","regions":["novosibirsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","labor"],"title":"Dmitriy Dolzhikov's Sentence of Three Years of Forced Labor for Believing in Jehovah God Was Upheld by an Appeal in Novosibirsk","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 21, 2023, Ivan Moiseyenko, Judge of the Zeya District Court of the Amur Region, found Margarita Moiseyenko, 44, Yelena Yatsyk, 51, and Galina Yatsik, 72, guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization and gave them supsended sentences.\nThe prosecutor requested to send the believers to a penal colony for terms of 2.5 and 3 years, but the court gave Margarita Moiseyenko, a 3-year suspended sentence with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to directing and participating in the work of public organizations for 3 years and restriction of freedom for 10 months with a 3-year probation period. Galina Yatsik received a 2-year suspended sentence with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to directing and participating in the work of public organizations for 3 years, restriction of freedom for 6 months with a 2-year probation period. The judge gave Yelena Yatsyk to 2.5-years suspended sentence with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to directing and participating in the work of public organizations for 3 years, restriction of freedom for 8 months with a 2-year probation period. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nThe believers do not agree with the court's decision. Yelena Yatsyk emphasized this position when she stated in her final statement: \"I do not consider myself guilty and do not intend to give up my religious beliefs. I am convinced that I have the right to continue to practice the religion I have chosen. This right is guaranteed to me by Article 28 of the RF Constitution. Galina Yatsik told the court: \"There is no corpus delicti in my actions, as my motive is love for God and love for people... My conscience is clear, both before God and before the state.\"\nIn March 2019, the first search took place at the Moiseyenko family home after which a criminal case was initiated against Konstantin, Margarita's husband. A year and a half later, searches were also carried out at the homes of Yelena Yatsyk and Galina Yatsik. In November 2021, investigator V. S. Obukhov, known for other cases against believers from the Amur Region, initiated a criminal case against the three women. In March 2023, the case went to court.\n\"The reality today is that peaceful citizens are groundlessly labeled extremists,\" Margarita Moiseyenko said before the verdict. \"Of course, the prosecutor did not establish any signs of extremist activity, but the way I expressed my faith.\" She added: \"Believing in God for me is the same as breathing. If I am not allowed to peacefully practice my faith because it is deemed as extremism, although there is not even a hint of such, it makes me feel as if I can't breathe.\nIn the Amur Region, 23 Jehovah's Witnesses, including 5 women, have already been made defendants in criminal cases for their faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-09-21T15:14:31+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/09/211514/image_hu_b33d0b1611f54c6d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/09/211514/image_hu_7541ae8400e0fece.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/09/211514/image_hu_3cb8e9f113de1a45.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/09/211514/image_hu_4070cdafd9f31ee1.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/09/211514.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","families","282.2-2"],"title":"Court in the Amur Region Handed Down Suspended Sentences of 2 to 3 Years to Three Women for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Sysoeva charges Galina Komissarova with the fact that she \"from March 1, 2020 to September 30, 2022, more exact dates and times have not been established by the investigation, being in an unidentified place on the territory of the city of Tolyatti, Samara Region, using conspiracy measures, including using a video communication application ... took an active part in the form of collective religious worship, consisting of a consistent study and discussion of the religious literature of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Komissarova in Tolyatti","date":"2023-09-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tolyatti6/index.html#20230919","regions":["samara"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 19, 2023, Aleksandr Nikolayev, a father of five, was released from the penal colony in Khadyzhensk, where he spent almost a year for his faith in Jehovah God. The believer was met by his wife and children, and mother-in-law. At the exit of the penal colony FSB and OMON officers were on duty, and there were several police vans.\nThe verdict - 2.5 years imprisonment - was handed down to Nikolayev in December 2021. Aleksandr was the first believer to be given a prison sentence after the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, explaining that participating in meetings for worship is not a reason for conviction under Article 282.2 of RF CrC. Despite this, he was found guilty of extremism for reading a Bible passage via videoconferencing.\nAleksandr was detained in September 2021. In total, he spent 13 months in a pretrial detention center and 11 months in a penal colony. For some of the time, he was held in strict detention conditions. The believer was also denied parole. All this time, Aleksandr was strengthened by letters of support coming from around the world.\nIn the Krasnodar Territory, 32 of Jehovah's Witnesses are already being prosecuted for their faith, 6 of them are in penal colonies. On September 15, Maksim Beltikov from the village of Pavlovskaya was released from prison.\n","category":"sentence","date":"2023-09-19T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/09/200858/image_hu_a4ac8588904be0c3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/09/200858/image_hu_fd61aaf035baefd9.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/09/200858/image_hu_90b3328fa6a406ce.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/09/200858/image_hu_b4daee7d4b999411.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/09/200858.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["release","strict-conditions","282.2-2","letters"],"title":"Aleksandr Nikolayev, Father of Five, Convicted for His Faith, Was Released from the Penal Colony","type":"news"},{"body":"A. A. Kravchenko, Investigator for Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kurgan Region, initiates a criminal case against Alexander Gaitur under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Gaytur in Kurgan","date":"2023-09-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan3/index.html#20230918","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator Captain of Justice A. A. Kravchenko opened a criminal case against Ilya Ershov for participating in the activities of an extremist organization. Previously, he was a suspect in the case of Aleksandr Lubin.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Lubin in Shadrinsk","date":"2023-09-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk/index.html#20230918","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator Captain of Justice A. A. Kravchenko initiates a criminal case against Ilya Ershov for participation in the activities of an extremist organization. The basis is the report of Nikolai Astapov.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yershov in Shadrinsk","date":"2023-09-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk2/index.html#20230918","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The court satisfies the petition of the penitentiary inspectorate for parole. The prosecutor does not object. A believer is considered to have served a suspended sentence.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Yavushkin and Bondarchuk in Kemerovo","date":"2023-09-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kemerovo/index.html#20230915","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["parole","suspended","282.3-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 15, 2023, the Kovrov City Court sentenced local resident Aleksey Kupriyanov to 1 imprisonment and 6 months restriction of freedom. Judge Vyacheslav Kuznetsov considered quoting from the Bible as proof of the believer's guilt of extremism. The term was served during the investigation. Kupriyanov maintains his innocence.\nBack in February 2021, during mass searches and interrogations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Kovrov, Aleksey came across prosecution on religious grounds. A criminal case against him was initiated in June 2021. D. A. Tyumenev, investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Vladimir Region, deemed that Kupriyanov was continuing the activity of the liquidated legal entity (Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC) as he \"took part in religious meetings... actively participated in collecting information on the amount of work done... on introducing... the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses... to the masses.\" Shortly after, Kupriyanov's home was searched again, then the believer was detained and later placed in a pretrial detention center.\nHis detention lasted about 4.5 months. During this time, the believer was prohibited from reading the Bible and pronouncing the name of God Jehovah; for a time his letters were withheld and he was threatened with his wife and son being prosecuted. From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. he was forced to sit on the cold floor. Also, Kupriyanov's cellmate, a former officer, convicted for organizing torture, was instructed by the detention center officers to put pressure on the believer to make him incriminate himself. Aleksey began to have health problems because of this, but despite a high fever, he was not transferred to the medical unit. Consequently, Kupriyanov had to undergo surgery.\nLater, the believer was transferred to house arrest for 7 months and was allowed walks for 2 hours a day. In September 2022, Kupriyanov's case went to court. At the court hearings, witnesses for the prosecution stated that they had not heard calls for extremism from the defendant. FSB officer Bordunov, who conducted operational-investigative measures, said that Kupriyanov participated in the activity of the liquidated legal entity, but did not provide evidence of this and avoided answering most of the questions from the defense.\nAccording to Kupriyanov, he was greatly encouraged by the care of his wife care and fellow believers, who sent him encouraging thoughts in their letters. Aleksey recalls: \"The letters and the Bible, as well as supplicating in prayer day and night helped me to fight the feeling of worthlessness that they tried to instill in me. That's how it was for a few months.\" According to Aleksey, he was strengthened by the opportunity to \"comfort other brothers and sisters\" with poems that he composed in response to their letters.\nIn his final statement, Aleksey Kupriyanov said: \"The charge is based only on the fact that I am a believer and that I believe in Jehovah. Your Honor, faith is on trial here!\" Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor requested the court sentence the believer to 4 years in a penal colony. Considering the clarifications of the Plenum of the RF Supreme Court of October 28, 2021, Kupriyanov can appeal the verdict to a higher court.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-09-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/09/201444/image_hu_89bbe0bafa5ab688.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/09/201444/image_hu_2305060233336f40.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/09/201444/image_hu_1009345cdcc772cd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/09/201444/image_hu_3daf2874afb7ea6f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/09/201444.html","regions":["vladimir"],"subtitle":"He Was Sentenced to a Penal Colony, But the Term Is Considered as Having Been Served","tags":["first-instance","liberty-deprivation","torture-conditions","letters","282.2-2"],"title":"In Kovrov, A Court Found Aleksey Kupriyanov Guilty of Extremism for His Faith in God.","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Samara Region, N. G. Sysoeva, makes a decision to initiate a criminal case against 62-year-old Galina Komissarova \"on the fact of participation in the activities of a religious association.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Komissarova in Tolyatti","date":"2023-09-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tolyatti6/index.html#20230907","regions":["samara"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 5, 2023, the Kemerovo Regional Court upheld the verdict against Lubov Serebryakova, 72, who was given a 4-year suspended sentence with a 3-year probation period and restriction of freedom for 10 months for talking about God. The verdict may be appealed in cassation proceedings.\nIn her appeal, Lubov Serebryakova pointed out the mistakes that, in her opinion, were made by the court of first instance. For example, the verdict does not describe the specific extremist actions that the prosecution claimed she had participated in. Dates, times and places of any alleged extremist actions committed and their role in continuing the activity of the banned organization are not indicated. In addition, the believer notes that \"the verdict cannot be based on the assumptions\" of the witnesses for the prosecution. Testifying, they explained that they did not know the defendant and had not met her before. One of them is a clergyman of another denomination, who also could not confirm anything of what the pensioner is accused of.\nBefore the start of the unfair criminal prosecution, Lubov had two heart attacks, and shortly before the completion of the pretrial investigation, she again needed emergency cardiac care.\nRussian courts have already convicted 85 Jehovah's Witnesses over the age of 60. Of these, 21 believers received terms of imprisonment, 12 are in penal colonies at the moment.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-09-05T13:49:17+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/09/081349/image_hu_d44559edec9186f0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/09/081349/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/09/081349/image_hu_e0da47d217a835df.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/09/081349/image_hu_d7a6effbd61e8f2d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/09/081349.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":"She Was Given a 4-Year Suspended Sentence.","tags":["appeal","elderly","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Kemerovo Upheld the Sentence Against Lubov Serebryakova, 72.","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 22, 2023, Marina Borzitskaya, judge of the Oktyabrskiy District Court of Novosibirsk, gave pensioner Tatyana Oleynik a 4-year suspended sentence for meetings with fellow believers, considering them \"participating in the activity of an extremist organization.\"\nTatyana Oleynik first experienced prosecution for her faith back in April 2019. Then, Tatyana's home was searched as part of a criminal case against several Jehovah's Witnesses from Novosibirsk. In November 2021, the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Novosibirsk Region initiated a case against Oleynik under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC. At the end of 2022, the case went to court. The hearings continued for 8 months.\nAddressing the court at one of the hearings, Tatyana explained that she \"never carried out extremist activity and never committed actions aimed at inciting hatred or enmity\". According to the believer, all her \"actions were peaceful and were determined solely by the motive of fulfilling the commands recorded in the Bible and exercising the right to practice and share her faith in the ways characteristic of Jehovah's Witnesses\". The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nAleksandr Seredkin, from whose case the case against Tatyana Oleynik was separated, was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment and is currently serving this term in a penal colony. The cases against two other fellow believers of Tatyana, Valeriy Maletskov and Marina Chaplykina, were also made into separate proceedings and are still under consideration in another court in Novosibirsk.\nIn Novosibirsk, eight Jehovah's Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution for their faith. One of them, Yuriy Savelyev, was recently released after serving his sentence in full.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-08-22T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/08/230915/image_hu_d9f24b0f77e7cd49.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/08/230915/image_hu_ae0659a2186e5653.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/08/230915/image_hu_6d78955fb0af6489.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/08/230915/image_hu_7fcd68b35af24bc4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/08/230915.html","regions":["novosibirsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["suspended","282.2-2","sentence"],"title":"Court in Novosibirsk Gave 71-year-old Tatyana Oleynik a 4-Year Suspended Sentence for Her Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 22, 2023, searches were carried out in at least two addresses in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and in the port city of Korsakov. Four people were detained for interrogation, after which law enforcement officers released them.\nEarly in the morning, law enforcement officers knocked on the door of Roman Gumenyuk, 39, and his wife. The believers opened the door, after which Sergey Nevidimov, senior investigator of the Korsakov Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Sakhalin Region, showed them the warrant for a search as part of a criminal case initiated under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC (participating in the activity of an extremist organization). The search took place in the presence of an armed law enforcement officer, a technical specialist and two attesting witnesses. Flash drives, laptops, tablets, as well as personal notes were seized from the believers. A search was also conducted in the car from which a phone was seized.\nThat same morning, law enforcement officers attended the home of the couple Yegor and Vera Bayevskiy. All electronic devices and storage media, a webcam, and a digital photo frame were seized. The search was led by senior investigator Marina Bykova. Law enforcement officers behaved respectfully, but they did not respond when Bayevskiy's wife complained of feeling ill and requested an ambulance be called.\nIn both cases, the searches lasted approximately 2 hours. Then the believers were taken to the Korsakov Investigative Department and interrogated.\nFive believers from the Sakhalin Region have already received suspended sentences for their beliefs.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2023-08-22T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_a3b2ced771142e34.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_ec173bd2c80c730f.jpg","webp":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_613284c7a1a776c5.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_7959300de005eb5f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/08/281526.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":"Believers Suspected for Discussing the Bible","tags":["search","interrogation","new-case","282.2-2","health-risk"],"title":"New Criminal Case and Searches on Sakhalin.","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator for especially important cases of the Investigative Department for the city of Kovrov of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Vladimir Region Y. N. Nikulin initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization) against 54-year-old Mikhail Sveshnikov.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Sveshnikov in Kovrov","date":"2023-08-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kovrov4/index.html#20230821","regions":["vladimir"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Department for the city of Kovrov of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Vladimir Region Y. N. Nikulin initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization) against 36-year-old Alexander Popov.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Popov in Kovrov","date":"2023-08-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kovrov5/index.html#20230821","regions":["vladimir"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 23, 2023, the Birobidzhanskiy District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region completed the retrial of the case of Oleg and Agnessa Postnikov, who were charged with extremism for discussing Bible teachings. As a result, they were given suspended sentences of 5.5 and 4.5 years with a 5-year probation period.\n\"Judge Olga Klyuchnikova actually duplicated the previous sentence — earlier her colleague Mariya Tsimarno gave them suspended sentences: Oleg 5.5 years, and Agnessa Postnikova 5 years. In October 2022, a panel of judges of the Birobidzhan Regional Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region overturned this verdict and sent the case for a new trial. Despite the lack of evidence of the defendants' guilt, the prosecutor again requested the previous punishment for the Postnikovs.\"\nAgnessa stressed that not a single piece of evidence was presented at the trial of her or her husband, verbally or otherwise, humiliating someone or calling for any illegal actions. \"The covert video footage provided by the prosecutor's office, most clearly demonstrates the absence of a hateful motive,\" said Agnessa and continued: \"[One of the witnesses] assured the court that neither my husband nor I used offensive or degrading words, nor did we call for genocide or repression. And the main witness — I appeared before court because of having conversations with her — repeatedly confirmed that I did not try to involve her in the organization. Nevertheless, the prosecution continues to insist that this is what we did.\" Oleg Postnikov noted in his final statement: \"Jehovah's Witnesses are not criminals. We are simply following Jesus Christ's clear commandment to 'love one another.'\"\nThe charges against the Postnikovs were based on the testimony of police officer Zvereva and another resident of Birobidzhan, who pretended to be interested in the Bible, as well as on hidden video recordings of their conversations. Zvereva testified in almost all criminal cases of Jehovah's Witnesses from Birobidzhan.\nThe Jewish Autonomous Region is one of the regions with the largest number of criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, where 21 believers have already received various sentences. Four of them are serving sentences in penal colonies.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-08-18T09:08:55+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/08/180908/image_hu_673466c12f195768.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/08/180908/image_hu_6ec2d4e71ec5c6ec.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/08/180908/image_hu_812cbaebe38aeb17.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/08/180908/image_hu_54b394c9ab19fd25.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/08/180908.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["families","retrial","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","suspended"],"title":"Court in Birobidzhan Again Gave the Postnikovs Suspended Sentences for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 18, 2023, Yevgeniy Sergeyev, judge of the Solikamsk City Court of the Perm Territory, fined 50-year-old Aleksandr Sobyanin 494,000 rubles, 61-year-old Vladimir Poltoradnev - 638,000 rubles and 54-year-old Vladimir Timoshkin - 512,000 rubles, finding them guilty of extremism for participating in peaceful meetings for worship.\nThe believers did not admit their guilt; they repeatedly drew the court's attention to the fact that their activity was legal. “All my actions were exclusively peaceful and did not harm anyone,” said Vladimir Poltoradnev. A similar thought was expressed by Vladimir Timoshkin: \"In line with the beliefs I practice, for me it is unacceptable to promote any extremist ideas or incite enmity and hatred.\"\nThe criminal case was initiated by the Solikamsk Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Perm Territory in July 2020. Investigator Sergey Kanafyev charged the believers with organizing an extremist organization, pointing out that they \"participated in religious meetings... discussed issues and topics of a religious nature with followers.\" In Solikamsk, searches were carried out in several homes of local Jehovah's Witnesses. Aleksandr Sobyanin, Vladimir Timoshkin and Vladimir Poltoradnev were sent to a temporary detention facility by law enforcement officers. Later, Sobyanin's preventive measure was changed to a ban on certain actions. Poltoradnev and Timoshkin spent two and three months under house arrest, respectively. Subsequently, they were also banned from certain actions.\nThe investigation lasted more than 2.5 years, and in April 2023 the case went to court. During the hearings, violations on the part of the investigation came to light. For example, as Sobyanin and Timoshkin stated, the prosecution presented as evidence of the believers' guilt audio recordings of wiretapping, in which not theirs but other voices are heard. Vladimir Poltoradnev said that he did not own the literature allegedly seized from him.\nWitnesses interrogated in court described the defendants positively. The former boss of Poltoradnev said this of him: “An excellent worker! There are no complaints about him!\" The believers were also positively described by their colleagues and neighbors.\nThe prosecutor requested 6 years imprisonment for Vladimir Timoshkin and Vladimir Poltoradnev, and requested that for Aleksandr Sobyanin Part 1 (organizing extremist activity) be replaced with Part 2 (participating) of Article 282.2 of the RF CrC and that he be sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. The verdict has not yet entered into force.\nIn the Perm Territory , 11 believers have already been prosecuted, 5 of them received suspended sentences, and 5 others received fines.\nThe UN Human Rights Council expresses concern about the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and draws attention to the fact that \"the actions of the state [to liquidate legal entities of believers] were motivated by a discriminatory goal: to stop the religious practice of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-08-18T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/08/171054/image_hu_bc00aa2a856c3e99.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/08/171054/image_hu_8fc7a0a46ce5472.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/08/171054/image_hu_b6d3e1e74ce33f75.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/08/171054/image_hu_4048defa539695a2.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/08/171054.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Court in Solikamsk Heavily Fines Three Jehovah's Witnesses for Talking About the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 18, 2023, the Altai Territory Court granted the prosecutor's appeal against the verdict against Pavel Kazadaev, replacing the 3-year suspended sentence with 3 years in a penal colony for talking about the Bible. The believer was taken into custody in the courtroom. He has pleaded not guilty and can appeal the verdict.\nBefore the appeal ruling was issued, Pavel said: “I did not continue the activity of a banned organization. I wanted and still want to peacefully practice my faith together with friends, worship God, praise him, and learn his commandments and principles. If I stop doing this, then, in fact, I stop believing. I did not have extremist motives; I do not feel hatred or enmity towards other people, including people of other religions, therefore, my actions could not harm them. There are no victims in my case, and all my friends and relatives described me favorably.”\nPavel Kazadaev, 26, is the youngest Jehovah's Witness prosecuted in the Altai Territory. The European Court of Human Rights clearly stated in its decision: “The forced liquidation of all religious organisations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia... indicates a policy of intolerance by the Russian authorities towards the religious practices of Jehovah's Witnesses designed to cause them to abandon their faith and to prevent others from joining it.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-08-18T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/08/171051/image_hu_429a864773d30391.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/08/171051/image_hu_188d9fa4aae1c682.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/08/171051/image_hu_ebf934972d74d24d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/08/171051/image_hu_7f2451fb31e228f2.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/08/171051.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Barnaul Sentenced Pavel Kazadaev to Penal Colony for 3 Years","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 15, 2023, Tatyana Kovaleva, judge of the Tayga City Court of the Kemerovo Region, sentenced Yuriy Usanov and Maksim Morozov to 3 years in a penal colony for their faith. But since the term is considered to have already been served while they were in pretrial detention, the believers were released. More than 60 listeners, who were admitted to the courtroom reacted to the decision with applause.\nThe believers faced prosecution on religious grounds in early April 2021, when the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kemerovo Region — Kuzbass initiated a criminal case against Yuriy Usanov, charging him with holding meetings of believers via video conferencing. After the searches that took place the next day, Usanov was detained and placed in a pretrial detention center. After 4 months, Maksim Morozov was also put behind bars. According to him, the investigation presented them with video recordings of meetings at which the Bible was discussed and prayers to God were said, as proof of their \"involvement in extremism\".\nUsanov spent more than 2 years behind bars and Morozov - 2 years and 9 days. Yuriy Usanov was in solitary confinement for the last 9 months before the verdict. His wedding was scheduled for July 2021, and had to be held in the pretrail detention center. Officers of the Anzhero-Sudzhensk detention center said that such a thing “has never been seen here before.” The administration of the pretrial detention center allowed the newlyweds to talk for 5 minutes after the marriage was registered; following this Yuriy's wife, Irina, was not permitted to visit him for about a year.\nAfter almost a year of preliminary investigation, the case went to court. At the hearings falsifications were revealed: the testimony of two witnesses for the prosecution was identical, including even spelling errors; another woman stated that words she had not said appeared in her interrogation protocol. In court, she described the believers as kind, humble, and patient people. Despite this, the prosecutor requested 5 years and 2 months in a penal colony and 7 months of additional restrictions for Usanov, 31, and Morozov, 40. The verdict passed by the court has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nMaksim Morozov addresses the court with his final statement. August 2023 Yuriy Usanov and Maksim Morozov behind bars in the courtroom. August 2023 Irina and Yuriy Usanov outside the court. August 2023 Maksim Morozov and the Usanovs after the verdict announcement. August 2023 Friends who came to support Morozov and Usanov on the day of the verdict. August 2023 A few days before the verdict was passed, the state prosecutor reclassified the charge as participating in the activity of an extremist organization, having found no confirmation of actions of an \"organizational nature.\" This facilitated the punishment being mitigated and the speedy release of the believers.\nThe court found Morozov and Usanov guilty of committing the crime specified in Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC and sentenced them to imprisonment for 3 years with additional restriction of freedom for 6 months (not to change the place of residence or stay without the consent of a specialized state body exercising supervision, and also not to travel outside the territory of the city district without its consent — Tayga for Usanov, and Tolyatti for Morozov). The believers' period of detention was taken into consideration at the rate of 1 day for 1.5 days.\nTo date, 19 Jehovah's Witnesses, including 3 women, have been subjected to religious repression in the Kemerovo Region. Recently, a harsh sentence was passed against a believer with a disability, Andrey Vlasov. His illness worsens rapidly due to prison conditions. According to the law, he should not be detained.\nThe world community and the RF Supreme Court stated that \"the joint performance of rites and ceremonies [of Jehovah's Witnesses] does not in itself constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the RF CrC, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-08-15T14:53:36+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/08/151453/image_hu_d82d4d9ef96e6fd6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/08/151453/image_hu_4655f03454d79874.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/08/151453/image_hu_53fd52627be6271.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/08/151453/image_hu_e769f8d1bf0f4dc9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/08/151453.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":"Yuriy Usanov and Maksim Morozov Are Free","tags":["sentence","282.2-2","fabrications"],"title":"Court in Tayga Sentenced Two Jehovah's Witnesses to 3 Years in a Penal Colony, but Considered the Term Already Served.","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Tatyana Zorina attracts Elena Chernykh as an accused and takes from her a written undertaking not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yelena Chernykh in Prokopyevsk","date":"2023-08-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/prokopyevsk/index.html#20230815","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Dvurechensky was charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Dvurechenskiy in Vyselki","date":"2023-08-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki7/index.html#20230815","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Elena Gadrshina is charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Among other things, she is charged with \"reading aloud to other participants the religious books of Jehovah's Witnesses, emphasizing that these books contain true knowledge about God.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Gadrshina in Vyselki","date":"2023-08-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki8/index.html#20230815","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator Roman Latysh charges Yelena Rumyantseva with \"taking a direct part in religious teaching and sermons ... entered into conversations and religious discussions with other participants, participated in the discussion of the \"Holy Scriptures\" (the Bible) ... read religious books aloud to other participants.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Rumyantseva in Vyselki","date":"2023-08-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki9/index.html#20230815","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 3, 2023, Irina Vlasova, judge of the Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Yaroslavl, found 4 Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of extremism: 47-year-old Andrey Vyushin and 57-year-old Petr Filiznov were given a 6.5-year suspended sentence; 40-year-old Aleksandr and 35-year-old Mariya Kuznetsova were given a 2.5-year suspended sentence.\nThe court imposed as additional punishment a 6-month restriction of freedom on the Kuznetsovs. Filiznov and Vyushin were given restriction of freedom for 1 year with deprivation of the right to hold leading positions in public and religious organizations for 4.5 years.\nIn the spring of 2021, a series of searches took place in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in Yaroslavl. Andrey Vyushin, the father of a young child, as well as Petr Filiznov and the Kuznetsovs were detained. For discussing the Bible, praying and singing religious songs, Vyushin and Filiznov were charged with organizing the activity of an extremist organization, and the Kuznetsovs — of participating in its activity. All four believers spent 3 months in a detention center, and then another 2 years under a ban on certain actions.\nThe criminal case against the residents of Yaroslavl was investigated by the Investigative Committee for more than a year; it went to court in August 2022. Judge Irina Vlasova heard the case for over 10 months with short breaks due to the illness of Aleksandr Kuznetsov, who was fighting cancer. The prosecution used the testimony of secret witnesses, but the defendants pointed out that their statements did not correspond with the facts. Other witnesses said that they had not heard from the defendants calls for the overthrow of the state system, the breakup of families or other extremist statements.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed, as the believers maintain their innocence. They emphasize that thanks to the Bible they have become useful members of society. Thus, Mariya Kuznetsova said: “Only love for God and people moves Jehovah’s Witnesses to meet together, read his Word, the Bible, meditate, discuss Bible questions, pray, sing spiritual songs and change for the better.” According to her husband Aleksandr Kuznetsov, the charge is completely contrary to the explanation of the Plenum of the Supreme Court, which states that a religious event in itself is not an illegal activity. “The RF Supreme Court did not forbid me to be a believer, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses… Faith in the living God Jehovah and worshiping him are not evil acts or extremism,” he stressed.\nAccording to the ruling of the ECHR, “only religious expressions and actions that contain or call for violence, hate or discrimination may serve as grounds for suppressing them as ‘extremist’.” Despite the absence of signs of extremism in the actions of believers, the authorities continue the mass prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-08-03T13:44:52+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/08/041344/image_hu_8fe144edb1493178.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/08/041344/image_hu_7ef69b504cbf58df.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/08/041344/image_hu_bca20e7ea412598b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/08/041344/image_hu_3b098ce0b963610d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/08/041344.html","regions":["yaroslavl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","sentence","suspended","families","minors","disability","secret-witness"],"title":"Court in Yaroslavl Punished Three Men and a Woman With Suspended Sentences of 2.5 and 6.5 Years For Their Beliefs","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 3, 2023, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court upheld the conviction of Sergey Malyanov, his daughter Svetlana, as well as Roman Zhivolupov and Oleg Konshin for attending a get-together with fellow believers. The court additionally prohibited the believers from holding any positions in religious and public organizations for 2 years and 11 months.\nAs the primary punishment, Sergey was fined 700,000 rubles, Svetlana – 545,000 rubles, Roman – 500,000 rubles, and Oleg – 450,000 rubles.\nSpeaking before the court of appeal, Roman Zhivolupov noted: \"For the entire time that the case was being considered, the prosecution did not give a clear answer as to what I did wrong, nor did they provide any evidence.\" Sergey Malyanov drew attention to the fact that, at the gathering held, they danced, sang children's songs and played games. The believer was perplexed: “Is buying sausage, cheese, fruit and water for the entertaining evening, financing an extremist activity? [...] The question arises: what if we again want to rent a room for a party? What then, from the point of view of the prosecution, should I do in order not to fall under criminal prosecution? Obtain a certificate that this event has nothing to do with the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia or the liquidated local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses? If yes, where can I get it? Or did the decision of the RF Supreme Court of April 20, 2017, prohibit Jehovah's Witnesses from spending time with friends? Neither from the prosecution, nor from the court of first instance, have I heard an answer”.\nDespite the fact that the European Court of Human Rights has exonerated Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, local law enforcement agencies and courts continue to repress believers solely for their religious views.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-08-03T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/08/041315/image_hu_16bdf65008512d8c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/08/041315/image_hu_f0b3307426edb1ef.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/08/041315/image_hu_f4e3f3152bceb5b0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/08/041315/image_hu_75321e53a3b31d1f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/08/041315.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":"They Were Fined a Total of More Than 2,000,000 Rubles for Their Faith","tags":["fine","appeal","families","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Nizhny Novgorod Upheld the Primary Punishment Against Four Believers.","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 3, 2023, Denis Dneprovskiy, judge of the Bikin City Court, found Olga Mirgorodskaya and Sergey Kazakov guilty of extremism. They were fined for their faith: Olga – 300,000 rubles and Sergey – 500,000 rubles.\nIn November 2020, the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region initiated criminal cases against Sergey Kazakov and Olga Mirgorodskaya. He was charged with organizing and participating in extremist activity, while she was only charged with participating. About a month later, in December, a wave of searches swept through the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Khabarovsk Territory. According to the believers, during the raid, the law enforcement officers searched everything, including trash cans and cat litter trays.\nAt the time of the searches, Sergey Kazakov was in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky – he went there to care for his mother following her stroke. Immediately after the searches, he was transferred from Kamchatka to the Khabarovsk Territory and placed in a detention center. Sergey spent 165 days in custody and over 2 months under house arrest.\nThe investigation lasted 1 year and 3 months, after which the case was referred to the court. The prosecution did not provide evidence of the believers' guilt, and all that was clear from the case materials is that Mirgorodskaya and Kazakov believe in Jehovah God. Nevertheless, the prosecutor requested that Sergey be sentenced to 6 years and 2 months imprisonment, and Olga be given a 4-year suspended sentence.\nDuring the court hearings, Olga stated: “In my case, the prosecution, by threatening criminal punishment, is unlawfully trying to force me to go against my faith and conscience. I did not commit a crime, but only used my constitutional right to believe in Jehovah God and live according to my religious beliefs.”\nSergey said: “Having established that I am a believer, the public prosecutor groundlessly substituted the understanding of exercising the citizens' right to freedom of religion [...] with the understanding of criminal activity, regarding which I consider this criminal case to be politically motivated repression.”\nA group of friends came to the courthouse to support the believers. August 2023 In total, 18 criminal cases have been initiated in the Khabarovsk Territory against 35 Jehovah's Witnesses. The sentences for 10 believers have already entered into force.\nRussian and foreign human rights activists clearly condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Elizabeth Clark, an international human rights and European Union law expert, states: “Jehovah's Witnesses... have been facing increasing persecution... in Russia for exercising their rights to freedom of religion or belief. This violates Russia's commitments to international law and its own constitution.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-08-03T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/08/041529/image_hu_34a58907c81e864d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/08/041529/image_hu_4671e440c4b6f3c0.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/08/041529/image_hu_dd2670312be2ed9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/08/041529/image_hu_1a2bf989803369d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/08/041529.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":"Olga Mirgorodskaya and Sergey Kazakov Sentenced to Heavy Fines","tags":["fine","minors","sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Two More Residents of the Khabarovsk Territory Convicted for Their Faith in God.","type":"news"},{"body":"Yuri Usanov and Maxim Morozov testify. The defense notes that the judge treats the defendants with respect - he listens to them carefully and does not interrupt during speeches.\nThe state prosecutor reads out the decision on the requalification of the charges. He states that the court did not find evidence of actions of an \"organizational nature\". Now believers are accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization.\nAt the next hearing, the defense will present its attitude to the new charge.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Usanov and Morozov in Tayga","date":"2023-08-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tayga/index.html#20230801","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["first-instance","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 1, 2023, Angelina Sviderskaya, judge of the Khabarovskiy District Court, found Lyubov Ovchinnikova, 64, and Lyubov Kocherova, 65, guilty of extremism. They were given a 6-year suspended sentence and 1.5 years restriction of freedom with a 3-year probation period.\nBefore the announcement of the verdict, the prosecutor had requested that the court send the believers to a penal colony for 6 years. During the closing arguments and in their final statements, the defendants resolutely denied being guilty of extremism. Lyubov Ovchinnikova said: “I have nothing to do with violence or extremism. This is completely alien to me... I adhere to the principle of loving my neighbor”.\nThe case against the pensioners from the village of Knyaze-Volkonskoye, Khabarovsk Territory, was initiated by the Investigative Committee in May 2022. Prior to this, FSB officer Stanislav Martyn, who pretended to be interested in the Bible, associated with the women for 2 years. According to the investigation, these conversations should be regarded as involving others in the activity of a banned organization and participating in it.\nDuring the hearings, the defendants stated that Martyn's actions were inducement prohibited by Article 5 of the Law on Operational-Investigative Activities. According to Kocherova, she was taking driving lessons, during which the instructor constantly asked her about the Bible. The believer explained: “There was definitely no coercion [to any religious activity]. During the conversations, my only goal was to answer Martyn's questions.\" Lyubov Ovchinnikova also stated: “Kocherova and I did not persuade Martyn to do anything, and did not recruit him... We were simply discussing the Bible with him at his own request.”\nThe believers also stressed that peaceful conversations about the Bible cannot be considered a crime. “The ban on legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses does not mean that after 2017 I was obliged to change my religion, stop studying the Bible or telling people what I myself learn from the Bible. Following the logic of the charges, it means that if, for example, a sewing factory was liquidated in a certain city, then all women in Russia are now prohibited from sewing, and any attempts to sew clothes for themselves or their friends will be regarded as illegal activities,” Lyubov Kocherova explained.\nThe case of Kocherova and Ovchinnikova is linked to the case of Valeriy Rabota who lives in the same village. It is being considered by the same judge, and the charges are based on the testimony of the same FSB agent Martyn.\nTo date, 172 women practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia have faced criminal prosecution for their faith. Five of them are serving sentences in penal colonies and two are in pretrial detention centers.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-08-01T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/08/020828/image_hu_8f28f0da119c2ab5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/08/020828/image_hu_fa911acb381c219.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/08/020828/image_hu_fc0085e3d069cf18.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/08/020828/image_hu_e0093879bf4d5dc2.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/08/020828.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","sentence","suspended","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"Court in the Khabarovsk Territory Gave Lyubov Ovchinnikova and Lyubov Kocherova a 6-Year Suspended Sentence for Their Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigator charges Lyudmila Zinina and interrogates her in her new status. A believer enjoys the right not to testify against herself and her loved ones.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Lyudmila Zinina in Vyselki","date":"2023-07-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki3/index.html#20230722","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2","new-case"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Irina is summoned for questioning. Investigator Roman Latysh wonders if she knows Viktor Spirichev, a defendant in a similar criminal case. The believer was charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Irina Zinina in Vyselki","date":"2023-07-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki6/index.html#20230722","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["interrogation","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Rumyantsev prosecutes Kirill Severinchik as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nAccording to the investigation, Kirill, together with his fellow believers, \"with the help of verbal forms of manipulation of consciousness\" of a certain \"Mironov A.E.\", tried to attract him to their faith. By \"verbal manipulation,\" the investigator means \"prayer reading,\" \"Bible study,\" and \"rhetorical questions.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Khorikov and Others in Surgut","date":"2023-07-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/surgut2/index.html#20230720","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Vasilina Penskaya was charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and she was charged with a written undertaking not to leave the place.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Penskaya in Vyselki","date":"2023-07-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki5/index.html#20230718","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Evgeny Kozyuchenko, Senior Investigator for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Altai Territory, is initiating a criminal case against 37-year-old Valery Klokov and 50-year-old Vitaly Manuilov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Klokov in Barnaul","date":"2023-07-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/barnaul4/index.html#20230710","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator Yevgeniy Kozuchenko initiates a criminal case against Valery Klokov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Manuylov in Barnaul","date":"2023-07-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/barnaul5/index.html#20230710","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. N. Rumyantsev, Senior Investigator for Particularly Important Cases of the First Investigation Department of the Fourth Investigation Department (located in the city of Yekaterinburg), makes decisions on the involvement of Valentina Alekseeva, Yuri and Roman Khorikov as accused. The rulings state that believers, \"acting on the grounds of religious hatred, intolerance and discord, with the aim of promoting the exclusivity, superiority of the followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and the inferiority of other citizens on the basis of their attitude to religion, made a joint and agreed decision to commit ... the activities of an extremist organization.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Khorikov and Others in Surgut","date":"2023-07-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/surgut2/index.html#20230705","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"M. N. Zaitsev, Senior Investigator for Internal Affairs of the Investigative Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Kursk Region, issues a decision to initiate a criminal case against Nikolai Kupriyansky under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as spouses Dmitry and Oksana Chausov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nBelievers are accused of \"conducting individual classes (conversations) on the territory of Kursk to study the preaching materials of the religious movement \"Jehovah's Witnesses\" with new alleged followers of the \"LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses of Kursk\", while promoting the popularization of its ideas.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kupriyanskiy and Others in Kursk","date":"2023-07-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kursk2/index.html#20230703","regions":["kursk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 30, 2023, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court upheld the verdict against Olga Zhelavskaya, 61 — a 2-year suspended sentence for reading the Bible and it has entered into force. The believer has the right to appeal the verdict in the cassation procedure.\nIn her final statement before the court of appeal, Zhelavskaya drew attention to the lack of grounds for this court decision: “In the court of first instance, the prosecution never mentioned any actions of extremist nature on my part... No quotes, no facts, no records, no casualties\".\nVyacheslav Lebedev,chairman of the RF Supreme Court, said at a meeting of judges of general jurisdiction and arbitration courts: “The increased standards for protecting the constitutional rights of citizens are provided by the explanations of the Supreme Court that actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely in the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including through the performance of religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-06-30T10:28:45+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/07/031028/image_hu_20e54432bf2221e2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/07/031028/image_hu_5a2336133e44cc08.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/07/031028/image_hu_9e3636249fcd5c3d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/07/031028/image_hu_9e546cbf4689c504.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/07/031028.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","appeal","suspended"],"title":"Court of Appeal Upheld the Verdict Against Olga Zhelavskaya from Chelyabinsk — 2-Year Suspended Sentence for Her Faith in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Ruslan Mgoyan involves Elena Kozhevnikova as an accused. She is accused of taking an active part in the activities of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses through video conferencing.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kozhevnikova in Tolyatti","date":"2023-06-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tolyatti4/index.html#20230622","regions":["samara"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 20, 2023, Yekaterina Ostapenko, judge of the Tsentralnyy District Court of Sochi, found 27-year-old Danil Suvorov guilty for discussing Bible topics and sentenced him to 6 years imprisonment. The believer insists on his complete innocence and can appeal the court's decision.\nIn August 2021, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Suvorov for extremism. This is how law enforcement officers categorized ordinary conversations of believers about the Bible. After searches in Sochi, Danil was thrown into jail. By the time the verdict was passed, he had already spent 1 year and 9 months in a detention center. Because of this, the believer could not be at his mother's side when his grandmother died.\nThe case was based on the testimony of undercover informant Filatov under the pseudonym Udav, who in 2020 himself called Danil and asked for a “Bible study”. The believer told the court that it was free friendly communication: “You could see for yourself by watching the videos that I never invited him to become a member of any organization — the Administrative Center or other legal entities. I still don’t understand what is extremist in this and at what point our conversations [with Filatov] turned into an organization that was liquidated by a court decision.”\nimage_caption: Danil Suvorov taken to detention center after verdict announced, June 20, 2023, Sochi Describing his life principles, Danil refuted the charge of extremism brought against him: “I do not take up arms and oppose any kind of violence, therefore, in the past I made use of the right provided for by the law to opt for alternative civilian service... And for nearly two years I have been trying to find out why I’m facing up to 8 years imprisonment.”\nDanil and his family are grateful for the help of their fellow believers, who \"supported them with words and materially\" and attended court hearings. “Our fellow believers even sent me a package from Finland,” Danil’s mother said. “It was so nice that they showed me attention.”\nTo date, 26 of Jehovah's Witnesses have suffered in the Krasnodar Territory because of their faith. Of the 14 believers who were sentenced to various terms in a penal colony, 4 are from Sochi.\nMichelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calls the sentences for Jehovah's Witnesses harsh and says it \"criminalises the right to freedom of religion or belief, for Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-06-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/06/210825/image_hu_e6f1f1745e980f90.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/06/210825/image_hu_f22f50b7e913d53.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/06/210825/image_hu_69d9a6d9917bc8a0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/06/210825/image_hu_f82f238a122f0c7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/06/210825.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["liberty-deprivation","sentence","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","secret-witness"],"title":"Danil Suvorov from Sochi Received 6 Years in a Penal Colony for Talking about God","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigative Committee is initiating a criminal case against Sergey Dvurechensky under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It is based on the testimony of a secret witness under the pseudonym \"Shepherd\" who has attended Jehovah's Witnesses services in the past. Later, the man again began to communicate with believers and film online worship services in order to transmit this information to the Center for Countering Extremism.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Dvurechenskiy in Vyselki","date":"2023-06-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki7/index.html#20230615","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","secret-witness"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Committee is initiating a criminal case against Elena Gadrshina under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It is based on the testimony of a secret witness under the pseudonym \"Shepherd\" who has attended Jehovah's Witnesses services in the past. Later, the man again began to communicate with believers and film online worship services in order to transmit this information to the Center for Countering Extremism.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Gadrshina in Vyselki","date":"2023-06-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki8/index.html#20230615","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","secret-witness"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Committee initiates a criminal case against Elena Rumyantseva under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It is based on the testimony of a secret witness under the pseudonym \"Shepherd\" who has attended Jehovah's Witnesses services in the past. Later, the man again began to communicate with believers and film online worship services in order to transmit this information to the Center for Countering Extremism.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Rumyantseva in Vyselki","date":"2023-06-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki9/index.html#20230615","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 15, 2023, the Kovrov City Court deemed 46-year-old Roman Adestov's participating in discussions on Bible topics extremism and sentenced him to 1 year in a penal colony with 11 months restriction of freedom. The term of punishment takes into account the time of the believer's pretrial detention and house arrest.\nIn June 2021, the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Vladimir Region initiated a criminal case against Roman Adestov under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC (participating in the activity of an extremist organization). Some time later, law enforcement officers searched his house in the village of Ivanovo. After interrogation at the FSB branch in the city of Vladimir, the believer was sent to a detention center, where he spent 139 days. Roman spent almost that entire time in a cramped and extremely damp cell. After that he was transferred to house arrest. For the next 7 months, he was isolated from the outside world; a bracelet was put on his leg to track his location. Then this preventive measure was changed to prohibition of certain actions. The case was being heard in court from September 2022. The prosecutor requested 4 years in a penal colony for Adestov.\nThe believer resolutely denied being guilty of extremism, emphasizing that he was being tried solely for his peaceful religious views. “If, according to the investigation, I was engaged in extremist activity, then why is nothing said about this in the materials of the criminal case or in the indictment? I am not charged with what the RF Supreme Court considers extremist activity, because I did not do it, am not doing it and do not intend to do it. The investigation did not prove otherwise. Effectively I am charged with acting in accordance with Article 28 of the RF Constitution (the right to practice any religion), without stepping outside of the law,” Adestov said at one of the court hearings.\nAfter the verdict was announced, Adestov was not taken into custody, since he had already served the appointed term of imprisonment. Restrictions on freedom imposed by the court will be applied to the believer, but the verdict has not yet entered into force and can be appealed.\nFrom the moment of his arrest, Roman could not work or provide for his family. Moreover, during this period, his mother-in-law died. Organizing the funeral fell entirely on the shoulders of his wife, Alina, since he was not allowed to leave the house.\nRoman expressed his deep gratitude to friends and acquaintances for the support they have provided to his family all this time. “They support us with kind words, deeds, and materially. And when I was in prison, they helped Alina in everyday matters,” said Roman.\nThe global community unanimously condemns the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. In particular, the judgment of the European Court of June 7, 2022 notes: “That broad definition of ‘extremism’ not only could – and did – lead to arbitrary prosecutions, but also prevented individuals or organizations from being able to anticipate that their conduct, however peaceful and devoid of hatred or animosity it was, could be categorised as 'extremist' and censured with restrictive measures.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-06-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/06/161344/image_hu_47e500e17785d94d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/06/161344/image_hu_76fc1ccbc84350b6.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/06/161344/image_hu_bb6a359055e30c8f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/06/161344/image_hu_93ca4565913c66ad.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/06/161344.html","regions":["vladimir"],"subtitle":"His Term is Considered Served due to Time Spent Under Investigation and Trial","tags":["282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","sentence"],"title":"Court in Kovrov Sentenced Jehovah's Witness, Roman Adestov, to a Penal Colony.","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 14, 2023, a panel of judges of the Kemerovo Regional Court upheld the sentence against Sergey Ananin — 6 years in a penal colony. The court determined that the 2 days spent by the believer in the temporary detention facility after his arrest will be credited as time served of his punishment.\nOn March 31, 2023, the Belovo City Court of the Kemerovo Region found Sergey Ananin guilty of “organizing the activity of an extremist organization” for praying, singing songs, and discussing the Bible over the Internet.\nThe believer has appealed the verdict. “Expressing hatred, enmity and violence is incompatible with my views. I treat people of other religions and nationalities with respect. I was convicted only for my faith in God. [...] The state authorities, by their actions, present me and my fellow believers in a bad light before society and contribute to the spread of prejudice against... Jehovah's Witnesses,” the believer says in his appeal.\nThe courts did not take into account the fact that the RF Supreme Court did not ban the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses and did not assess the legitimacy of the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses and the way they express them. Both courts also did not take into account the defendant's health and his need for rehabilitation after his heart surgery (at the end of 2020 he suffered a massive heart attack). The believer can appeal the verdict and the appellate ruling to the court of cassation.\nCurrently, Sergey Ananin is being held in Detention Center No. 4 for the Kemerovo Region. He was placed there after the verdict was announced and will soon be transferred to a penal colony.\nSince 2017 Russian law enforcement officers have already conducted more than 2,000 searches at the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses, and criminal cases have been initiated against more than 730 people. Almost 400 believers spent time in temporary detention facilities, pretrial detention centers, and penal colonies, and another 124 people are still behind bars.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-06-14T14:36:07+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/06/141436/image_hu_47fbcb07166a44d2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/06/141436/image_hu_d884d6e3a10cf079.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/06/141436/image_hu_556e7a8d16f13a7c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/06/141436/image_hu_869fe65743e4f164.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/06/141436.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":"The Believer, Who Suffered a Heart Attack, Sent to Penal Colony for 6 Years","tags":["282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","appeal"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Kemerovo Upheld Term of Punishment Against Sergey Ananin.","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 14, 2023, the Primorye Territory Court, chaired by Judge Svetlana Ustimenko, upheld the guilty verdict against Evgeny Grinenko, Sergey Kobelev and Svetlana Yefremova for their faith — a 6-year suspended sentence for the men and a 3-year suspended sentence for the elderly woman.\nIn February 2022, the Lesozavodskiy District Court found three local residents guilty of extremism for talking about the Bible and attending peaceful religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses. The convicted persons have appealed the verdict. According to the defense, the believers did not commit any real crime, therefore, the court only proved that they belong to the denomination of Jehovah's Witnesses, which is not prohibited by any law.\n“I did not deny that I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses, nor that I met with friends, discussed the Bible and sang religious songs,” Evgeny Grinenko emphasized in the appeal. “At the same time, the court of first instance did not substantiate in the verdict why the peaceful way of expressing faith in God was regarded by the court as committing a crime.”\nSvetlana Yefremova expressed her position as follows: “In sentencing me for carrying out, allegedly, extremist activity... the court actually punished me for practicing religion in the way common for Jehovah’s Witnesses.”\nSergey Kobelev stated: “Under such circumstances, my criminal prosecution and the guilty verdict cannot pursue any legitimate aim.”\nThe head of the Center for the studies of problems of Religion and Society at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Political Sciences Roman Lunkin, assessed the long-term campaign of repressions against believers in the following way: \"As sad as it is, the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses is based on a rather primitive, even mundane logic: they are simply disliked by a section of society that often knows nothing about [their] doctrine and practice, and for law enforcement agencies, searches, arrests and liquidation of organizations is an opportunity... to pretend they are fighting for the security of the state.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-06-14T14:34:55+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/06/141434/image_hu_7485d284189f8bb.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/06/141434/image_hu_63c2f6a4314c1f8a.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/06/141434/image_hu_35d14e2b609d84eb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/06/141434/image_hu_aabc87f318767b87.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/06/141434.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","elderly","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Primorye Territory Upheld Verdict Against Three Believers From Lesozavodsk","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 9, 2023, the Lazo District Court of the Khabarovsk Territory found Aleksandr Shutov, 70, guilty of extremism. Judge Yevgeniya Stetsa sentenced him to 2 years and 5 months of suspended sentence with a probationary period of 2 years and restriction of liberty for 6 months for participation in the services of Jehovah's Witnesses. The verdict has not entered into force.\n“I view this criminal case as repression,” Aleksandr said in court. “The investigative agency groundlessly and unreasonably replaced the concept of exercising the right of citizens to freedom of religion, which includes a person's right to read the Bible and discuss it with friends, with the concept of carrying out extremist activities. ... My only intention was to worship God; doing so is typical for the religion I profess. And the motive of my actions was love for God and neighbor.” The believer has the right to appeal the verdict.\nThe search of the Shutov family's home took place at the end of July 2021. The criminal case was conducted by FSB Investigator S. V. Nemtsev and by the head of the Vyazemsky Department of the FSB, Aleksey Svetachev. They also initiated the prosecution of other persons who are Jehovah's Witnesses in Vyazemskoye: Yen Sen Lee, Yegor Baranov, and Sergey Kuznetsov. Yegor and Sergey received suspended sentences of four and a half years and two and a half years respectively, and Yen Sen died while under investigation. The FSB officers used against them and Shutov the testimony of a woman who slandered the believers under pressure from the security forces—according to her, she was threatened with deprivation of parental rights.\nEric Patterson, executive vice president of the Religious Liberty Institute, called Russia's ongoing persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses unfair and ridiculous, saying, \"It contributes to a climate of fear and social stagnation.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-06-09T16:38:10+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/06/091638/image_hu_5f6c0d13ad3bf4e0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/06/091638/image_hu_3fd5e5bf9c4f4e93.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/06/091638/image_hu_c024ea5f01a68422.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/06/091638/image_hu_9d0acd07573a7319.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/06/091638.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"In the Khabarovsk Territory, a Court Found 70-Year-Old Aleksandr Shutov Guilty of Extremism for Reading the Bible With Friends","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 8, 2023, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tuva upheld the basic punishment for Anatoliy Senin, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, a 6-year suspended sentence, but removed restrictions on his attending mass events from the verdict.\nOn January 12, 2023, the Kyzylsky City Court found the believer guilty of organizing the activity of an extremist organization. Senin's \"guilt\" comes down to the fact that he \"broadcasted video recordings of a religious content, encouraged the audience to pray, sing religious songs and study the Bible\".\nThe verdict has been appealed. According to the defense, the trial at the first instance court was conducted with violations. For example, the court indicated “propaganda of superiority” as the motive for committing the “crime”, but the Criminal Code does not actually provide for such a motive. A religious scholar questioned in court confirmed that Jehovah's Witnesses are tolerant towards members of other religions.\nIn turn, prosecutor V.V. Khovalyg considered the suspended sentence too lenient and filed an appeal.\nHearings in the Supreme Court of Tuva were held in the presence of 8 listeners. The prosecutor asked the court to cancel Anatoliy Senin's suspended sentence and send him to a penal colony for 7 years. Then the convicted person and the defense presented their closing arguments. The believer could not complete his final statement because the court interrupted him. After a break, the court announced the appeal ruling, finding the believer guilty of extremism but upheld the suspended sentence. The verdict has entered into force, but Anatoly maintains his innocence. He has the right to appeal the verdict in the cassation procedure.\nThe criminal prosecution of Anatoliy Senin has been ongoing since January 2021, despite the fact that the believer’s mere participation in meetings for worship should not become grounds for accusations of extremism. On October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the religious services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint performance of rites and ceremonies, in themselves do not constitute a crime under Art. 282.2 of the RF Criminal Code.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-06-08T16:12:40+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/06/091612/image_hu_daade0a0c5b517a7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/06/091612/image_hu_9be4782b9a86ded0.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/06/091612/image_hu_98ea21fe6e845c4a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/06/091612/image_hu_dc731d4a68ca9c93.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/06/091612.html","regions":["tyva"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"The Court of Appeal in Tuva Upheld the Verdict Against Anatoliy Senin, One of Jehovah's Witnesses — a 6-Year Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 6, 2023, Darya Didur, judge of the Partizansk City Court of the Primorye Territory, found Irina Buglak guilty of participating in the activity of a banned association and gave her a 2.5-year suspended sentence.\nThe prosecutor requested the court impose a 6-year and 5-month suspended sentence on the believer, with a 6-year deprivation of the right to engage in any activity related to leading and participating in the work of religious and public organizations and a 4-year probabtion period. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer maintains her innocence.\nThe case was initiated on April 19, 2019. On the same day, the apartment of an 80-year-old woman, whom Buglak visited, was searched. Due to the stress, Irina’s left arm became numb. Nevertheless, the believer was arrested and she spent a day in the local temporary detention facility. During the interrogation, she learned that the law enforcement agencies had been collecting information about her since 2018: they were spying on her social media and listening to telephone conversations. The next day, the court imposed a preventive measure of detention on Irina. She spent 6 months in a detention center and 3.5 months under house arrest.\nIn January 2020, the case went to court, but a year later it was returned to the prosecutor. The retrial of the case began in October 2021. Two months prior to this, judge Mariya Sundyukova was recused — she was the one who ruled to arrest Irina Buglak in 2019. Gross violations committed during the investigation were revealed at the trial. For example, entire paragraphs of witness testimonies corresponded word for word and contained the same errors. It was also revealed that during the interrogation, which lasted until the morning, the investigator had put pressure on the believer, demanding she sign the protocol which included wording he had added.\nIn her final statement, Irina stated: “The prosecutor is not finding any signs of extremist activity, but only how I express my faith. Tell me specifically what extremist actions did I commit? What was my intent? Once again I emphasize: I am not on trial for extremist actions, but for my faith in God.” She added: “Extremism is when people believe that members of other religions should be killed, beaten or otherwise persecuted. But such views contradict my beliefs. I live by the principle ‘you must love your neighbor as yourself’ and the well-known golden rule ‘all things, that you want people to do to you, you also must do to them’”.\nThe verdict against Irina Buglak is not the first against Jehovah's Witnesses from Partizansk. In September 2022, Liya Maltseva was convicted on similar charges — she was given a 2-year and 3-month suspended sentence. In total, 48 of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Primorye Territory are being prosecuted for their faith.\nThe European Court of Human Rights, in its recent judgment concerning Jehovah's Witnesses, emphasized that legal formalities should not be used to hinder the freedom of association of groups disliked by the authorities or advocating ideas that the authorities would like to suppress (§ 243).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-06-06T16:39:41+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/06/061639/image_hu_8ddac3f9859b3d7e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/06/061639/image_hu_cf19c2f3f49d6883.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/06/061639/image_hu_2774484efbe3e5ef.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/06/061639/image_hu_9ae5570fc9126d49.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/06/061639.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":"Jehovah's Witness Irina Buglak Given 2.5-Year Suspended Sentence","tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","sentence","suspended"],"title":"Another Guilty Verdict for Faith in Primorye Territory.","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator N. G. Sysoeva charges Yelena Yurenkova with \"participation in the activities of a religious association ... who carried out extremist activities.\" This is how the investigation interprets the peaceful worship services of citizens exercising the constitutional right of the Russian Federation to jointly profess religion.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yurenkova in Tolyatti","date":"2023-06-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tolyatti5/index.html#20230605","regions":["samara"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"V. I. Golovina, senior investigator of the Unechsky Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Bryansk Region, initiates a criminal case against Yulia Globa on suspicion of participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Globa in Unecha","date":"2023-05-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/unecha/index.html#20230531","regions":["bryansk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 31, 2023, the Judicial Chamber of the Penza Regional Court upheld the verdict against Viktor Shayapov — a 2-year suspended sentence. The verdict has entered into force and the believer has the right to appeal in cassation procedure.\nThe Nikolskiy District Court of the Penza Region ruled in November 2022 that the believer was guilty of the activity of an extremist organization. Shayapov disagrees: “I did not engage in extremist or other unlawful activity. I lead a peaceful life, respect the authorities and obey the law because I believe in God”. The defense also argues that the court had no convincing reasons for the guilty verdict: no evidence of criminal actions by Viktor, no eyewitness testimonies, no victims.\nIn his final statement, Viktor Shayapov stated: \"Jehovah's Witnesses have not committed any crime. However, there are those who try to label the actions of ordinary believers - reading the Bible, preaching, joint meetings, praying and singing spiritual songs — as a crime that undermines the order and security of the state.\" The judges did not allow Viktor to complete his statement and decided to uphold the verdict.\nDespite the fact that the European Court of Human Rights has exonerated Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, local law enforcement officers and courts continue to repress believers solely for their religious views.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-05-31T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/06/051533/image_hu_e66d8845da03be27.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/06/051533/image_hu_52bffda761ffe2b8.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/06/051533/image_hu_24dfed60123e9f48.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/06/051533/image_hu_5c20c0b85733022a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/06/051533.html","regions":["penza"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","appeal","suspended"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Penza Upheld Suspended Sentence Against Viktor Shayapov","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 26, 2023, Dmitriy Malikov, judge of the Industrial District Court of Barnaul, gave Pavel Kazadaev, 26, a 3-year suspended sentence with restriction of freedom for 6 months and a 2-year probation period for participating in the peaceful meetings for worship of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nThe Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against the believer in May 2021. Two weeks later, law enforcement officers conducted mass searches at the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Altai Territory, calling the special operation \"Armageddon\". Law enforcement officers also searched the house of Kazadaev's parents in the village of Lugovoye and the apartment in Novokuznetsk (Kemerovo Region), where he lived with his wife. The believer was taken to Barnaul and placed in a temporary detention facility, and later under a recognizance agreement.\nAbout a year later, the case of Pavel Kazadaev went to court. The prosecutor requested 3 years in a penal colony and 1 year restriction of freedom for him. Commenting on the charges against him, Pavel stated: “The prosecution does not indicate the date, time, place, specific persons in whose presence I made any statements promoting the superiority of Jehovah’s Witnesses over other persons, and does not cite such statements”. The investigation considered Kazadaev guilty for participating in meetings for worship. Regarding these meetings he explained: “We discussed why it is important to be attentive and show empathy to people and how to practice this”.\nThe criminal prosecution caused many difficulties in the life of the Kazadaev family. Their fellow believers have become a great support for them. Pavel said: “Our friends are constantly interested in how we are doing. For example, after the searches they helped us materially. We also really appreciate their emotional support: they send us cards and messages, small gifts and simply invite us over. Friends come to court to support me; some travel more than 100 kilometers”.\nAs a result of operation “Armageddon”, a total of 4 criminal cases were initiated against 6 believers in the Altai Territory. One of them, Andrey Danielyan, was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony.\nThe Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that Jehovah's Witnesses, despite the liquidation of their legal entities, can exercise the right to freedom of conscience and religion, including through individual or joint practice of religion, worship or other religious rites and ceremonies, if they do not contain signs of extremism (p. 20).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-05-26T13:15:27+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/05/261315/image_hu_736dbd9ff46a95ec.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/05/261315/image_hu_e31bc1d4f6d5aeb8.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/05/261315/image_hu_3a7e97260a439637.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/05/261315/image_hu_6e6fab3aac99d727.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/05/261315.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":"Court in Barnaul Gave Pavel Kazadaev a 3-Year Suspended Sentence","tags":["suspended","sentence","282.2-2"],"title":"Another Jehovah's Witness Convicted for His Faith in the Altai Territory.","type":"news"},{"body":"Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Natalia Guzeeva, investigator for internal affairs of the investigative department for the city of Prokopyevsk of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kemerovo Region - Kuzbass, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a banned organization) against unidentified persons.\nAccording to the investigation, some residents of Prokopyevsk \"out of extremist motives took part in the activities of an extremist organization ... consisting in the convocation of meetings... organizing religious speeches and services at these meetings... carrying out the preaching work.\" This is how the investigation characterizes the peaceful worship of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yelena Chernykh in Prokopyevsk","date":"2023-05-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/prokopyevsk/index.html#20230525","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 25, 2023, the Krasnoyarsk Territory Court upheld the verdict against Natalya Voropaeva. She will pay a fine of 360,000 rubles for her faith in God, but has the right to appeal this decision in the cassation procedure.\nNatalya Voropaeva explained why she considers the verdict of the Zheleznodorozhnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk dated March 24, 2023 to be unfounded: “The charges are contradictory, vague and based on assumptions. The verdict does not contain any statements of an extremist nature made by me, and the materials of the case confirm this.” The believer also pointed out that for the court of first instance, evidence of her guilt was mere participation in meetings for worship. In particular, the court considered her short comments about trust in the Bible, belief in the resurrection of the dead, and the need to remain faithful in marriage as extremism.\nThe defense emphasized that the court did not heed the clarifications of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of October 28, 2021, according to which, in the event of the liquidation of a religious association, believers can continue to practice their religion and their meetings for worship should not constitute a crime.\nNatalya Voropaeva faced religious repression in 2018, when her home was searched as part of a criminal case against Andrey Stupnikov. In the fall of 2022, she herself became a defendant. After only 4 months of investigations and 2 months of trial, she was convicted.\nDiscrimination against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is a matter of serious concern for human rights activists. On June 7, 2022, the ECHR called on the Russian authorities to stop criminal prosecution of the believers and to release those in prison.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-05-25T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/05/260838/image_hu_67fa49f345a753ce.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/05/260838/image_hu_49c13afa27520812.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/05/260838/image_hu_bb37112f94e4c97a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/05/260838/image_hu_fa65471cb4cca44e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/05/260838.html","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"subtitle":"Court of Appeal Upheld Verdict","tags":["appeal","282.2-2","fine"],"title":"Natalya Voropaeva from Krasnoyarsk Pays Fine of 360,000 Rubles for Her Faith in Jehovah God.","type":"news"},{"body":"R. S. Latysh, senior investigator of the Korenovsky Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory, initiates a criminal case against Lyudmila Zinina under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, the believer is guilty of extremism for \"reading aloud religious books\" of Jehovah's Witnesses and \"entering into conversations and religious discussions.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Lyudmila Zinina in Vyselki","date":"2023-05-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki3/index.html#20230523","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator of the Korenovsky MRSO of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory, Senior Lieutenant of Justice R. Latysh initiates a criminal case against Viktor Spirichev under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Spirichev in Vyselki","date":"2023-05-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki4/index.html#20230523","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A criminal case is being initiated against Penskaya under the article on participation in the activities of an extremist organization. The believer's bank accounts are blocked.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Penskaya in Vyselki","date":"2023-05-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyselki5/index.html#20230523","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","rosfinmonitoring"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 22, 2023, early in the morning a search was carried out at the home of a married couple in Feodosia. Maksim Zinchenko, 31, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, was detained and taken to Sevastopol.\nThe search, which took place from 06:30 to 10:00 am, was led by investigator Nikolay Pogorelov. The task force consisted of more than 10 people, five of whom were armed. The law enforcement officers ordered the Zinchenkos and a couple who were visiting them, to lie down on the floor. The investigator suggested that Zinchenko's wife cooperate with the investigation, intimidating her with a long prison term for her husband and a ban on visiting him. Electronic devices were confiscated from the believers. The detention of Maksim Zinchenko was preceded by a long period of surveillance.\nDespite condemnation from the global community, the Russian authorities continue to prosecute Jehovah's Witnesses. In Crimea, 13 criminal cases for faith were initiated; 12 believers were sentenced to penal colonies.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2023-05-22T11:00:58+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/05/231100/image_hu_2e490b5dd4dd9bea.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/05/231100/image_hu_aa070b536aecc5b8.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/05/231100/image_hu_c51742191b7fb50b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/05/231100/image_hu_366ce223752e9a65.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/05/231100.html","regions":["crimea"],"subtitle":"Home of Jehovah's Witnesses Searched in Feodosia","tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2"],"title":"New Criminal Case for Faith in Crimea.","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 22, 2023, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region held the third hearing in the case of Nataliya Kriger on an appeal — this time against a new guilty verdict for her faith issued after previous decisions had been overturned. The 2.5-year suspended sentence entered into force.\nNataliya does not consider herself guilty and has been defending her constitutional right to freedom of religion in courts for 2 years and 8 months already. In her appeal, she stated that the court of first instance had not taken into account her right to remain a believer after the liquidation of the legal entity of the religious organization. In addition, she stated that she was convicted under an article for extremism without citing specific extremist actions. According to Nataliya, the court ignored her arguments and explanations regarding her peaceful religious beliefs. She said: “The expression of hatred or enmity, or the division of people along class or social lines is alien to me. My religious views are based on the Bible. They are expressed in two basic commandments: love God and love people”.\nThe believer faced criminal prosecution in May 2018 when her home was raided as part of the \"Judgement Day” operation. In February 2020, a criminal case was initiated against her. After 6 months of investigation and 11 months of litigation, in July 2021, Nataliya was given her first guilty verdict. Later, the court of appeal upheld it, and then the court of cassation returned the case to the stage of appeal, which, in turn, sent it for a new trial to the court of first instance.\nIn March 2023, the Birobidzhanskiy District Court again found Nataliya Kriger guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization, imposing a 2.5-year suspended sentence with a 2-year probation period and restriction of freedom for 1 year.\nIn December 2022, the same Birobidzhanskiy District Court sent Nataliya's husband Valeriy to a penal colony for 7 years on similar charges. He is awaiting an appeal hearing in his criminal case.\nRussian human rights activists and the global community condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The ECHR recognized these actions as illegal and called on the Russian Federation to the believers.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-05-22T10:11:55+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/05/231011/image_hu_92ea803f884e36a9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/05/231011/image_hu_62d038b859892612.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/05/231011/image_hu_c2d1c4810ae02d60.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/05/231011/image_hu_ef55e046df06cd64.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/05/231011.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":"After Court Reconsidered her Case, She was Given a 2.5-Year Suspended Sentence for Her Faith in God","tags":["suspended","2-appeal","282.2-2","families"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Birobidzhan Reaffirmed Verdict Against Nataliya Kriger.","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Grekov prosecutes Aleksandr Dolganov as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The proof of the believer's guilt, according to the investigation, is his participation in the liturgical meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Dolganov in Tolyatti","date":"2023-05-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tolyatti3/index.html#20230519","regions":["samara"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 16, 2023, in Tolyatti, officers of the Investigative Committee and the FSB broke into the homes of at least three families of believers. Two new criminal cases are known to have been initiated. Aleksandr Dolganov, 34, was placed under house arrest, and Sona Olopova, 36, placed under a recognizance agreement.\nSearches of the homes of the Dolganovs and of another believer started at about 6:30 a.m. and lasted more than 2 hours. At about the same time, a search took place at the home of Anatoliy and Sona Olopov. Armed law enforcement officers confiscated electronic devices and personal notes from the believers; passports for travel abroad were also taken from Dolganov and Olopova. Sona Olopova was taken for interrogation to the investigative department, where she was kept until about 7.00 p.m., after which she was released under a recognizance agreement.\nAfter the searches, Aleksandr Dolganov was detained and placed in a temporary detention facility. The next day, May 17, Elena Laskina, judge of the Tsentralnyy District Court of Tolyatti, placed him under house arrest.\nThe criminal prosecution was initiated by the Tsentralnyy Interdistrict Investigative Department for the City of Tolyatti of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. The investigative actions were led by senior investigators A. S. Kharitonov, R. N. Mgoyan and A. O. Grekov. The day before the searches, the latter initiated at least two criminal cases: against Aleksandr Dolganov and Sona Olopova. Both are charged with Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC. According to Grekov, from 2017 to the present time the believers have been participating in the activity of a banned religious association.\nUpdate. It is now known that a criminal case was initiated under the same article against another believer, 61-year-old Yelena Kozhevnikova. On May 18, 2023, investigator R. N. Mgoyan placed her under a recognizance agreement. Earlier, in the Samara Region, two criminal cases had already been initiated against five Jehovah's Witnesses for their faith.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2023-05-16T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/05/191138/image_hu_77e392703148a1bb.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/05/191138/image_hu_8df27af681b5c36b.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/05/191138/image_hu_b4cb2c896361295d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/05/191138/image_hu_167e97fac38c13fc.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/05/191138.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["new-case","search","house-arrest","recognizance-agreement","ivs","282.2-2"],"title":"After Searches at Homes of Jehovah's Witnesses In Tolyatti — Two Criminal Cases Initiated For Their Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Anatoly Grekov, senior investigator of the Central Interdistrict District Department of Tolyatti, is initiating a criminal case against 36-year-old Sona Olopova on charges of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The investigation calls the confession of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses illegal activity.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Olopova in Tolyatti","date":"2023-05-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tolyatti2/index.html#20230515","regions":["samara"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Anatoly Grekov, senior investigator of the Central Interdistrict District Department of Tolyatti, singles out a new case against 34-year-old Aleksandr Dolganov from the criminal case against Alexander Chagan on charges of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The investigation calls the confession of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses illegal activity.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Dolganov in Tolyatti","date":"2023-05-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tolyatti3/index.html#20230515","regions":["samara"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Anatoly Grekov, an investigator of the Central Investigation Department of the City of Tolyatti of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Samara Region, is initiating a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against 61-year-old Elena Kozhevnikova.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kozhevnikova in Tolyatti","date":"2023-05-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tolyatti4/index.html#20230515","regions":["samara"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Anatoly Grekov, an investigator of the Central Investigation Department of the city of Tolyatti, of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Samara Region, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against 52-year-old Elena Yurenkova.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yurenkova in Tolyatti","date":"2023-05-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tolyatti5/index.html#20230515","regions":["samara"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 27, 2023, the Apsheronsky District Court of the Krasnodar Territory denied Aleksandr Nikolayev early release from the penal colony. His release is planned for the end of September 2023.\nIn December 2021, the Abinsky District Court sentenced Aleksandr Nikolayev, a father of many children, to 2.5 years in prison for participating in an online meeting for worship in which he read a passage from the Bible aloud. The believer spent 13 months in pre-trial detention and since February 2023 he has been in a penal colony.\nIn the Khadyzhensk penal colony, Nikolayev was provoked when one of the officers tried to rip off the badge from his uniform, the absence of which is usually viewed as breaking the rules.\nAleksandr does not lose heart and is grateful for letters of support from different countries: Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.\nIn the Krasnodar Territory, already 14 Jehovah's Witnesses have been sentenced to various terms of imprisonment; five of them have served their main sentences.\nAt the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev explained in October 2021: “Actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely of the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including through the performance of religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime”.\n","category":"prison","date":"2023-04-27T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/05/011414/image_hu_b22d11e78960bf7b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/05/011414/image_hu_da2fe20d08a41f27.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/05/011414/image_hu_ccf5e968f9f91b1b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/05/011414/image_hu_ddf46911267ba875.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/05/011414.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["parole","282.2-2"],"title":"The Court Denied Aleksandr Nikolayev Early Release From the Penal Colony","type":"news"},{"body":"Davydenko is charged.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Davydenko in Pavlovskaya","date":"2023-04-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovskaya4/index.html#20230426","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 26, 2023, Sergey Glushkov, judge of the Leninsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod, fined Sergey and Svetlana Malyanovs, father and daughter, as well as Roman Zhivolupov and Oleg Konshin, the total amount of 2 million 195 thousand rubles. The court considered a friendly meeting with songs, dances and games as a continuation of the activity of the liquidated religious organization.\nThe accusation was based on a video recording of a concert program in a rented property. Giving testimony to the court, the believers explained why they strongly disagree with the charges of extremism. “I just came to spend time with my friends”, said Roman Zhivolupov. And Oleg Konshin, in turn, noted: “As you saw in the video, in a warm, friendly atmosphere, people chatted and happily demonstrated their creative abilities, staged skits, sang songs and played musical instruments. There were no calls for extremism either on my part or on the part of those present. No literature was studied nor were video recordings conducted”.\nAlthough the prosecutor requested that the believers be sent to a penal colony for up to 6 years, the court sentenced them to non-custodial sentences. Sergey Malyanov was fined 700,000 rubles, Svetlana 545,000 rubles, Roman Zhivolupov 500,000 rubles, and Oleg Konshin 450,000 rubles. Believers have the right to appeal the verdict.\nThe criminal prosecution of four believers has been going on for almost four years. The Main Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod Region initiated a case in June 2019. A month later, law enforcement officers conducted a massive raid on Jehovah's Witnesses. Oleg Konshin, Sergey and Svetlana Malyanovs spent a day in the detention center. Roman Zhivolupov became a defendant in this case a year later. The criminal case was preceded by surveillance and wiretapping, which had been conducted from 2018.\nBefore the verdict was passed, all four were under a recognizance agreement. Svetlana Malyanova said: “My dad and I are close friends and we always shared a lot with each other and stayed in touch. The most difficult thing for me was not having contact with him for a long time due to a measure of restraint ... Due to the pressure exerted by the officer, who informed my employer that I was under investigation, I was asked to write a letter of resignation on my own free will.\" In addition, the bank accounts of all the defendants in the case were blocked.\nDespite what is happening, as Sergey Malyanov said, the believers “successfully battle despair, negative thoughts and self-pity.” Roman Zhivolupov recalls: “On the day of the search, we came home in the evening, and we were greeted by 15-20 of our close friends. They waited for several hours, and as soon as we arrived, they tried their best to encourage us.” The rest also noted that fellow believers provide invaluable emotional and material support.\nContrary to the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court, according to which the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in itself does not have a criminal component, the courts interpret peaceful religious and friendly meetings of believers as illegal activity. In the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 16 Jehovah's Witnesses have already been accused of extremism. Nine believers were given suspended sentences ranging from 3 to 6 years.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-04-26T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/04/271308/image_hu_c4b6f10f460326c8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/04/271308/image_hu_609ee60b1906cfce.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/04/271308/image_hu_b2085e9cb8410f9d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/04/271308/image_hu_6d7ba97269e8add6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/04/271308.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"A Court in Nizhny Novgorod Fined Four of Jehovah's Witnesses Between 450,000 And 700,000 Rubles for a Friendly Musical Evening","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 25, 2023, Irina Mikhaylenko, 54, one of Jehovah's Witnesses from Chelyabinsk, was fined 120,000 rubles. The judge of the Metallurgicheskiy District Court, Lyudmila Blagodyr, considered that the believer should be held accountable simply for peacefully practicing her religion.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. Mikhailenko insists on her complete innocence. In her final statement, she said: “I did not commit any crimes. On the contrary, in this case my rights are violated — I am deprived of the guaranteed right to profess and spread my faith.”\nIn March 2019, Irina Mikhaylenko came under a wave of searches conducted as part of a criminal case against Valentina Suvorova. Two years later, she herself was suspected of participating in extremist activity: a second search was carried out in Mikhaylenko’s house. During 11 months the investigation was carried out by the third department for the Investigation of particularly important cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region. The investigation found that Irina Mikhaylenko was guilty of \"directly participating and personally speaking at... religious meetings\", singing songs and saying prayers. On July 29, 2022, the case went to court.\n“Is there evidence of my extremism, that is, hatred, enmity, violence?”, asked the believer at one of the hearings. “There is neither any action nor a single phrase or word in the 20 volumes of the criminal case. Moreover, most of the documents in the case have nothing to do with me”. An examination requested by the investigator confirmed that there were no signs of inciting hostility or hatred in the materials received from the meetings of the believers. There are no victims or facts of illegal activity in the case.\nThe ruling of the ECHR regarding the ban on Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia states that “the right to manifest one’s religion “in community with others” has always been regarded as an essential part of the freedom of religion” (§ 268). Despite this, the persecution of believers continues. In the Chelyabinsk region, the sentences against 7 Jehovah's Witnesses have already entered into force.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-04-25T15:32:24+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/04/251532/image_hu_ab4930dbc770c22f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/04/251532/image_hu_72735fc894a9c2ca.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/04/251532/image_hu_e50d47858bb27b0a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/04/251532/image_hu_511ee71da5d7de61.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/04/251532.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":"\"I'm On Trial Only Because I'm One of Jehovah's Witnesses\"","tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"Irina Mikhaylenko from Chelyabinsk Will Pay a Fine for Her Faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 18, 2023, the panel of judges of the Khabarovsk Regional Court approved the sentence for Sergey Kuznetsov for his faith - 2 years and 5 months suspended with a 2-year probationary period. The believer still insists on his innocence.\nThree months earlier, the Vyazemsky District Court found Kuznetsov guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. Sergey did not deny that he is one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and that he prayed and discussed the Bible with his friends. But, as the believer emphasized at the hearings in the court of first instance, he only worshipped God peacefully, and did not continue the activity of a liquidated legal entity.\nIn his appeal, Sergey Kuznetsov commented on the verdict as follows: “The court did not take into account that the right to be a believer does not depend on the existence of a legal entity or its liquidation, and also did not substantiate in the verdict why a peaceful way of expressing faith in God was regarded by it as a way of committing a crime\".\nIn total, 30 Jehovah's Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution for their faith in the Khabarovsk Territory. Three of them have already been given suspended sentences of various lengths.\nOn June 7, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights fully exonerated Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The court's decision states that \"the imposition of criminal sanctions for manifestation of religious beliefs amounts to an interference with the exercise of the right to freedom of religion\" (§ 264).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-04-18T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/04/200829/image_hu_405bcc0150d7ff83.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/04/200829/image_hu_1fbd5a1d594d304a.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/04/200829/image_hu_cc2c969f4ef03bae.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/04/200829/image_hu_16003ebe4db95963.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/04/200829.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"The Court of Appeal Upheld the Sentence Against Sergey Kuznetsov From Vyazemsky – 2 Years and 5 Months Suspended for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"A. S. Belashko, investigator of the Bolshoy Kamen Investigative Department, initiates a criminal case against Aleksandr Sazhin for his faith under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Sazhin in Fokino","date":"2023-04-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/fokino/index.html#20230414","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 14, 2023, the judge of the Metallurgicheskiy District Court of Chelyabinsk, Aleksandr Shatsky, gave Olga Zhelavskaya a 2-year suspended sentence for participating in “joint meetings for worship... singing and praying.” The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on her complete innocence.\nOlga Zhelavskaya faced persecution for her faith in March 2019, when her apartment was searched as part of a case against Vladimir Suvorov. In August 2021, Alexander Chepenko, investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, who had initiated 10 cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in the region, also initiated a criminal case against Zhelavskaya. The accusation was based on the testimony of an infiltrated agent, Ruzaeva, who, on the instructions of the Center for Combating Extremism, pretended to be interested in the Bible and made audio and video recordings of religious meetings.\nThe investigation lasted a little over a year. It negatively affected Olga’s health and her life in general—during the criminal prosecution, the believer suffered a stroke, she was fired from her job and her bank cards were blocked. According to Zhelavskaya, she was greatly supported by fellow believers: “They immediately came to my aid, brought food and money, and strengthened me.”\nIn August 2022, the case went to court. In her final statement, the believer pointed out that the accusation against her was unproven and unjustified: “The interrogation of both witnesses showed that neither during a friendly meeting with fellow believers, nor at any other time, did I make calls to overthrow the political system, break up families or any other extremist statements. No quotes, no facts, no records, no victims”.\nTo date, 12 Jehovah's Witnesses have been prosecuted in the Chelyabinsk Region, 8 of them have been given suspended sentences and fined for their faith in God.\nIn June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights concluded that regarding the activity of Jehovah's Witnesses, Russia has shown “indications of a policy of intolerance... designed to cause Jehovah’s Witnesses to abandon their faith and prevent others from joining it” (§ 254).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-04-14T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/04/171401/image_hu_f1a8df100ba4db6e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/04/171401/image_hu_c78b417f8e70d7b4.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/04/171401/image_hu_efbc90206eacb42e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/04/171401/image_hu_62b7c9de465888d3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/04/171401.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","sentence","suspended"],"title":"Court in Chelyabinsk Gave Olga Zhelavskaya, 61, a 2-Year Suspended Sentence for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 13, 2023, from 6 a.m., officers from the Internal Affairs Directorate and the FSB searched 10 homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Almetyevsk and interrogated 16 people. A criminal case has been initiated on charges of extremism.\nDuring the searches, electronic devices were confiscated from believers, as well as Bibles in various translations and postcards with Bible quotations. In one case, bank cards were also taken from the family. The searches lasted for 6 hours and were conducted under the supervision of FSB officers from Kazan. In most cases, the law enforcement officers behaved correctly.\nIn the building of the Internal Affairs Directorate, some believers were kept until 10 p.m. Law enforcement officers tried to persuade the men and women to incriminate themselves and others. They used the Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which allows them not to testify against themselves and their close ones. After the interrogations, they were all released.\nSo far, it is not known against whom exactly the criminal case has been initiated under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Copies of the protocols of the search and interrogation were given only to some of the believers. One of them was interrogated in the FSB building.\nAnother 13 Jehovah's Witnesses are prosecuted in Tatarstan for their faith. One of them, Konstantin Sannikov, was sent to a penal colony in February 2023 for 6.5 years.\nThe head of the Center for Religion and Society Studies, Roman Lunkin, speaks about the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation: \"The case of the Jehovah's Witnesses has for long years been the occasion for accusations against Russia of violation of freedom of conscience and of simple common sense\".\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2023-04-13T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/search2_hu_49779cebc96c1159.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/search2_hu_620778508a59ad7b.jpg","webp":"/news/common/search2_hu_8fce651d990480ef.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/search2_hu_1d18a4e1b43d8ff3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/04/191041.html","regions":["tatarstan"],"subtitle":"A Criminal Case for Faith Initiated, 16 People Interrogated","tags":["new-case","search","interrogation","282.2-2"],"title":"A New Wave of Searches in Tatarstan.","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 11, 2023, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region upheld the guilty verdict and the suspended sentence against Yevgeniy Yegorov for his faith.\nEarlier, in February 2023, the Birobidzhan District Court resentenced the believer to two and a half years of suspended imprisonment. At the first trial, which ended in June 2021, the court rendered an identical decision. The appellate court upheld it, but the believer did not agree with the verdict and filed a cassation appeal. The cassation court called the decision of the appellate court \"essentially unmotivated\" and pointed out a number of procedural violations. As a result, the case was returned to the court of first instance. The criminal prosecution of Yegorov has been going on for almost four years.\nYevgeniy's mother, Larisa Artamonova, also received a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence on similar charges. In total, 23 of Jehovah's Witnesses in the region have been prosecuted for their faith. Four of them were sentenced to actual imprisonment.\nThe world human rights community and the European Court of Human Rights consider the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses unlawful. However, Russian courts continue to ignore the position of the ECHR, which stated: “It [Article 9 of the European Convention] protects the right of believers to meet peacefully in order to worship in the manner prescribed by their religion.” (§ 267)\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-04-11T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/04/120937/image_hu_37068a1043575ab4.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/04/120937/image_hu_60bb81f94a3c4f6f.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/04/120937/image_hu_572980c46e88886a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/04/120937/image_hu_86454de8200fdfcd.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/04/120937.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":"The Appellate Court in Birobidzhan Upheld the Verdict Against the Believer","tags":["282.2-2","appeal","suspended"],"title":"A Two-and-a-Half-Year Suspended Sentence—The Outcome of Yevgeniy Yegorov's Long Trial.","type":"news"},{"body":"Senior investigator of the Pavlovsk Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory, Captain of Justice V. V. Kulazhenkov initiated a criminal case against Aleksandr Davydenko under two articles - participation in the activities of an extremist organization and involvement of other persons in it.\nThe decision to open a criminal case says that Davydenko \"took part in... religious training event – a lesson on the study of the \"Holy Scriptures\" (biblical texts)\", which, according to the investigation, constitutes a crime.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Davydenko in Pavlovskaya","date":"2023-04-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovskaya4/index.html#20230410","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 7, 2023, Rustam Seidkuliev was released from a penal colony in the Saratov Region. As he walked out, he was met by his wife and dozens of friends who came to support the believer.\nIn January 2020, a criminal case was initiated against Rustam Seidkuliev under the article on participation in the activities of an extremist organization. On May 20, 2021, the Leninskiy District Court found him guilty and sentenced him to two and a half years in a general regime penal colony. Later, the Saratov Regional Court reduced this term by two months.\nDuring his criminal prosecution, Rustam spent two and a half months in a pre-trial detention center, more than seven months under house arrest and one year and eight months in a penal colony. Just before the release, the believer said that he was in good physical shape and in good spirits. “Since the start of my term, I have received more than 3,000 letters,” Rustam said. “Unfortunately, due to the busy work schedule, it was not possible to answer all of them, but I am very grateful for each of them and for every prayer.”\nIn the colony, the believer worked in a carpentry shop, and in his free time he read books from the library and exercised. According to Rustam, in general, the administration of the colony treated him with respect.\nThe ruling of the ECHR dated June 7, 2022, which fully exonerated Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, states that “the imposition of criminal sanctions for manifestation of religious beliefs amounts to an interference with the exercise of the right to freedom of religion...” (§ 264)\n","category":"sentence","date":"2023-04-07T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/04/101437/image_hu_49fe219aa3ccc61d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/04/101437/image_hu_8289d5a36711bd08.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/04/101437/image_hu_b8eee357cdc4d694.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/04/101437/image_hu_ba785eb658587a1d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/04/101437.html","regions":["saratov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["release","282.2-2"],"title":"Rustam Seidkuliev Served His Sentence for His Faith and Was Released From the Penal Colony in Saratov","type":"news"},{"body":"The retrial of the case of Nataliya Kriger in the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region ended in a guilty verdict: on March 28, 2023, Judge Aleksandr Kulikov imposed a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence on the believer for participating in peaceful worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nThe court rendered the same verdict when the case was first considered in July 2021, although the prosecutor requested that the believer be sent to a penal colony for four years. The verdict came into force after an appeal, but the court of cassation did not agree with this decision. As noted by the panel of judges, the appellate court did not evaluate the believer's argument that she was found guilty of extremism despite the absence of any motive of hostility or hatred. Also, the court did not indicate which specific actions of Kriger contained signs of extremism. The appellate court during its second consideration of the case did not eliminate these errors, and it sent the case to the district court. This time, the prosecutor asked for a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence.\nThe criminal prosecution of Nataliya Kriger has been going on for more than three years. The woman still believes that this is an injustice and that the accusations are groundless. “For 25 years [as one of Jehovah's Witnesses] I have tried to be a good citizen of my country, and now the prosecution is proposing that I be declared an extremist,” she said. “But I didn’t commit any extremist actions.” The testimonies of witnesses and the examined evidence indicated only Nataliya's religious affiliation and did not reveal any corpus delicti.\nThe criminal case is based on recordings of peaceful worship. Although the recordings contained no signs of extremism, the investigation considered Nataliya's attendance at meetings of believers to be participation in illegal activities. Kriger drew attention to this in court: “The meeting, on which the charges against me are based, encouraged me to display good qualities and to do good deeds for the benefit of others ... All I learned at this event is to increase my love for God and for other people. And I am trying to do this. I sincerely cannot understand what I am guilty of.”\nIn December 2022, the same district court in Birobidzhan sent Nataliya's husband to a penal colony for seven years on similar charges. He is currently in a pre-trial detention center pending appeal.\nAddressing the court in her final statement, Nataliya Kriger emphasized: “As one of Jehovah's Witnesses, I am not an extremist and never have been. No one forbade practicing one's religion in Russia, and being one of Jehovah's Witnesses is not a crime under Russian law. For me personally, being one of Jehovah's Witnesses is a great honor!”\nThe global human rights community considers the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses unlawful. In particular the European Court of Human Rights has stated: “Article 9 [of the European Convention] protects the right of believers to meet peacefully in order to worship in the manner prescribed by their religion” (§267).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-03-28T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/03/290846/image_hu_e9de814066e6feed.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/03/290846/image_hu_e4e4af2c3d5bdf37.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/03/290846/image_hu_b857d1fab91e06d3.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/03/290846/image_hu_8cf3f7727ef92589.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/03/290846.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","suspended","sentence","retrial"],"title":"A Court in the City of Birobidzhan Resentenced Nataliya Kriger, Giving Her a Two-and-a-Half-Year Suspended Sentence for Reading the Bible and Believing in Jehovah","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 24, 2023, in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the consideration of the case of 51-year-old Natalya Voropaeva was completed. Judge Ivan Ivanov of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court fined her 360,000 rubles for discussing the Bible with fellow believers as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. The verdict can be appealed.\nThe trial lasted only five sessions. The judge considered such actions as commenting at a religious meeting, singing songs, saying prayers and watching Bible lectures on video to be the continuation of the activities of an extremist organization. “The commission of such actions, which are unlawfully assessed as criminal by the prosecution, has nothing to do with extremism and is an ordinary, peaceful way of expressing faith,” said Natalya in her defense.\nCriminal prosecution affected Voropaeva back in 2018—security forces searched her home and interrogated her as a witness in the case of Andrei Stupnikov. Four years later, the investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against the believer under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe prosecutor requested two and a half years of actual imprisonment for the believer. “The prosecution was interested only in the fact that there were meetings of believers and religious discussions,” said Voropayeva in the court. “However, the investigator and the prosecutor did not even try to delve into the essence of what these meetings were dedicated to. Had they done so, they would have been convinced that I did not commit any unlawful acts; rather, I exercised the right to jointly practice a religion, which no one has banned.” Regarding the psychological and linguistic expert study in the case, Natalya pointed out to the court that the linguist and psychologist went beyond their competence and \"intruded into the interpretation of the law, for example, considering what constitutes extremism.\"\nTo date, 29 of Jehovah's Witnesses have been subjected to religious persecution in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Five of them were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, three received suspended sentences, and two received large fines.\nIn June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights declared the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia unlawful. Vyacheslav Lebedev, Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, in turn, stated that \"actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely of the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, including through the performance of religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-03-24T16:32:29+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/03/241632/image_hu_4dadd60aed379318.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/03/241632/image_hu_a5c669a75992fbaf.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/03/241632/image_hu_eb96fd8afe4bbbc8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/03/241632/image_hu_e29ce7e518f4286d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/03/241632.html","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"subtitle":"The Believer Was Fined 360,000 Ruble","tags":["282.2-2","sentence","fine"],"title":"A Court in Krasnoyarsk Found Natalya Voropayeva Guilty of Extremism for Her Beliefs. ","type":"news"},{"body":"Materials against Valeriy Minsafin and unidentified persons were separated into separate proceedings - the Investigative Committee sees in them signs of participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Isakov and Minsafin in Kurgan","date":"2023-03-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan2/index.html#20230324","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"From the case against Anatoly Isakov, materials against Valery Minsafin and unidentified persons are singled out — the Investigative Committee sees in them signs of participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Minsafin in Kurgan","date":"2023-03-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan6/index.html#20230324","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 23, 2023, the Fourth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Krasnodar, chaired by Oleg Maslov, did not change the verdict against Lyudmila Shchekoldina, who was convicted for her faith.\nIn May 2022, the court of first instance sentenced the believer to four years and one month in prison. The woman was taken into custody in the courtroom and placed in a pre-trial detention center, where she spent four and a half months. In October 2022, the appellate court upheld the verdict. Since November of the same year, Lyudmila has been in a penal colony in the Volgograd region.\nDisagreeing with the decisions of the courts, Shchekoldina and her lawyer filed a cassation appeal. It states: “Several families of the Christian denomination peacefully gathered together, read and discussed the Bible, prayed, and sang religious songs. The [criminal] prosecution was carried out, not because [Lyudmila] committed a crime, but because of who she is—one of Jehovah's Witnesses.”\nIn convicting Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, the courts fail to consider that the Russian Federation has repeatedly and publicly confirmed the right of Jehovah's Witnesses to profess and disseminate their faith after the liquidation of the relevant legal entities. Back in 2018, the Government of the Russian Federation stated the following at a UN session: “The ban on the activities of the organization 'Jehovah’s Witnesses' does not in itself restrict the right to freedom of religion of its supporters, who still have the right to practice their religious rites, provided that the form of such practice does not contradict the norms of Russian legislation.\nDespite this, 694 of Jehovah's Witnesses are under criminal prosecution in Russia. Lyudmila Shchekoldina is one of four women currently serving their sentences in the country's penal colonies.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-03-23T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/03/270917/image_hu_10245df42793270b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/03/270917/image_hu_cd5bf5dab541f4c.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/03/270917/image_hu_8213ee3b2e93c912.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/03/270917/image_hu_30482078fea55481.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/03/270917.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":" The Believer Has Been Behind Bars for Ten Month","tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2","cassation","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"The Cassation Court in Krasnodar Ultimately Upheld the Verdict Against Lyudmila Shchekoldina.","type":"news"},{"body":"Nikolay Astapov, deputy head of the first department for the investigation of especially important cases, stops the criminal prosecution of Ilya Ershov for organizing the activities of an extremist association.\nThe resolution states: \"In the course of the investigation of the criminal case... sufficient evidence on the basis of which Ershov could be charged under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has not been established.\"\nAt the same time, the case materials under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are separated into a separate proceeding against him.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Lubin in Shadrinsk","date":"2023-03-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk/index.html#20230317","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["case-dismissed","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Nikolay Astapov, deputy head of the first department for the investigation of especially important cases, stops the criminal prosecution of Ilya Ershov for organizing the activities of an extremist association.\nThe resolution states: \"In the course of the investigation of the criminal case... sufficient evidence on the basis of which Ershov could be charged under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has not been established.\"\nAt the same time, materials under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation from the case of Aleksandr Lubin are separated into a separate proceeding against him.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yershov in Shadrinsk","date":"2023-03-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk2/index.html#20230317","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 14, 2023, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation overturned the acquittal of Aleksandr Prianikov and Venera and Darya Dulova and sent the case back for another consideration at the appellate instance.\nIn January 2020, the Karpinsk City Court of the Sverdlovsk Region gave believers suspended sentences ranging from one to two and a half years. The appellate court overturned the verdict due to violation of the principle of transparency and sent the case back for a new trial. The second verdict duplicated the previous court decision, but it was also appealed. In March 2022, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court found the believers not guilty of extremism. This happened shortly after the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarified that the worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses do not in themselves constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of the believers' legal entities.\nIn accordance with this position, the regional court ruled that Pryanikov and the Dulovas “did not continue or resume their participation in the activities of [an extremist organization] but only disseminated their religious beliefs among the population of the city of Karpinsk. In addition, the testimonies of witnesses in this case proved only that the convicted persons belonged to the religious denomination “Jehovah's Witnesses”. The court of cassation agreed and upheld the acquittal on appeal. But Deputy Prosecutor General Igor Tkachev appealed these court decisions to the Supreme Court.\nSpeaking before the Supreme Court on March 14, 2023, Aleksandr Pryanikov said: “The accusations are far-fetched and do not contain any evidence. For years now, I have had to defend myself in courts simply because I want to live a peaceful life and practice my religious views without violating the law.”\nVenera Dulova also emphasized the groundlessness of the accusation of extremism: “My husband and I have different religious beliefs. But this did not divide our family in any way and does not affect our relationship. If I was motivated to hate another religion, then perhaps our family would have broken up long ago. My husband defended us three times in court and said that he saw nothing wrong with the fact that my daughter and I began to profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.”\nDarya Dulova, addressing the panel of judges, said: “Since the age of 18, I have been persecuted for my faith as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. For a 23-year-old, five years is a long time. The criminal case kept me in one place. And finally, an acquittal that lifted my spirits! I began to see a better future ahead of me; I began to set life goals for myself. And now, once again, they want to take it all away from me.”\nSince 2021, another case against the Dulovas and Pryanikov has been considered in court, also on charges of extremism.\nIn June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a landmark decision in favor of Jehovah's Witnesses, ruling that their persecution in Russia is unlawful.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-03-14T14:09:06+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/03/141409/image_hu_aeb8582b7020c419.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/03/141409/image_hu_c5b74ee95c54cc16.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/03/141409/image_hu_2f8de6cb6256a8f7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/03/141409/image_hu_676ed43c2309e674.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/03/141409.html","regions":["sverdlovsk","moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","supreme-court"],"title":"For the Second Time, the Supreme Court Has Overturned the Acquittal of Jehovah's Witnesses—This Time in the Case of Believers From Karpinsk","type":"news"},{"body":"*Text updated on March 9, 2023.\nOn March 5, 2023, security forces raided at least 10 addresses in Vladivostok as part of a criminal case for belief. Yuriy Byche, 37, and Sergey Novoselov, 54, are in pre-trial detention, and Yegor Pogrebnyak, 27, is under house arrest.\nAccording to the Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorskiy Territory, the believers “using the ZOOM application... carried out actions aimed at continuing the activity of an extremist organization.” This is how the investigation interprets the conducting of peaceful meetings for worship. A criminal case was initiated under three parts of the extremist article at once — the organizing the activity, participating and involving others in it (parts 1, 1.1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nOfficers of the Investigative Committee, together with the FSB Border Control, launched a special operation early in the morning. According to eyewitnesses, the security forces handcuffed Yuriy Byche, threw him to the floor and kicked him several times. The investigator intended to connect to the believers' online call and film their conversation on video. He demanded passwords for phones and other equipment from Yuriy.\nIn another case, security forces seized electronic devices, postcards, notebooks with personal notes, and other items from believers.\nThe ECHR judgment of 7 June 2022 states that “the Russian authorities have failed to put forward anyelements which, according to the Court’s case-law, could have warrantedinterference with the applicants’ rights to freedom of religion, expression or association.” (§ 158). This position is shared by the founder and director of Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF, Brussels, Belgium) Willy Fautré: “Statistics about the magnitude of the repression are disturbing. Freedom of religion or belief is the cornerstone of all freedoms.”\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2023-03-05T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_d47978800fa5e21b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/invasion-surgut.jpg","webp":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_e7e36e7e158e908a.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_28a0fe43c2e78d82.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/03/071547.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","new-case","house-arrest"],"title":"In Vladivostok Three Believers Arrested After Searches at Homes of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 1, 2023, the Khabarovsk Territorial Court reduced Yegor Baranov's suspended sentenceby six months—now the believer will have to serve a four-and-a-half-year suspended sentence for talking about the Bible. The decision has entered into force. It can be appealed in the cassation procedure.\nThe basis of the accusations of extremism was the testimonies of witnesses, which either totally or partially did not correspond to reality. Other witnesses were subjected to psychological pressure. Also, during the investigation, the facts were falsified more than once. While considering evidence of Baranov's guilt in court, passages from the Bible were read on how to build relationships with others, how to strengthen the family and how to show respect for the authorities.\nThe ruling of the ECHR dated June 7, 2022, which fully justified Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, states that “the right to freedom of religion as guaranteed under the Convention excludes any discretion on the part of the State to determine whether religious beliefs or the means used to express such beliefs are legitimate”.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-03-01T17:18:15+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/03/021718/image_hu_4741e84f4530512b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/03/021718/image_hu_c3871dab31f28785.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/03/021718/image_hu_91f33ba23343cb2e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/03/021718/image_hu_8aa266bd1f81a1b6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/03/021718.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":"The Believer Was Given a Four-and-a-Half-Year Suspended Sentence\u003cbr\u003e","tags":["mitigation","appeal","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","suspended"],"title":"An Appeal in Khabarovsk Reduced Yegor Baranov's Term by Six Months.","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 1, 2023, the Stavropol Regional Court changed Viktor Zimovskiy's 6-year and 2-month prison sentence to a suspended sentence; he was released from the detention center. Instead of 4 years and 2 months of forced labor, Anatoliy Gezik received a suspended sentence. The sentence for his wife, Irina Gezik, - 4 years and 2 months suspended - remained unchanged.\nThe court of first instance announced the verdict against three Jehovah's Witnesses from Georgievsk in November 2022. They were found guilty of organizing and participating in extremist activity for meeting with their fellow believers for joint worship and Bible reading. When filing an appeal against the verdict, they drew the court's attention to the absence of evidence of an actual crime in their actions. So, Viktor Zimovskiy was convicted only because he “gave talks, read religious literature, organized religious services for followers of the teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses.” “These actions,” as noted in the appeal, “are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation as the fundamental rights and freedoms of a person that belong to him from birth.”\nIn 2019, the homes of the Gezik couple and Viktor Zimovskiy were searched, when, according to believers, the security forces planted flash drives of unknown content. During the search, Viktor Zimovskiy, who is disabled, fell ill. Nevertheless, he and ten other people were taken for interrogation. The investigator arrested Viktor after a second interrogation in January 2020. He spent 2 months in a detention center, and then another 1.5 months under house arrest. After the verdict was passed, Zimovskiy was again placed in the detention center, where he spent 3.5 months.\nAccording to Viktor Zimovskiy, during the criminal prosecution, it was especially hard to be separated from his children and his pregnant wife. And the difficult conditions of detention did not contribute to his optimism. However, as Viktor says, difficulties are easier to endure, thanks to the support of friends: “I was calm... that my family had everything they needed and were surrounded by care.”\nRussian courts continue to ignore the position of the European Court of Justice, which, in a judgment dated June 7, 2022, stated: “By holding [Jehovah’s Witnesses] criminally liable simply for continuing religious services, the Russian authorities imposed a disproportionate and unjustifiable burden on the exercise of their freedom of religion and association” (§ 260).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-03-01T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/03/080818/image_hu_a69bbd1ef11e6899.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/03/080818/image_hu_394994ceaeccf0f8.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/03/080818/image_hu_e0e85dce53ec0947.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/03/080818/image_hu_6a68ed1a78e6b75.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/03/080818.html","regions":["stavropol"],"subtitle":"In The Stavropol Region, the Court of Appeal Changed the Sentence of the Gezik Couple and Viktor Zimovskiy","tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","suspended","appeal","mitigation"],"title":"Suspended Sentences Instead of a Penal Colony and Forced Labor.","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 28, 2023, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region considered the case of Svetlana Monis, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, for the third time. The appeals panel approved the decision of the lower court: for her faith she was found guilty of participating in extremist activity and given a 2.5-year suspended sentence.\nIn May 2021, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region replaced the fine imposed on Monis with a 2.5-year suspended imprisonment. Later, the court of cassation overturned this decision. In March 2022, after a second appeal the case was returned to the Birobidzhan District Court for a new trial. This time, the court of first instance imposed a 2.5-year suspended sentence. The prosecutor again requested 4 years imprisonment for the woman. At the same time, the text of his closing argument was identical to what he read out at the first consideration of the case two years earlier. One of the main pieces of evidence of Svetlana's guilt mentioned by the state prosecutor was using the name Jehovah. However, no court has ever forbidden the use of this name; it is found in many translations of the Bible and works of literature.\nSvetlana's case is being heard in the courts for the past three years. At the same time, Svetlana's husband, Alam Aliyev, as well as three other believers, are subjected to criminal prosecution. In December 2022, Alam was sentenced to 6.5 years in a penal colony. He also was found guilty of extremism only for his peaceful religious beliefs. Now Aliyev is in the Birobidzhan detention center awaiting an appeal decision.\nSvetlana says that from the very beginning of the prosecution in 2018, she and her husband felt the constant support of fellow believers: “[Friends] from other cities were worried, prayed for us, passed letters with words of support, were interested, and through our relatives passed on material assistance.”\nIn June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights declared the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia unlawful. In its decision, the court ruled that “imposition of criminal sanctions for manifestation of religious beliefs amounts to an interference with the exercise of the right to freedom of religion” (§ 264).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-02-28T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/03/020856/image_hu_414cabf5c912d3d2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/03/020856/image_hu_a0c4e6a288a0abb.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/03/020856/image_hu_649b8a722d40d8f7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/03/020856/image_hu_a9b4360d706475be.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/03/020856.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":" A 2.5-Year Suspended Sentence For Her Faith","tags":["282.2-2","suspended","2-appeal"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Birobidzhan Upheld the Verdict For Svetlana Monis.","type":"news"},{"body":"In Elista, on February 28, 2023, searches were conducted in at least three places. Kalmykia security officials suspect local residents of extremism because they profess the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses. After being searched and interrogated, Kishta Tutinova was placed in a temporary detention center for two days.\nThe FSB Directorate for the Republic of Kalmykia is responsible for the raid. On February 16, Investigator D. V. Menkenov initiated a criminal case against Kishta Tutinova for organizing the activity of an extremist organization, as well as against unidentified persons for participating in this activity (parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The investigation believes that Tutinova, from her home, \"conducts religious meetings and directly participates in them by means of online videoconferencing and also involves the residents of the region in the activities of this organization for the purpose of propaganda.\"\nUpdate. The search in Kishta Tutinova’s house began early in the morning and lasted almost three hours. It was conducted by five law enforcement officers. According to the believer, the security forces did not provide documents authorizing the search. They seized a Bible, three mobile phones, personal letters and notes. Despite the believer's requests, she was not given copies of the search protocol or the interrogation protocol.\nBy 5 p.m., Kishta Tutinova was taken to the detention center. One of the FSB officers handed her five liters of water and a cupcake to take with her. The believer, who is 62 years old, spent two days in the temporary detention facility, after which, on March 1, the court placed her under house arrest.\nThe believer was taken to the apartment of one of her sons, where a search was conducted but nothing was seized. As part of this criminal case, searches were conducted at the homes of two other women. Electronic devices, personal correspondence and notes were seized from both of these homes. One believer was immediately brought in for interrogation. An ambulance had to be called for the second woman during the investigative actions.\nAccording to human rights activists, in 2023, repressions against Jehovah's Witnesses are gaining momentum, despite the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, which completely exonerated them.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2023-02-28T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_943a8332cba14e42.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_caffff98386a2f9a.jpg","webp":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_10d4e5329eff2378.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_543ff2e213e31665.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/03/021129.html","regions":["kalmykia"],"subtitle":"Searches and Interrogations Took Place in Elista","tags":["new-case","interrogation","search","ivs","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Security Forces in Yet Another Region of the Russian Federation Initiated a Case Against Jehovah's Witnesses.","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigation involves Anna Matveyeva as a defendant in committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shiyan and Matveeva in Lesosibirsk","date":"2023-02-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lesosibirsk3/index.html#20230227","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory D. A. Shevchenko issued a decision to initiate a criminal case against unidentified persons.\nThe investigator interprets the communication of believers as \"using the Internet to hold meetings and involve persons in the activities of an extremist organization\" and decided to initiate a criminal case under part 1, part 1.1 and part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Byche and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2023-02-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok12/index.html#20230226","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On February 22, 2023, Aleksandr Shcherbina was released after serving his full term of imprisonment for his belief in Jehovah God. Earlier, the court of appeal commuted his sentence, reducing the period of stay in the penal colony from three years to two.\nShcherbina faced criminal prosecution in 2020, when homes of Jehovah's Witnesses were searched in villages of the Krasnodar Territory. After the charge of extremism, 2 months of judicial proceedings followed. As a result, the believer was sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony only because of his religion.\nLooking back, Aleksandr recalls that at the stage of investigative actions, “the most difficult thing was the conversation with the investigator, his questions and desire to extract the necessary information, as well as his reaction when I refused to cooperate with him.”\nIn the penal colony, the administration and prisoners treated the believer with respect. Although there were difficulties: upon arrival, Aleksandr was twice placed in a punishment cell for far-fetched reasons, he was not given personal correspondence for some time, and his requests for a Bible remained unanswered.\nAleksandr Shcherbina with friends on the day of his release from the penal colony. February 22, 2023 Despite this, Aleksandr did not lose heart. Later, he got a Bible anyway, and during his imprisonment he received more than 3,000 letters of support. Also, in the penal colony, the believer mastered a new profession as an auto mechanic.\nJehovah's Witnesses Artem Gerasimov and Sergey Filatov continue serving their 6-year sentences in the same penal colony. They should be released in 2026.\nThe judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of June 7, 2022 states:: “The imposition of criminal sanctions for manifestation of religious beliefs amounts to an interference with the exercise of the right to freedom of religion” (§ 264). But Russian courts continue to convict law-abiding citizens only for their choice of religion.\n","category":"sentence","date":"2023-02-22T14:42:16+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/02/220913/image_hu_ba2dc2c2c1b0291f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/02/220913/image_hu_d4e5a5331144aa76.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/02/220913/image_hu_c6ccc7b518f83528.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/02/220913/image_hu_9b4a83cb8a89230c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/02/220913.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["release","282.2-2"],"title":"Aleksandr Shcherbina Released. He Spent 2 Years in a Penal Colony For His Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"*Text updated April 20, 2023\nOn February 19, 2023, in Kingisepp and Slantsy, five believers were detained as a result of seven searches conducted by the Investigative Committee. Igor Zhmyrev, age 52; Kirill Khabrik, age 33; Andrey Morozov, age 47; Yevgeniy Poveshchenko, age 54; and Sergey Ryabokon, age 33, ended up in a temporary detention facility in the city of Slantsy.\nOn February 21, 2023, Judge Yekaterina Ivanova of the Kingisepp City Court of the Leningrad Region ruled to detain Sergey Ryabokon and Andrey Morozov for two months. Kirill Khabrik and Igor Zhmyrev also ended up in the pre-trial detention center.\nUpdate. On March 23, 2023, security forces conducted six new searches in Kingisepp. Eleven believers were interrogated. Five were placed in a temporary detention center in Saint Petersburg; the others were released. Igor Shevlyuga, age 36; Miroslav Sabodash, age 43; Konstantsiya Vovk, age 48; Tatyana Stepanova, age 48; and Aleksandr Vaganov were put behind bars.\nLater, the court released everyone, except for Igor Shevlyuga, and imposed on them a ban on certain actions; it also extended the preventive measure imposed on Yevgeniy Poveshchenko—a recognizance agreement. On April 19, 2023, Shevlyuga was also released from custody under a ban on certain actions.\nOn February 19, 2023, a criminal case was initiated against several believers under parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Searches were conducted in their homes. Aleksey Romanov, Senior Investigator of the Investigative Committee, leads the investigative team in this criminal case. The team also includes Investigators K. A. Dmitriyev; D. A. Shevtsova; K. A. Podolyanets; K. A. Vasilyeva; and Deputy Head of the Investigative Department I. A. Podkurkov.\nThe searches lasted up to five hours. At least two women required emergency medical attention. In one case, the persons under investigation were not at home. However, their elderly mother, who was evacuated from a war zone, was in their apartment. She is missing one eye, has glaucoma in the other, and recently had a heart attack. She felt ill. The security forces seized her medical documents along with telephones, SIM cards and personal items belonging to the persons under investigation.\nFriends who were visiting believers at the time of the search were brought in for interrogation and later released. During the investigative measures, printed publications, computer equipment, documents and money were seized.\nAccording to a statement from the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the Leningrad Region, one of the believers is suspected of \"organizing propaganda meetings with the participation of adherents via videoconference and at their places of residence.\" The investigation equates conducting peaceful worship services with organizing the activities of an extremist organization (part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). What exactly the other detainees are suspected of is still unknown.\nThe Leningrad Region has become the 72nd region of Russia where criminal cases have been initiated against peaceful and law-abiding Christians—Jehovah's Witnesses. As Aleksander Verkhovskiy, director of the information and analytical center SOVA, said (original in English): “The scale and cruelty of pressure [on believers] is growing. Last year we harbored some hope that the repressive campaign could at least slow down, but we were wrong.”\nIn June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights emphasized that the actions of the Russian authorities \"disclosed indications of a policy of intolerance . . . designed to cause Jehovah’s Witnesses to abandon their faith and to prevent others from joining it” (§·254). Despite demands by human rights organizations and the world community to stop the persecution, believers in dozens of regions of the Russian Federation are being prosecuted merely for their peaceful beliefs.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2023-02-19T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_a3b2ced771142e34.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_ec173bd2c80c730f.jpg","webp":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_613284c7a1a776c5.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_7959300de005eb5f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/02/211543.html","regions":["leningrad_obl"],"subtitle":"Five People Are Behind Bar","tags":["search","sizo","ivs","new-case","interrogation","282.2-1","282.2-2","health-risk"],"title":"For the First Time Since 2017, a Criminal Case Has Been Initiated Against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Leningrad Region for Their Faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 17, 2023, the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, after a retrial of the case, sentenced one of Jehovah's Witnesses, Yevgeniy Yegorov, again to 2 years and 6 months suspended with a 1-year restriction of liberty.\n“The respected prosecutor believes that I need to reform. To do this, I must first at least understand in what way, - Yevgeniy expressed his bewilderment to the court. “The reason for the investigation was peaceful Bible discussion, and not a single law of the state and not a single court decision prohibited this.”\n“The investigator said that if I prayed to God at home, believed in him only in my soul and did not express my faith in any way, then I would not be persecuted as an extremist. But such a position contradicts the very essence of faith, ” said Yevgeniy.\nThe criminal prosecution of this peaceful Christian has been going on for almost 5 years now. In 2018, Birobidzhan law enforcement officers searched his house, and a year later they accused the believer of extremism. The first court hearing began in the winter of 2020. Within two years, the case reached the Ninth Court of Cassation in Vladivostok, which sent it for a second appeal, which, in turn, sent it for a new consideration.\nDuring these years, Yegorov faced a number of difficulties. On the very day of Yevgeniy's wedding, the FSB charged his mother and several friends with extremism. Then the believer himself was under a recognizance agreement. “Because of this, my wife and I faced serious financial problems from the start of family life. But we did not lose heart,” said Yevgeniy. Soon the newlyweds learned that they were expecting a baby. The believer recalls: “Friends came to our aid. After the birth of our son, we received parcels with children's goods. And the words of support from fellow believers were very reassuring.”\nThe June 7, 2022 judgement of the European Court of Human Rights emphasizes that the behavior of the Russian authorities towards Jehovah's Witnesses contains \"indications of a policy of intolerance ... designed to cause [believers] to abandon their faith and prevent others from joining it\" (§254).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-02-17T19:20:47+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/02/171920/image_hu_90d428b05e6eef46.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/02/171920/image_hu_cf0ce460a1aef30f.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/02/171920/image_hu_a2fd21a6e4516b6f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/02/171920/image_hu_9bccaf4634a5cc7e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/02/171920.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":"He is Considered an Extremist for Continuing to Talk About the Bible","tags":["suspended","sentence","retrial","282.2-2"],"title":"In Birobidzhan, the Court Again Imposed a 2.5-Year Suspended Sentence on Yevgeniy Yegorov.","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 16, 2023, the First Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction in Saratov upheld the fines imposed on Artur Netreba, Viktor Bachurin and Alexandr Kostrov for their faith in God. Each of them paid 300 thousand rubles.\nThus, the court of cassation agreed with the decisions of the courts of first and appeal instances, which found the men guilty of extremism only for participating in religious services and “preaching the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses.”\nIn their appeals, the believers noted that “peaceful conversation about God with fellow believers or with other people without calls for violence, discrimination and degrading treatment of any social group, cannot pose a danger to the public. Circumstances indicating that the residents of Lipetsk needed increased protection after [conducting religious services with the participation of the defendants or their conversations about religious beliefs] have not been established.”\nThe European Court in its decision explicitly stated that “by seeking to suppress the religious activity of Jehovah's Witnesses, the Russian authorities failed to act in good faith and breached the state's duty of neutrality and impartiality vis-a-vis the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses” (§ 254).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-02-16T19:12:50+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/02/171912/image_hu_15e06fcd9bdb16b3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/02/171912/image_hu_a5c53f0acce3df8e.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/02/171912/image_hu_deb6270c69ca120b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/02/171912/image_hu_14fe1c942148379.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/02/171912.html","regions":["lipetsk"],"subtitle":"A Year Ago, They Were Fined for Their Beliefs","tags":["cassation","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"Court of Cassation Upheld the Sentence of Three Jehovah's Witnesses From Lipetsk.","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 21, 2023, the Fourth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in the city of Krasnodar upheld the ruling of the appellate court and the sentence—six years of imprisonment—against 57-year-old Anna Safronova.\nIn January 2022, the Trusovsky District Court of Astrakhan found Anna Safronova guilty of extremism for her faith in Jehovah God. According to the court, her actions in the joint profession of faith served as the grounds: participation in religious services where prayers were said, religious songs were sung, and the Bible was read. The prosecution did not provide any evidence of extremist statements or calls for violence, hostility or the overthrow of the constitutional order of the government. In April, the Astrakhan Regional Court upheld this verdict.\nIn two years of being persecuted for her faith, Anna Safronova experienced two searches, house arrest and imprisonment in a temporary detention facility and a pre-trial detention center. She has been in a penal colony for about a year already. Despite the harsh sentence and separation from her 82-year-old mother, her son and her friends, Anna has not lost her composure and even encourages her loved ones through her letters and poetry and during their prison visits.\nWith respect to Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, the ECHR stated in its decision of June 7, 2022: “By holding the applicants criminally liable, simply for continuing religious services, the Russian authorities imposed a disproportionate and unjustifiable burden on the exercise of their freedom of religion and association.” (§ 260)\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-02-16T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/02/220927/image_hu_dac96dbe231e1ff0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/02/220927/image_hu_dd0f62961cb25603.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/02/220927/image_hu_469f9c645f731512.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/02/220927/image_hu_d93beadc42e5d3d5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/02/220927.html","regions":["astrakhan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","cassation","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"The Сassation Court Upheld an Unprecedented Harsh Sentence Against Anna Safronova, One of Jehovah's Witnesses From Astrakhan, Because of Her Faith\u003cbr\u003e","type":"news"},{"body":"Text updated on February 14, 2023.\nOn February 13, 2023, the Supreme Court of the Chuvash Republic upheld the verdict of four Jehovah's Witnesses from Alatyr, mitigating the sentence for two of them. Instead of fines of 350,000 rubles, Nina Martynova and Zoya Pavlova will pay 80,000 rubles each. The 6-year suspended sentences for Andrey Martynov and Mikhail Yermakov were left unchanged by the court.\nAll four have been peacefully practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses since the 1990s. However, in December 2022, in violation of the constitutional right to freely choose, have and disseminate religious beliefs, the Alatyr District Court declared them guilty of extremism.\nThe believers commented on this in their appeal as follows: “We have not denied that we are Jehovah's Witnesses and that together with our loved ones and friends we sang songs praising God, prayed and discussed the Bible. But our goal was not to continue the activity of a liquidated legal entity, but to carry out peaceful worship of God.” They added: \"The actual purpose of the verdict is to force us, under fear of criminal prosecution, to change our religion or leave the Russian Federation.\" The believers can appeal to the court of cassation.\nMikhail Yermakov named examples of the endurance of repressed fellow believers during the Soviet era as a source of support. “Even the investigator was sometimes surprised at my calmness and sense of humor,” the believer said.\nThe European Court of Human Rights held that the Russian Federation violated the right of Jehovah's Witnesses to freedom of religion: “By holding the applicants criminally liable, simply for continuing religious services, the Russian authorities imposed a disproportionate and unjustifiable burden on the exercise of their freedom of religion and association” (§ 260).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-02-13T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/02/141019/image_hu_97c6d044e1c723e8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/02/141019/image_hu_937aea6dd55dd871.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/02/141019/image_hu_2e6d0513a5b836cb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/02/141019/image_hu_a49bb556fadda011.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/02/141019.html","regions":["chuvashia"],"subtitle":"Large Fines and Lengthy Suspended Sentences Given for Reading the Bible","tags":["appeal","suspended","fine","mitigation","282.2-1.1","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Cheboksary Upheld the Verdict for Four Believers.","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 6, 2023, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court upheld the sentence for 54-year-old Vadim Gizatulin: 2 years of suspended imprisonment. The verdict has entered into force, but the believer has the right to appeal against it in the cassation process.\nVadim insists on his innocence and considers the accusation groundless: “I have never denied that I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses. But I never belonged to any of the organizations liquidated by the Supreme Court. I did not participate in the continuation of the activity of an extremist organization, but in the religious services of believers, which were not banned by the court.”\nMoreover, not a single piece of evidence of the believer's guilt in actions of an extremist nature was presented in court. “It is not clear which passages from my speech exactly and on what grounds they were considered by the prosecution as extremist,” emphasizes Vadim.\nIn his final statement in the court of appeal, the believer stated that he had done nothing wrong against the state and its citizens. He believes that he is being tried only for his religious beliefs. “I saw how evil and cruel people became kind and humble,” he said at the hearings. “I have seen some families falling apart and thanks to the Bible they have been able to stay together. And today I am not being judged because I have done something bad, but because I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses and because I faithfully serve my God.”\nDue to the stress suffered during the search, the chronic illnesses of Vadim's wife were aggravated, and soon she even ended up in intensive care. Vadim himself lost his job, the only source of income for the family.\nIn June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is illegal: “Only religious statements and actions involving or calling for violence, hatred or discrimination may warrant suppression as being ‘extremist’.” (§271) Despite the lack of such grounds, courts in Russia continue to prosecute Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the country.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-02-06T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/02/081408/image_hu_aacfda708a294052.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/02/081408/image_hu_3aca64ec06016031.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/02/081408/image_hu_3f9fd39e40c7ca74.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/02/081408/image_hu_1a413be603d7ee8b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/02/081408.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":"His Case Contains No Evidence of Extremist Activity","tags":["appeal","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"The Court of Appeal in Chelyabinsk Upheld the Guilty Verdict Against Believer Vadim Gizatulin.","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 3, 2022, the judge of the Lesozavodskiy District Court of the Primorye Territory Sergey Yarovenko found Yevgeniy Grinenko, Sergey Kobelev and Svetlana Yefremova guilty of extremism because of their religious activity. The men received a 6-year suspended sentence with a 5-year probation period, and the elderly believer received a 3-year suspended sentence with a 2-year probation period, as requested by the prosecutor.\nThe believers consider the decision unjust and have the right to appeal it. “No matter how hard they try to accuse me of extremism, I still consider the accusation unfounded and unfair,” Yevgeniy Grinenko said, addressing the court with his final statement. — “Jehovah's Witnesses are known throughout the world as friendly and peaceful people. Their rights are respected in the vast majority of countries in the world. I would very much like the rights of believers to be respected in Russia too, and in this case, my rights.”\nA criminal case against Yevgeniy Grinenko was initiated in May 2020 by Oksana Belyakova, an investigator for especially important cases of the Investigative Department for the city of Lesozavodsk of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorye Territory. In March and April 2021, Svetlana Yefremova, Sergey Kobelev, and his mother Galina also became defendants (Galina's case was later made into a separate proceeding, and the court gave her a 6-year suspended sentence on similar charges). In September of the same year, the case went to court. The charges were based on covert audio and video recordings made by two informants who feigned an interest in the Bible. Conversations on Bible topics and peaceful religious meetings were considered by law enforcement agencies to be the resumption of the activity of a banned organization.\nSergey Kobelev noted in his final statement: “Everything I did is lawful ... And all the evidence of my guilt presented by the prosecution proves only that I am a follower of Jesus Christ and, just like him, I put the will of God first.\"\nSvetlana Yefremova, speaking before the court, also drew attention to the absurdity of the prosecution of believers: “I ended up in court because I do not want to renounce my God, and not because of a crime or violation of state laws. As a citizen of the Russian Federation, I have enjoyed the right [to freedom of religion] for almost 30 years. The article has remained unchanged to this day, and my behavior has not got worse over those years. Then the question arises: why am I being prosecuted?\nA total of 19 criminal cases were initiated in the Primorye Territory against 46 Jehovah's Witnesses. In 8 cases, the verdict has already entered into force and 7 cases are being considered in courts.\nOn June 7, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights found it unlawful to ban the legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses and criminalize the followers of this religion. In its ruling, the court noted, in particular: “The forced dissolution of all religious organisations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia was not merely the result of a neutral application of legal provisions but disclosed indications of a policy of intolerance by the Russian authorities towards the religious practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to cause Jehovah’s Witnesses to abandon their faith and to prevent others from joining it” (§254).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-02-03T17:33:11+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/02/031733/image_hu_5a357b9f413563a8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/02/031733/image_hu_79d1255d022aaa31.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/02/031733/image_hu_90f56bca66be26c0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/02/031733/image_hu_fbf6a93e0196d3ac.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/02/031733.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":"They Received Suspended Sentence","tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","sentence","suspended","elderly"],"title":"In Primorye, a Court Found Three of Jehovah's Witnesses, Including a 72-year-old Woman, to Be Extremists.","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 31, 2023, the Kamchatka Territorial Court for the third time considered the case of the Bazhenovs, a married couple, and pensioner Vera Zolotova, who were previously acquitted, and found them guilty of extremism, imposing a suspended sentence of two years.\nAll three are residents of Yelizovo, a town in Kamchatka with a population of just over 36,000. The Bazhenovs are a friendly and social couple who are teachers with a close-knit family. Vera Zolotova is a 77-year-old pensioner, who has lived in her hometown all her life and has earned a reputation as a law-abiding person. Each of them has been practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses for more than fifteen years. Like other representatives of this religion, who live in hundreds of other countries, they went to meetings with other believers, read and discussed the Bible, and sang religious songs. It was this activity, and not any actual crimes, that became the reason for their criminal prosecution, which has been going on for more than four years.\nDuring this time, the case of these believers has been at many stages: at first it was returned to the prosecutor's office due to shortcomings on the part of the prosecution; later it reached a verdict—the court found the believers guilty and gave them two-year suspended sentences. The appellate court recognized the verdict as fair, but the subsequent cassation court overturned it and sent the case back to the stage of appeal. In January 2022, the Kamchatka Territorial Court acquitted the believers. The Court of Cassation upheld this decision, but the prosecutor's office appealed to the Supreme Court of Russia, which overturned the acquittal on December 2022 and sent the case back to the appeal stage.\nSnezhana Bazhenova, recalling years of litigation, noted: “In court, it became clear that the charges against us were fabricated. For example, when the testimony of an elderly woman, a witness for the prosecution [who had discussed the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses], was read out, she could not help but shout out the whole time: 'You've misinterpreted everything! That's a lie!' And the judge saw and heard that the prosecution's witness never really said that. Moreover, when asked if she knew us, she said: “No, I don’t know them at all.” Snezhana assessed her unjust persecution as follows: “This is the usual course of a Christian; many Christians before me have endured it with dignity.”\nReflecting on the possibility of ending up in a penal colony, Konstantin Bazhenov said that it would cause serious hardship for his family but added: \"We are among our dear friends, and my family will definitely be taken care of.\"\nThe believers still consider themselves innocent. It should be noted that according to the clarifications of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia, the religious activity of Jehovah's Witnesses in itself does not constitute corpus delicti. In June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights fully acquitted Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, pointing to \"indications of a policy of intolerance by the Russian authorities . . . designed to cause Jehovah's Witnesses to abandon their faith and to prevent others from joining it\" (§ 254).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-01-31T16:03:00+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/01/311602/image_hu_bce6a61e9de9168a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/01/311602/image_hu_2ef67f73454383f.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/01/311602/image_hu_f8ffc1d21dba82bf.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/01/311602/image_hu_5d1212928051577b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/01/311602.html","regions":["kamchatka"],"subtitle":"As a Result of the Third Appeal, Believers From Kamchatka Were Found Guilty of Extremism","tags":["appeal","suspended","elderly","2-appeal","282.2-2","fabrications"],"title":"A Suspended Sentence Instead of an Acquittal.","type":"news"},{"body":"Shiyan's case is separated from the Shitz case into a separate proceeding.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shiyan and Matveeva in Lesosibirsk","date":"2023-01-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lesosibirsk3/index.html#20230130","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The materials against Anna Matveeva are separated into separate proceedings from the case of Valery Sheets.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shiyan and Matveeva in Lesosibirsk","date":"2023-01-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lesosibirsk3/index.html#20230118","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 16, 2023, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Mordovia upheld the sentence of six Jehovah's Witnesses from Saransk: 6 years imprisonment for Atryakhin, 4 years and 2 months in a penal colony for the Nikulins, and 2 years imprisonment for Shevchuk, Korolev, and Antonov.\nThe believers participated in the hearing via video conference while in the Detention Center No. 1 in Saransk, where they were placed after the verdict of the court of first instance. February 2023 will be exactly 4 years since the criminal prosecution of Aleksandr Shevchuk and his fellow believers began. Despite the decision of the court of appeal, all six continue to insist on their innocence and intend to defend their good name in the court of cassation.\nIn June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights unequivocally sided with Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The ruling states, among other things, that “the forced liquidation of all religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation ... has revealed signs of a policy of intolerance regarding the religious activities of Jehovah's Witnesses on the part of the Russian authorities, aimed at forcing Jehovah's Witnesses to abandon their faith and prevent others from joining it” (§254).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-01-16T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/01/171601/image_hu_e87da610fd649a5d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/01/171601/image_hu_d5c8b4712e6b1021.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/01/171601/image_hu_83a19ef70e607e8a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/01/171601/image_hu_9d20724239afb088.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/01/171601.html","regions":["mordovia"],"subtitle":"They Will Spend 2 to 6 Years in a Penal Colony","tags":["282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","appeal","liberty-deprivation","families"],"title":"The Appeal Court Upheld the Verdict Against Six Believers From Saransk.","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 12, 2023, the First Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction in Saratov left unchanged the verdict of the Promyshlennyy District Court of the city of Kursk and the appellate ruling of the Judicial Panel for Criminal Cases of the Kursk Regional Court against five of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nIn June 2021 the court of first instance handed down severe sentences of imprisonment to four believers for practicing their religion. The appellate courtupheldthe sentence. At the time of the cassation appeal, three convicted persons—the Bagratyan couple and Ryshkov—had already served their sentences (Artem Bagratyan—two and a half years; Alevtina Bagratyan—two years; Andrey Ryshkov—three years), but they wanted to get a just ruling and restore their good reputation. Andrey Andreyev was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, and he is still behind bars. He is expected to be released in February 2023.\nIn 2019, the believers in Kursk experienced mass searches of their homes. Andrey Andreyev, whose home was invaded by security forces, described these events: “They found the Bible as if it were a weapon used in a crime, as if [it were] drugs or something, they took away my children's postcards. It's interesting that the protocol of seized items contains a postcard with the inscription: “Dear mommy.”\nAndrey Andreyev, Aleksandr Vospitanyuk, Andrey Ryshkov, Artem Bagratyan and his wife, Alevtina, all pleaded not guilty and believe that they were exercising their constitutional right to freedom of conscience and religion and that their actions were exclusively peaceful.\nIn his cassation appeal, Andrey Ryshkov noted: \"As a Christian, as one of Jehovah's Witness, I studied the Bible, prayed to Jehovah God and sang religious songs with my fellow believers. This served as the basis for initiating a criminal case against me and finding me guilty.”\nThe Bagratyans expressed a similar thought: “A peaceful conversation about God without calls for violence, discrimination and degrading treatment . . . to any kind of social group cannot have such a degree of public danger that would require peaceful citizens to be convicted for committing an extremist crime.\"\nThe cassation court slightly changed the part of the verdict regarding the additional punishment—in accordance with the decision of a higher court, the convicted person still can use the Internet but cannot post religious information.\nThe international community strongly condemns the actions of the Russian authorities in their persecution of law-abiding believers. The judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 7 June 2022 declares that “the respondent State [Russian Federation] must take all necessary measures to secure the discontinuation of all pending criminal proceedings against Jehovah’s Witnesses, including by reference to the recently amended guidance by the Supreme Court of Russia, and release of all Jehovah's Witnesses who have been deprived of their liberty.” (§ 290)\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-01-12T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/01/171448/image_hu_9248c6eb1ca255c8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/01/171448/image_hu_dff020f3dbf493df.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/01/171448/image_hu_fe20eb144cf9a436.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/01/171448/image_hu_baeaf68a7310ae8d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/01/171448.html","regions":["kursk"],"subtitle":"One of Them Is Still Serving a Sentence in a Penal Colony","tags":["cassation","282.2-1","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","families"],"title":"The  Cassation Court Did Not Change the Sentence of Five of  Jehovah's Witnesses From Kursk.","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 11, 2023, the Supreme Court of Russia considered the cassation appeal of Jehovah's Witnesses against the guilty verdict in the extremism case handed down on November 30, 2020, in Omsk and granted the part related to revising the sentence served by Sergey Polyakov.\nMore than two years ago, the Pervomaisky District Court of the city of Omsk sentenced Polyakov to three years in a general regime penal colony, and three women were given a suspended sentence: Anastasiya Polyakova—two and a half years; Gaukhar Bektemirova—two years and three months; Dinara Dyusekeyeva—two years. In May 2021, the appellate court upheld the verdict, and a year later this decision was upheld by the Eighth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in the city of Kemerovo. In November 2022, Sergey Polyakov was released after serving his full term in a penal colony.\nHowever, the believer should have been released forty five days earlier than he actually was. The courts considered the period of Polyakov's detention under house arrest, equating one day of house arrest to a half day of detention in a penal colony. But this law was not adopted in Russia until after 2018, that is, after the date when, according to the investigation and the court, Sergey Polyakov committed the crime. In his case, one day of house arrest should have been equated to one day in a penal colony.\nThe Supreme Court of the Russian Federation granted part of Sergey Polyakov's appeal related to the revision of the term of his sentence, and now he has the right to monetary compensation, which he can already claim in a civil procedure.\nThe believers also asked the Supreme Court to cancel the verdict of the court of first instance as well as the appellate ruling of the judicial panel and to transfer the criminal case for a new trial. They still plead not guilty, arguing that they exercised their constitutional right to freedom of conscience and religion and that their actions were exclusively peaceful.\nThe cassation complaint mentions a number of violations discovered during the hearings in the court of first instance (the disappearance of physical evidence and the lack of measures taken to search for it, as well as the court’s refusal to add to the criminal case evidence that confirms the use of violence against Polyakov during the search and the planting of prohibited religious literature by security forces in places of worship of Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.). During the first instance court hearings, the prosecution did not cite a single statement by Polyakov aimed at inciting religious hatred, nor did it provide any evidence to support such statements. These arguments were not taking into account by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.\nOn June 7, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights fully acquitted Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and ruled that Russia stop persecuting them for their faith. Although Russia ceased to be a member of the Council of Europe in March 2022, in terms of international law, it is obliged to comply with the decisions of the ECHR issued before September 16, 2022.\n","category":"trial","date":"2023-01-11T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/01/120938/image_hu_83718e2fadfa28bf.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/01/120938/image_hu_92e1080e8e65c47c.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/01/120938/image_hu_9b8b537ecac0b043.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/01/120938/image_hu_67379a35ea58be22.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/01/120938.html","regions":["omsk"],"subtitle":"One of Them Has Already Served a Full Prison Term for His Faith","tags":["supreme-court","282.2-1","282.2-2","mitigation","complaints","282.3-1"],"title":"The Supreme Court of Russia Partially Granted the Appeal of Four of Jehovah's Witnesses From Omsk.","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 10, 2023, the Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction in Kemerovo upheld the conviction of Aleksandr Bondarchuk and Sergey Yavushkin - 4 years of suspended sentence. The hearing was held in person and was attended by 12 of the defendants' relatives and friends.\nThe court of first instance passed its sentence in June 2021, and in February 2022, the appeal left it unchanged. Aleksandr Bondarchuk and Sergey Yavushkin still do not agree with the charges against them, as they reported in their appeals: \"Neither the verdict nor the appellate ruling provides clear criteria by which we can clearly see what specific actions we took were a continuation of illegal activities of a liquidated legal entity.\"\n\"I was sentenced,\" commented Bondarchuk, \"only for worshiping Jehovah God, calling it an extremist, illegal action. And this is absurd!\"\nYavushkin also explained to the court that Jehovah's Witnesses can in no way be connected with extremism: \"Believing in Jehovah God and at the same time feeling hatred towards people are incompatible concepts. That is why I cannot be called an extremist in any way. Loving and respecting people is my way of life.\nIn June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is illegal: \"Only religious statements and actions containing or calling for violence, hatred or discrimination can constitute grounds for suppression as 'extremist'. [...] The courts have not found any of the petitioners' words, acts or actions to be motivated by violence, hatred or discrimination against others or to have connotations of violence, hatred or discrimination\" (§271).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-01-10T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/01/111049/image_hu_ed9980fa93ac4e22.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/01/111049/image_hu_aa157dfbb89f5783.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/01/111049/image_hu_69279623f2782de7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/01/111049/image_hu_63d8b5020cda6ed4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/01/111049.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["cassation","suspended","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"title":"The Kemerovo Court of Cassation Upheld the Conviction of Aleksandr Bondarchuk and Sergey Yavushkin—Four Years Suspended","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 27, 2022, a panel of judges of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court overturned the judgment that was rendered against Aleksandr Kabanov because of his faith and returned the case to the prosecutor's office. Earlier, the Zelenogorsk City Court gave the believer a two-year suspended sentence for reading the Bible, but the appellate court considered Kabanov's guilt unproven.\nIn his appeal, the believer pointed out that his actions were exclusively peaceful in nature, namely \"professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, an essential part of which is the study of the Bible, including with other believers\". Aleksandr believes that the goal of the guilty verdict is \"to use the fear of criminal responsibility to deprive him of the opportunity to practice his religion\". In addition, the prosecution acknowledged the absence of victims, and the judgment did not reflect any real consequences of Kabanov's actions.\nThe persecution of Aleksandr Kabanov began in December 2019, when he was detained at his workplace, his apartment was searched, and he was taken to a temporary holding facility. “Faith in God helped me not to worry too much . . . Words of encouragement from fellow believers helped me not to lose heart,” the believer later said.\nCurrently, 28 believers in the Krasnoyarsk Territory have faced persecution by the authorities. Three of them—Andrey Stupnikov, Anatoliy Gorbunov and Yevgeniy Zinich—were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment in general regime penal colonies for talking to people about God.\nThe ECHR judgment dated June 7, 2022, which fully justified Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, points out: “States do not have the right under the Convention to decide what beliefs may or may not be taught because the right to freedom of religion as guaranteed under the Convention excludes any discretion on the part of the State to determine whether religious beliefs or the means used to express such beliefs are legitimate” (§ 165).\n","category":"victory","date":"2022-12-27T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/12/290936/image_hu_47febf1c08931ca3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/12/290936/image_hu_32efe2e121abbf1c.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/12/290936/image_hu_ec241c2a0bcb5cbd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/12/290936/image_hu_d46413e50580cb23.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/12/290936.html","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"subtitle":"The Court Found That His Guilt Was Not Established","tags":["appeal","282.2-2","case-to-prosecutor"],"title":"An Appeal in Krasnoyarsk Overturned the Judgment Against Aleksandr Kabanov.","type":"news"},{"body":"Updated January 24, 2023. All data updated as of December 31, 2022.\nIn 2022, the ECHR declared the 2017 ban on Jehovah's Witnesses illegal. However, the repression not only did not weaken, but also updated records: in 2022, the courts sentenced 44 believers to a total of 244 years in prison (a year earlier, the figure was 160 years in prison). Other sad records were also recorded: the number of convictions, as well as the number of believers who are simultaneously in colonies and pre-trial detention centers.\nHow many people were repressed for their faith in 2022? As of December 31, 2022, 674 followers of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses are officially in the status of accused, suspected, indicted, convicted, or acquitted. Of these, 77 learned about the criminal prosecution in 2022. (In 2019, this figure was 213, in 2020 146, and in 2021 - 142.) The total number of criminal cases reached 319 (most often 2 or more defendants in one case).\nWhat is the geographical scope of repression for faith? Criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses have already been initiated in 72 regions of Russia. In 2022, cases were initiated in 2 new regions of Russia - Altai and Buryatia. (In 2019, criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses was initiated in 21 new regions of Russia, in 2020 in 8 new regions, and in 2021 in 10.)\nHow many convictions for faith were handed down in 2022, and how many have gone into effect? During 2022, 119 believers were found guilty under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and sentenced by the courts of first instance to various punishments. (In 2019, this figure was 18, and in 2020 it was 39, in 2021 it was 111.) Of these, 57 people are still awaiting the decision of the appeal. With regard to 108 believers, appeals were held during 2022 and the sentences entered into force. In some cases, the punishment was mitigated or toughened, but most often it remained unchanged.\nIn total, as of December 31, 2022, 284 male and female Jehovah's Witnesses have been convicted for their faith in the past 5 years.\nWhat sentences were handed down to Jehovah's Witnesses in 2022? In total, during 2022, 44 believers were sentenced to real imprisonment, which is a sad record (in 2021, 32 believers were sentenced to real imprisonment). The duration of the punishment has also been toughened: in 2022, the average term in a colony imposed on believers was 5.5 years, while in 2021 this average figure was 5.0 years. For 6 years or more, 35 out of 44 believers were sent to a penal colony. In addition, 62 believers were conditionally sentenced to imprisonment (68 in 2021), 12 people were fined (10 in 2021) and 1 person was sentenced to 4 years of correctional labor. The most inhuman is the sentence of 7 years in prison imposed on Andrei Vlasov, a disabled person who cannot do without assistance. Due to strict restrictions in one of the correctional facilities, he developed soft tissue necrosis (bedsores), which he tries to cure.\nIn 2022, the acquittal of the believer handed down in 2021 was overturned on appeal. In addition, during 2022, 3 acquittals were issued – to three believers in the case of the Bazhenovs and others in Yelizovo (however, this verdict was overturned at the stage of the 2nd cassation in the Supreme Court of Russia), one believer in the case of Khabarov in Porkhov (however, this sentence was overturned on appeal) and three believers in the case of Pryanikov and others in Karpinsk (however, these believers are heard in court another criminal case for faith).\nHow many Jehovah's Witnesses have passed through temporary detention facilities, pre-trial detention centers or colonies, and how many are still being held there. In 2022, the number of Jehovah's Witnesses who are simultaneously in Russian colonies and pre-trial detention exceeded 100 for the first time. As of December 31, 2022, 113 people remain behind bars. (A year ago, this figure was 76 people; in December 2020, 44 people; in December 2019, exactly the same number was in jail - 44 people.)\nA total of 368 believers have been or remain behind bars since May 2017. In 2022, having served his sentence in full, having actually spent 5 years in a pre-trial detention center and a colony, the first convicted Jehovah's Witness, Dennis Christensen, was released and expelled from the country . In addition, Valentina Baranovskaya, the oldest believer at that time, who was sentenced to real imprisonment, was released from the colony on parole. While under investigation, the woman suffered a stroke. Her son, who was convicted for his faith with her, remains behind bars. As of December 31, 2022, there are still 19 Jehovah's Witnesses over the age of 60 in prisons. The oldest of them, 71-year-old Boris Andreev from the village of Yaroslavsky (Primorye Territory), was sent to a pre-trial detention center in July 2022. 70-year-old Vilen Avanesov has been behind bars for more than 3.5 years.\nHow many searches have been conducted in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses? Since the decision to liquidate registered Jehovah's Witnesses organizations came into force, at least 1876 searches have been conducted in their homes. Of these, 203 searches were carried out in 40 settlements of Russia in 2022. (In 2019, the number of searches was 489 in 75 settlements, in 2020 - 447 in 81 settlements, in 2021 - 382 in 82 settlements.) The largest special operations against Jehovah's Witnesses in 2022 were carried out in Novorossiysk and 5 nearby villages (30 searches in 1 day), in Rybinsk (16), in Simferopol (16), in Chelyabinsk (13), in Novocherkassk (10). A search is a significant restriction of a person's constitutional right to privacy, personal and family secrets, honor, and good name.\nChronicle of the incursions into the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in 2022:\n16.01.2022 Gorno-Altaisk (Altai Republic): 5 searches carried out 01/28/2022 Krasnodar (Krasnodar Territory): 3 searches carried out 06.02.2022 Moskvoretskaya Sloboda (Moscow Region): 1 search was conducted 13.02.2022 Vyselki (Krasnodar Territory): 13 searches carried out 13.02.2022 Novorossiysk (Krasnodar Territory): 9 searches carried out 13.02.2022 Zhuravskaya (Krasnodar Territory): 2 searches carried out 13.02.2022 Berezanskaya (Krasnodar Territory): 4 searches carried out 13.02.2022 Buzinovskaya (Krasnodar Territory): 1 search was conducted 02/13/2022 Novodonetska (Krasnodar Territory): 1 search was conducted 18.02.2022 Vyselki (Krasnodar Territory): 1 search was conducted 25.02.2022 Pregradnaya (Karachay-Cherkess Republic): 1 search was conducted 04.03.2022 Tolyatti (Samara Region): 2 searches carried out 15.03.2022 Kostroma (Kostroma region): 4 searches carried out 16.03.2022 Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan): 1 search was conducted 03/18/2022 Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan): 3 searches conducted 22.03.2022 Maikop (Republic of Adygea): 1 search was conducted 03/23/2022 Balakovo (Saratov Region): 8 searches carried out 23.03.2022 Chelyabinsk (Chelyabinsk Region): 1 search was conducted 29.03.2022 Sosnovoborsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory): 4 searches carried out 06.04.2022 Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan): 2 searches conducted 15.04.2022 Yoshkar-Ola (Republic of Mari El): 8 searches carried out 15.04.2022 Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod Region): 1 search was conducted 19.04.2022 Maikop (Republic of Adygea): 1 search was conducted 04/25/2022 Maikop (Republic of Adygea): 1 search was conducted 26.04.2022 Maikop (Republic of Adygea): 3 searches carried out 05/19/2022 Yaroslavl (Yaroslavl Region): 2 searches carried out 05/24/2022 Komsomolsk-on-Amur (Khabarovsk Territory): 1 search was conducted 29.05.2022 Sharypovo (Krasnoyarsk Territory): 4 searches carried out 06/07/2022 Asha (Chelyabinsk Region): 1 search was conducted 14.06.2022 Baley (Trans-Baikal Territory): 4 searches carried out 16.06.2022 Kopeysk (Chelyabinsk Region): 1 search was conducted 07.07.2022 Surgut (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug): 5 searches carried out 13.07.2022 Rybinsk (Yaroslavl Region): 16 searches carried out 07/27/2022 Rybinsk (Yaroslavl Region): 1 search was conducted 05.08.2022 Sevastopol (Sevastopol): 1 search was conducted 11.08.2022 Novocherkassk (Rostov Region): 10 searches carried out 11.08.2022 Unecha (Bryansk region): 2 searches carried out 24.08.2022 Sevastopol (Sevastopol): 2 searches carried out 08.09.2022 Chelyabinsk (Chelyabinsk Region): 13 searches carried out 21.09.2022 Tolyatti (Samara Region): 2 searches carried out 28.09.2022 Krasnogvardeyskoye (Crimea): 11 searches carried out 06.10.2022 Yaroslavsky (Primorye Territory): 12 searches carried out 10/14/2022 Rybinsk (Yaroslavl Region): 1 search was conducted 17.10.2022 Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Kamchatka Territory): 4 searches carried out 20.10.2022 Maikop (Republic of Adygea): 3 searches carried out 10/27/2022 Krasnoznamensk (Moscow Region): 1 search was conducted 09.11.2022 Ivanovo (Ivanovo Region): 3 searches carried out 11/18/2022 Tavrichanka (Primorye Territory): 1 search was conducted 06.12.2022 Feodosiya (Crimea): 1 search was conducted 08.12.2022 Simferopol (Crimea): 16 searches carried out 14.12.2022 Izhevsk (Udmurt Republic): 2 searches carried out 26.12.2022 Ussuriysk (Primorye Territory): 1 search was conducted What steps did the authorities take in 2022 to end the repression of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia? On February 22, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights published judgments in the cases of Cheprunov and Others v. Russia (74320/10) and Zharinova v. Russia (17715/12), in which it found that Russian authorities had violated the right to freedom of religion of Jehovah's Witnesses when they detained them while talking about the Bible or searched their homes.\nOn June 7, 2022, the ECHR declared illegal the liquidation of all 396 legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia in 2017, the ban on their activities and the seizure of property; ban on printed publications and the official website. The judgment was made in the case of \"MRO Taganrog and Others v. Russia\" (No. 32401/10). Russia is obliged to pay the applicants 3 million euros for non-material damage, as well as to return the seized property or pay 59 million euros for it. Although Russia ceased to be a member of the Council of Europe in March 2022, in terms of international law, it is obliged to comply with the decisions of the ECHR issued before September 16, 2022, as the Secretary General of the Council of Europe reminded the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia in a letter dated December 9, 2022.\n","category":"analytics","date":"2022-12-23T10:57:06+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/12/231054/image_hu_4115e55caface6d1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/12/231054/image_hu_ff56bb181df39e59.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/12/231054/image_hu_7172027fc39bb12.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/12/231054/image_hu_90ddfd148d6458f3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/12/231054.html","regions":[],"subtitle":null,"tags":["analytics","review","statistics","echr","new-case","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","acquittal","sizo","search","suspended","fine","labor","appeal"],"title":"Jehovah's Witnesses are under the yoke of repression. Results of 2022","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 22, 2022, the judge of the Alatyrskiy District Court of Chuvash Republic, Ivan Konchulizov, found four believers guilty of extremism and imposed on Zoya Pavlova and Nina Martynova to a fine of 350,000 rubles, and on Mikhail Yermakov and Andrey Martynov a 6-year of suspended sentence with a probationary period of 3 years.\nOn behalf of all the defendants, 58-year-old Andrey Martynov said: “There are no victims in this case, the state has not suffered in any way, and in fact there is no crime what so ever. But we are the victims; the defendants are husbands, wives, mothers, exemplary workers”. Nina, 64, has worked all her life as a kindergarten teacher; Andrey has been a driver and stoker in a boiler room for the last 25 years; Zoya, 57, has worked at a mechanical plant and in the housing and communal services sector, and Mikhail, 60, has been a janitor.\nThe persecution of believers began in June 2021, when searches were carried out in the city of Alatyr and a criminal case was opened. It took the Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for Chuvash Republic a little more than a year to conduct an investigation, and in July 2022 the case went to court. The prosecutor requested that the believers be sent to a penal colony: Andrey Martynov and Mikhail Yermakov—6 years each, Nina Martynova—5 years and Zoya Pavlova—4.5 years.\nDefending her right to freedom of religion, Zoya Pavlova said at the trial: “Any believer will share what he has learned and meet with his friends for discussion and association. If this is not done, then the meaning of faith simply disappears”. Nina Martynova added: “If someone reads the Bible, believes in Jehovah God, loves his neighbor, sings religious songs, it cannot harm anyone. How can this undermine the foundations of the security of the state?”\nThe verdict has not entered into force. Believers insist on their complete innocence and they intend to appeal the court's decision.\nIn Chuvash Republic, three more Jehovah's Witnesses faced persecution for their faith. In January 2022, heavy fines were imposed on them.\nIn a ruling dated June 7, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights criticized the actions of the Russian authorities against believers and stated that “criminal prosecution and criminal liability for the peaceful practice of the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses, together with others, was based on an unacceptably broad formulation and arbitrary application of anti-extremism legislation” (§ 272).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-12-22T16:37:30+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/12/221637/image_hu_fabad3742eeace4f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/12/221637/image_hu_b3aa5b8357d2ceca.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/12/221637/image_hu_443cd9d499d2df34.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/12/221637/image_hu_1275903d83192253.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/12/221637.html","regions":["chuvashia"],"subtitle":"Jehovah's Witnesses Sentenced in Chuvashia","tags":["282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","sentence","suspended","fine"],"title":"Fines for Two Women and Suspended Sentences for Two Men.","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 22, 2022, the First Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Saratov considered the appeals of Aleksandr Vavilov, Aleksey Oreshkov and Aleksandr Rakovskiy, but did not change the verdict—3-year suspended sentence each.\nAll three disagree with the court decision court and consider themselves not guilty. In their appeals, they stated: \"We were convicted not of a crime, but for expressing our faith in ways typical of Christianity and permitted by law.\" The believers noted that, it became clear from the hearings in the court of first instance, that \"in order to pass a guilty verdict, the court did not need any facts or evidence\" of guilt .\nThe verdict in the case of Vavilov, Oreshkov and Rakovskiy was handed down in October 2021 and entered into force after an appeal in January 2022. The courts of all three instances considered that conducting religious meetings and services by Jehovah's Witnesses could be equated with extremism, without specific facts of illegal activity.\nSuch a position of the courts contradicts both the decisions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the recent ruling of the ECHR regarding Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. In particular, the European Court emphasized that “only religious expressions and actions containing violence, manifestations of hatred or discrimination, or calling for them, can serve as a basis for suppressing them as 'extremist' . . . The courts did not identify a single word, deed or action of the applicants, which would be motivated by violence, hatred or discrimination against others, or which would be tainted by violence, hatred or discrimination” (§271).\nAt the moment, in the Nizhny Novgorod Region two more similar criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses are being considered in courts.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-12-22T14:19:31+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/12/221419/image_hu_fecbe7f03b2dc0e0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/12/221419/image_hu_98e5dad25c0c7b69.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/12/221419/image_hu_715da03dd8f510c6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/12/221419/image_hu_1df2175b9e9089ae.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/12/221419.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":"They continue to serve suspended sentences for practicing their religion","tags":["282.2-2","cassation","suspended"],"title":"The Court of Cassation in Saratov Did Not Change the Sentence of Three Jehovah's Witnesses From Pavlovo.","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 22, 2022, Ksenia Ostanina, a judge of the Vyazemskiy District Court of the Khabarovsk Territory, imposed a suspended prison senctence of 2 years and 5 months on 31-year-old Sergey Kuznetsov, with a probationary period of 2 years for participating in the activity of an extremist organization, basically, for his religion.\n\"I believe that calling me an extremist is a big mistake, as hatred towards people is something alien to Jehovah's Witnesses because they follow the commandments of Jesus Christ to love people,\" the believer stressed , addressing the court in his final statement.\nPersecution of Sergey Kuznetsov for his faith began in September 2020 - his house was searched. This happened four months after the search in the home of his relative, Yegor Baranov. In March 2021 criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation were initiated against Sergey; a repeat search was conducted at his home, and the believer was added to the Rosfinmonitoring's list of extremists. The investigation, which lasted six months, was led by D. S. Pozdnyakov, senior criminal investigator with the Khabarovsk Region branch of the FSB.\nIn the fall of 2021, the criminal case went to court. None of the witnesses could confirm that the believer committed the crime, and one woman confessed that during the interrogation the investigator put pressure on her. There were no victims in the case, but that did not stop the prosecutor from requesting that Kuznetsov be sentenced to three years in a penal colony and one year of restricted freedom.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on his complete innocence.\nThe case against another Witness of Jehovah from Vyazemsky is being considered by another court in the Khabarovsk Region: 69-year-old Aleksandr Shutov is also accused of participation in the activity of an extremist organization.\nIn a ruling dated June 7, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights called the criminal prosecution of believers in Russia unlawful: “The forced liquidation of all religious organizations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Russian Federation… revealed signs of a policy of intolerance on the part of the Russian authorities aimed at forcing Jehovah's Witnesses to renounce their faith and prevent others from joining it” (§ 254).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-12-22T11:46:20+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/12/231146/image_hu_f23b797305cd5f8d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/12/231146/image_hu_ac52249bed609ff9.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/12/231146/image_hu_909474a4d7388ae3.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/12/231146/image_hu_b4fb0afef98a6ac3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/12/231146.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended","rosfinmonitoring"],"title":"In Vyazemskiy, the Court Gave Sergey Kuznetsov a 2 Years and 5 Months Suspended Sentence for His Peaceful Beliefs","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 22, 2022, the board of judges of the Khabarovsk Regional court chaired by Maksim Vergasov approved the sentence of Boris Yagovitov—5 years suspended with a probationary period of 3 years and restriction of freedom for 1 year and 7 months. The court considered it extremism to have conversations about the Bible.\nThe decision of the court of first instance was generally left unchanged, the court only made a small technical clarification to the operative part on the appeal of the prosecutor—the sentence of imprisonment is considered suspended, and the sentence of restriction of freedom is not suspended.\nYagovitov filed an appeal against the verdict; he does not agree with the verdict. He stated: “In fact, I was convicted for my faith in Jehovah God and for attending meetings for worship; I am judged because I love to read the Bible and discuss it with friends, because I love God and people, do good deeds and have lived this way for half of my life. And I will continue to live this way because it's my choice, my personal beliefs, and it is my faith.”\nOfficers for the Center for Combating Extremism began operational search measures against Yagovitov back in 2018. In May 2021, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against the believer. Boris Yagovitov and his wife, Natalya, were detained and taken for interrogation while they were walking in the city park in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. As a result, the believer spent 7 months under house arrest and 9 months in detention. In December 2021, the case went to court. As evidence of Yagovitov's \"crime\", the prosecution cited the testimony of a certain Baleichuk, who, after several conversations with the believer, approached the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and agreed to inform them about the activities of the believers. The court found the believer guilty of extremism only because he had met with his friends to read the Bible.\nThe ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Taganrog LRO and Others v. Russia of June 7, 2022 states: “Respect for religious diversity is undoubtedly one of the most important problems that one has to face today; for this reason, authorities should perceive religious diversity not as a threat, but as a source of enrichment of experience. In an effort to suppress the religious activity of Jehovah's Witnesses in this way, the Russian authorities did not act in good faith and violated the duty of the state to observe neutrality and impartiality in relation to the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses”.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-12-22T11:25:02+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/12/221125/image_hu_31d54a7c8bc26251.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/12/221125/image_hu_98861fe856650db5.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/12/221125/image_hu_814b5c96d2fa6045.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/12/221125/image_hu_414728488dcc8c0d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/12/221125.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":"An Appeal in the Khabarovsk Territory Approved the Verdict Against Boris Yagovitov","tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2","appeal","suspended"],"title":"“I Was Convicted for My Faith in Jehovah God.”","type":"news"},{"body":"Text updated February 24, 2023\nOn December 22, 2022, the Fourth General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation, presided over by Judge Rustem Asanov, insignificantly reduced the sentence on believers Rustam Diarov, Sergey Klikunov and Yevgeniy Ivanov, sentenced to 8 years in a penal colony, and Olga Ivanova (wife of Yevgeniy), sentenced to 3.5 years in a penal colony. Now, after serving their sentence, they will be able to choose a settlement for residence, but they will be banned from leaving it. Previously, they were forbidden to leave Astrakhan.\nThe rest of the verdict was left unchanged, and the cassation appeals were not satisfied. The state prosecutor requested to toughen the punishment, and only verbally, without stating this in written objections to the cassation appeal. The session of the Court of Cassation was held via video-conferencing. Believers participated in the hearings while in the colonies.\nIn fact, the court found Astrakhan residents guilty of extremism because they believe in Jehovah God. In itself, being part of the international canonical structure of Jehovah's Witnesses, including believers organized in different groups all over the world, which the Russian Supreme Court had not assessed or declared extremist, does not constitute a crime.\nIn his cassation appeal Yevgeniy Ivanov stressed the absurdity of the charges against him: \"The verdict and the appeal decision do not contain any extremist statements, especially those aimed at inciting enmity and hatred.\" His lawyer also noted: \"Yevgeniy was found guilty of a crime against the foundations of the state and state security, although Jehovah's Witnesses are politically neutral, and he is not a socially dangerous person.\" \"All the witnesses questioned in the case indicated that there were no signs of extremism in my words, actions and motives,\" added Sergey Klikunov.\nA recent decision of the European Court states that \"believers demonstrate their desire to adhere strictly to the teachings of the religion they profess, and their right to do so is guaranteed by Article 9 of the European Convention\" (§ 172).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-12-22T09:24:24+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/12/230924/image_hu_3c0d4534896a0783.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/12/230924/image_hu_180b1fd5d4a480c.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/12/230924/image_hu_dbbc13defc9f7b38.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/12/230924/image_hu_95f5a617465a94f1.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/12/230924.html","regions":["astrakhan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["cassation","mitigation","282.2-1","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","families","282.3-1"],"title":"The Court of Cassation Slightly Softened the Brutal Conviction of Four Jehovah's Witnesses From Astrakhan","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 15, 2022, the Judicial Panel for Criminal Cases of the Russian Supreme Court reversed the acquittal of three of Jehovah's Witnesses and sent their case for a new appeal hearing. The court contradicted the Supreme Court Plenum's explanationsdated October 28, 2021, which stated that religious meetings do not constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe case was considered by Supreme Court Judges Aleksey Shamov, Vasiliy Zykin, and Sergey Zelenin. Around twenty people attended, including the media and representatives of diplomatic missions from at least six countries. \"We are saddened that the judges departed from the fundamental position of the Supreme Court,\" says Yaroslav Sivulskiy of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses. \"The reason for the widespread persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is that the ordinary religious practice of believers is being wrongly interpreted as the continuation of the activity of an organization that was banned in 2017. The criminal prosecution of our dear fellow believers from Kamchatka is also based on this misunderstanding. To clear up this misunderstanding, the Supreme Court Plenum issued a clarification a year ago that is binding on all courts. Our believers are not guilty of anything.\"\nFrom left to right: Viktor Shipilov (lawyer), Konstantin and Snezhana Bazhenov, Vera Zolotova, Viktor Zhenkov (lawyer), Maxim Novakov (lawyer) Lawyers and defendants from Kamchatka in the Supreme Court of Russia (December 2022) The case against Konstantin and Snezhana Bazhenov and their friend Vera Zolotova (born in 1946) was initiated in 2018. All three spent some time behind bars, and their homes were searched. In September 2020, a court found them guilty of participating in the activities of a banned organization and gave them two-year suspended sentences. The Kamchatka Territorial Court upheld the conviction on appeal, but in November 2021 the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok, citing the decision of the Supreme Court Plenum of the Russian Federation of 28 October 2021, sent the case for a new appellate hearing. On January 18, 2022, the Kamchatka Territorial Court issued an acquittal, which went into effect immediately. The cassational court upheld that decision, but the Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia asked the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to send the case for a new appellate hearing.\nNotably, in terms of international law, the believers are innocent and are subject to rehabilitation because in June 2022 the European Court of Human Rights in its judgment in the case LRO Taganrog and Others v. Russia (32401/10) ruled that the 2017 decision to liquidate all legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, to ban their activities and seize property and to ban printed publications and the official website is illegal; it also ordered Russia to end the criminal prosecution of believers and to release prisoners. In June 2022, the Russian Federation stopped implementing ECHR judgments.\nAt this time, the case of the Bazhenovs and Vera Zolotova is being returned to the appeal stage; their conviction will be reexamined by the Kamchatka Territorial Court. They are considered convicted, but their sentence has not entered into force.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-12-15T16:46:43+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/12/151646/image_hu_82e4b45c2fd6ec07.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/12/151646/image_hu_c7f134c2c7b824e7.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/12/151646/image_hu_b8b069f18854b082.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/12/151646/image_hu_b5139a442c21939e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/12/151646.html","regions":["moscow","kamchatka"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["supreme-court","families","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"The Russian Supreme Court Failed To Uphold Justice for Innocent Believers From Kamchatka","type":"news"},{"body":"The Judicial Board for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of Russia will deal with the direct consequences of the decision of the Supreme Court in 2017 to liquidate all organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and ban their activity.\nOn December 15, 2022, three residents of Kamchatka, who are Jehovah's Witnesses, will appear before the Criminal Board of the Supreme Court of Russia. A couple, who are both teachers, and a pensioner were found guilty of participation in the activity of a banned organization, but were acquitted by the Kamchatka Territory Court. The prosecutor's office has already filed a second cassation appeal against the acquittal.\nThe case against Konstantin and Snezhana Bazhenov and their friend Vera Zolotova (born in 1946) was initiated in 2018. After several rounds of hearings in the courts of the first, appeal and cassation instances, the Kamchatka Territory Court acquitted them in January 2022, which is a rarity against the backdrop of guilty verdicts (2 acquittals against 147 guilty verdicts). After the ban on the activity of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in 2017, Russian courts sentenced 88 believers to punishment in a penal colony, gave 147 believers a suspended sentence, and 28 believers a large fine under articles on organizing and participating in the activity of a banned organization. Only 6 believers were acquitted (the case of Pryanikov and others in Karpinsk and the case of the Bazhenovs and others in Yelizovo).\nThe prosecution of the Bazhenovs and Zolotova began when, in August 2018, all three spent two days each in a detention center and their homes were searched. They were charged with organizing the activity of a banned organization (part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Pretrial detention was imposed on Konstantin Bazhenov but later he, as well as the women, were required to sign a recognizance agreement. A year later, in August 2019, the deputy prosecutor of the city of Yelizovo signed the indictment.\nIn October 2019, the Yelizovskiy District Court of the Kamchatka Territory started hearings but soon returned the case to the prosecutor for the elimination of violations, also pointing out the lack of distinction between lawful practice of religion and the continuation of the activity of a banned organization. The state prosecution succeeded in overturning the decision to return the case to the prosecutor. In March 2020, the judge of the Yelizovskiy District Court started the trial and announced his verdict in September of that year, after 11 hearings. He found the three believers guilty, not of organizing, but of participating in the activity of a banned organization (part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and gave each a 2-year suspended sentence with a 3-year probation period. In November 2020, the Kamchatka Territory Court upheld the verdict on appeal.\nThe believers did not admit guilt and filed an appeal with the court of cassation. A year later, in November 2021, the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok overturned the decision of the court of appeal and sent the case for a new appeal hearing to the Kamchatka Territory Court. In its cassation ruling the Court referred to the 28 October 2021 Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which clarified that meetings for worship and joint ceremonies by themselves do not constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nOn January 18, 2022, the Kamchatka Territory Court, during a second appeal, overturned the verdict of the Yelizovsky District Court, rendered in September 2020, and pronounced an acquittal, which became effective immediately. On June 10, 2022, the Ninth Court of Cassation rejected the prosecutor's request to overturn the acquittal verdict. On September 30, 2022, Igor Tkachev, Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia, appealed to the Supreme Court of Russia asking to overturn the acquittal verdict and requesting that the case be sent for a new appellate consideration.\nThe believers appealed to the European Court of Human Rights regarding the decision to ban their organizations. In December 2018, when dozens of Jehovah's Witnesses had already been thrown behind bars, Mikhail Galperin, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, commented in an official response to the appeal: “The Russian authorities emphasize that the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 20 April 2017 and the appellate determination of the Appellate Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 17 July 2017 do not assess the teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses or contain any restrictions or prohibitions on the individual exercise of the above-mentioned teaching.” Finally, in June 2022, in the judgment in the case of LRO Taganrog and Others v. Russia (32401/10), the European Court declared the liquidation of the administrative center and also 395 legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, banning their activities and seizing property and banning printed publications and the official website illegal; the Court also ruled to stop criminal prosecution of believers and to release prisoners. However, a few days later the enforcement of the ECHR ruling was discontinued in the Russian Federation.\n","category":"trial","date":"2022-12-12T16:11:36+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/12/121611/image_hu_a3d912e36f8f91f5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/12/121611/image_hu_4c90351d1fa9d2e7.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/12/121611/image_hu_17b9be82429196e0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/12/121611/image_hu_1d93c91e5b6faf53.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/12/121611.html","regions":["kamchatka","moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","families","acquittal","complaints","282.2-2"],"title":"Prosecutor's Office has Reached the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Seeking to Overturn a Rare Acquittal of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 7, 2022, the judge of the Metallurgical District Court of the city of Chelyabinsk, Vitaly Sirotin, found Vadim Gizatulin guilty of participating in extremist activity. The court gave an electrician who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses a suspended sentence of 2 years.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nVadim Gizatulin faced persecution for his faith in February 2018. Then the security forces of the Chelyabinsk Region initiated operational-search measures against local believers. A year later, Gizatulin was searched as part of the Vladimir Suvorov case , in which he was a witness. Vadim himself became a defendant in a criminal case in August 2021. After 2 months, they came to the believer for a second search. Since July 2022, Gizatulin has been under a recognizance agreement.\nThe case was conducted by the third department for the investigation of especially important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region. After almost a year of investigation, the case went to court. The charge was based on the testimony of an informant, Lilia Ruzayeva, who made audio and video recordings of religious meetings on the instructions of D. A. Myzgin, an officer of the Center for Combating Extrimism. The indictment stated: “At every meeting, Gizatulin V.R. gave talks, made comments, answered questions on topics that were discussed and studied.”\nVadim Gizatulin insists on his complete innocence. “The indictment does not contain any statements of an extremist nature by me,” he said at one of the hearings. “I did not call on anyone to fight against the authorities, and I did not make any degrading remarks towards followers of other religions.”\nThe statements of the believer are also confirmed by the psychological-linguistic forensic examination attached to the case. It gives the following conclusion: “In the conversations recorded in the materials provided, there were no signs of incitement to hostility or hatred (discord) towards a group of persons based on gender, race, nationality, language, origin, religious views or belonging to any social group. Despite all this, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence the believer to 4 years in prison.\nAlready 12 Jehovah's Witnesses in the Chelyabinsk Region are being prosecuted for their faith. Six of them were given suspended sentences, one believer was fined.\nIn July 2022, the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment that rendered groundless the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia on charges of extremism. In particular, it noted that “In the absence of expressions that seek to incite or justify violence or hatred based on religious intolerance, any religious entity or individual believers have the right to proclaim and defend their doctrine as the true and superior one and to engage in religious disputes and criticism seeking to prove the truth of one’s own and the falsity of others’ dogmas or beliefs” (§ 153).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-12-07T15:26:09+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/12/071526/image_hu_3a320d1807a11af0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/12/071526/image_hu_bbd8020f8ea02a36.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/12/071526/image_hu_bd4d6ce561f4120f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/12/071526/image_hu_ecdb6c3fdafa2d2a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/12/071526.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":"The court considered discussion of the Bible and prayers to Jehovah God to be extremism","tags":["282.2-2","sentence","suspended"],"title":"Resident of Chelyabinsk Vadim Gizatulin received a suspended sentence for his faith.","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 5, 2022, the Fifth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction in the city of Pyatigorsk overturned the verdict and the appeal ruling in the case of 58-year-old Yelena Menchikova, who is disabled, and sent her case for a new trial before other judges.\nThe believer's sentence was announced in December 2021. Two months later, the appeallate court confirmed her sentence, but waived her court costs.\nYelena Menchikova considers the earlier decisions of the courts to be unjust, as she stated in her cassation appeal: “In fact, the court, in violation of Article 28 of the RF Constitution and other provisions of current legislation, ruled that I am deprived of the right to profess my faith.”\nThis is how the believer argued her position: “Neither the verdict nor the appeal ruling contained a single example of a statement that was extremist in nature ... I was found guilty without grounds, specifically, for discussing religious topics with others, praying and singing religious songs. [...] The verdict is an act of direct and indirect religious discrimination. The Court treated me differently than representatives of \"traditional\" religions, without having a reasonable and objective basis for this. In fact, I was found guilty of engaging in religious activity as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.”\nIn its judgment of June 7, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights fully acquitted Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, stating: “Peacefully seeking to convince others of the superiority of one’s own religion and urging them to abandon 'false religions' and join the 'true one' is a legitimate form of exercise of the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression” (§ 156).\n","category":"trial","date":"2022-12-05T14:50:01+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/12/051450/image_hu_704864faadd215c6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/12/051450/image_hu_a0a6797bb0dde755.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/12/051450/image_hu_e389c0cd91d41dc0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/12/051450/image_hu_3a906e9d78fc43d0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/12/051450.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":"Earlier, the Court Gave Her a Five-Year Suspended Sentence","tags":["cassation","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"The Cassation Court Sent the Case of Yelena Menchikova From Cherkessk for a New Trial.","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator M. A. Grigorieva issues a decision to bring Natalia Voropaeva as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in a new edition.\nThe ruling states that Voropaeva participated in \"reading and discussing texts from the Bible ... performing religious chants and prayers, watching video sermons.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Voropaeva in Krasnoyarsk","date":"2022-11-21T09:44:33+02:00","permalink":"/en/cases/krasnoyarsk10/index.html#20221121","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Roman Zhivolupov is being prosecuted as a defendant in violation of Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. He is chosen a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Malyanov and Others in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2022-11-15T14:11:19+02:00","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod2/index.html#20221115","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The criminal case against Oleg Ovechkin is separated into a separate proceeding.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Reshetnikov and Others in Barnaul","date":"2022-11-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/barnaul2/index.html#20221114","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The criminal case against Oleg Ovechkin stands out from the case of other believers in Barnaul.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ovechkin in Barnaul","date":"2022-11-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/barnaul3/index.html#20221114","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 14, 2022, the Georgievsk City Court of the Stavropol Territory found Viktor Zimovskiy and the couple Anatoliy and Irina Gezik guilty of extremism for professing their faith. This decision was made by judge Nina Anashkina.\nThe court sentenced Viktor Zimovskiy to 6 years and 2 months in a penal colony (he was taken into custody in the courtroom), Anatoliy Gezik received 4 years and 2 months of corrective labor, and Irina Gezik was given a suspended sentence of 4 years and 2 months. The decision of the court has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believers insist on their complete innocence.\nThe Investigation Department of the Stavropol Territory opened a criminal case against Zimovskiy and the Gezik couple in December 2019. They were accused of organizing and participating in the activity of an extremist organization. According to believers, when searches were carried out in their homes two months earlier, law enforcement officers planted flash drives in them. During the search, Viktor Zimovskiy, who has a disability, felt unwell. Nevertheless, he and 10 other people were taken for interrogation. At that time, there were no arrests.\nThe investigator arrested Viktor after a second interrogation in January 2020. He spent 2 months in jail. At first, Zimovskiy was in a four-bed cell, along with 10 other prisoners. The inmates had to either sleep in turns or lie right on the cold floor. Due to the poor conditions of detention, Viktor fell ill. “In addition, at that time my wife was pregnant, and I could not be around to take care of her,” he said.\nThe investigation took 2 years and 2 months and on February 15, 2022, the case was submitted to the Georgievsk City Court of the Stavropol Territory. The trial lasted 9 months.\nThe courts of the Stavropol Territory are considering 2 more criminal cases against 8 believers, 5 of which are women over 57 years old.\nRussian and international human rights activists have repeatedly emphasized that the ongoing persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation is unjustified. However, the repressions do not slow down: hundreds of innocent believers have already become victims of criminal prosecution.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-11-14T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/11/161451/image_hu_61e20874bce2581d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/11/161451/image_hu_f7562e0e67db40c7.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/11/161451/image_hu_577ae11a1b6b7ca6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/11/161451/image_hu_fa719243e35c9f82.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/11/161451.html","regions":["stavropol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["labor","liberty-deprivation","suspended","sentence","families","disability","plant","minors","282.2-1","282.2-2","health-risk"],"title":"Term in a Penal Colony, Suspended Sentence and Forced Labor—Three Jehovah's Witnesses Were Sentenced in Stavropol for Their Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 9, 2022, security forces raided the homes of 3 Jehovah's Witnesses in Ivanovo. The believers were interrogated, and a criminal case was initiated under an article for extremism against two of them.\nThe searches began around 6:00 a.m. According to the 60-year-old believer, law enforcement officers threw him to the floor and handcuffed him, which they later removed. During the investigation, personal notes, a telephone, a memory card and a large amount of money received from the sale of property were seized.\nIvanovo has become the fifth city in the Ivanovo Region where law enforcement officers persecute Jehovah's Witnesses for their religious beliefs.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-11-09T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_d47978800fa5e21b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/invasion-surgut.jpg","webp":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_e7e36e7e158e908a.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_28a0fe43c2e78d82.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/11/171320.html","regions":["ivanovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["new-case","search","interrogation","282.2-2"],"title":"In Ivanovo, the First Criminal Case Was Opened Against Jehovah's Witnesses. Their Homes Were Searched","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 8, 2022, the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok confirmed the conviction of five believers from Nevelsk — their suspended sentences of two to six-and-a-half years remain unchanged.\nIn January 2022, the Nevelsk City Court of the Sakhalin Region found Sergey and Tatyana Kulakov, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Aleksandr Kozlitin and Yevgeniy Yelin guilty of either organizing or participating in the activity of an extremist organization. Three months later, the Sakhalin Regional Court dismissed the believers' appeal against the verdict.\nThe fact that the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses continues contrary to Russian law, causes bewilderment and misunderstanding among the international human rights community.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-11-08T16:42:57+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/11/081642/image_hu_61819dfa0160a746.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/11/081642/image_hu_7d8292f36b1bd4c3.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/11/081642/image_hu_622324dc68676f44.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/11/081642/image_hu_d5b1588c03a5c00d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/11/081642.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["cassation","suspended","families","282.2-1","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"The Court of Cassation Upheld the Verdict Against Five Jehovah's Witnesses from Nevelsk","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 7, 2022, Nikolay Razdrogin, judge of the Nikolskiy District Court of the Penza Region, sentenced one of Jehovah's Witnesses, 32-year-old Viktor Shayapov, to 2 years' suspended sentence with 8 months' probation. The believer received such punishment for peacefully practicing his religion.\nViktor became a defendant in a criminal case for his faith in October 2020. At that time, a wave of searches took place in Nikolsk at the homes of local Jehovah's Witnesses, including the home of the Shayapov family. In February 2022, Shayapov was detained in the Moscow Region, taken to Penza and placed under house arrest. He spent almost 9 months in isolation from society with a location-tracking device on his leg. The believer was also added to the list of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation.\nShayapov was accused of participating in the activity of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). For almost a year and a half, the investigation was carried out by the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Penza Region. In March 2022, the case went to court. During the 7 months' hearing, the participants of the proceedings examinded at least 15 volumes of case materials.\nThere were no facts of any extremist actions or appeals presented in them, and the testimonies of witnesses in court differed from the preliminary statements. Nevertheless, the prosecutor demanded that the believer was given a 4 year suspended sentence.\n“Let me ask a question which was neither answered by the investigator nor the prosecution”, Viktor Shayapov addressed the court in his final statement, “how could I apply Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation—exercise my right to profess religion individually and jointly with others—and at the same time not be prosecuted? I simply profess religious views that are not prohibited by law.” The believer insists on his complete innocence. The verdict can be appealed.\nThe courts of Penza Region had previously convicted eight more Jehovah's Witnesses for their faith, including women over 60 years of age.\nRussian and foreign human rights institutions have repeatedly drawn the attention of the Russian authorities to the fact that the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses is unlawful. The authorities continue to ignore such statements, and as a result, the number of peaceful believers labeled as extremists is on the rise.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-11-07T16:47:32+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/11/081647/image_hu_3ae114069eb6f24d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/11/081647/image_hu_6eef97731b273e20.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/11/081647/image_hu_5d0fc45661359e57.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/11/081647/image_hu_bcbdcc30793c2580.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/11/081647.html","regions":["penza"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","sentence","suspended","fabrications"],"title":"A Court in Penza Region Sentenced Viktor Shayapov to Two Years Suspended Sentence for Believing in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 3, 2022, the Court of Appeal in Pskov overturned the acquittal verdict against Alexey Khabarov and sent the case for a new trial to the court of first instance comprising different judges.\nThe believer is being prosecuted under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation because of his religion. The \"not guilty\" verdict was handed down by the Porkhovsky District Court of the Pskov Region on June 27, 2022. The prosecutor's office, which had requested a sentence of 3.5 years in a penal colony, appealed the acquittal to the Pskov Regional Court of Appeal.\nAlthough the believer has the right to appeal this appellate ruling (overturning the acquittal) to the Third Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction in St. Petersburg, his status has now changed from acquitted to defendant. The Porkhov District Court will have to schedule a hearing as soon as the case materials arrive there.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-11-04T16:21:21+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/11/041621/image_hu_dc3d1f29fdf05afb.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/11/041621/image_hu_8bbb7b46bb1ecffb.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/11/041621/image_hu_f10f43cd318675eb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/11/041621/image_hu_405471643ede5b04.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/11/041621.html","regions":["pskov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","retrial"],"title":"The Court of Appeal in Pskov Overturned the Acquittal Verdict Against One of Jehovah's Witnesses Aleksey Khabarov","type":"news"},{"body":"Lieutenant Colonel E. M. Skuridina, senior investigator of the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, initiates a criminal case against Sergey Solovyov for participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). She is already conducting a similar criminal case against 4 believers from Teikovo.\nThe investigation believes that Solovyov \"deliberately participated in the activities ... by directly participating in meetings... a banned organization, propaganda of its activities ... the teaching of religion and religious education.\"\n","caseTitle":"The case of Solovyov and Others in Ivanovo","date":"2022-11-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ivanovo/index.html#20221102","regions":["ivanovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 1, 2022, the Primorye Territory Court in Vladivostok upheld the sentence for Liya Maltseva from the town of Partizansk. This 53-year-old woman with a group II disability was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months of suspended sentence for participating in the activities of an extremist organization. This is how the court regarded the peaceful profession of faith in Jehovah God.\nThe verdict has entered into force. The believer still insists on her innocence. She has the right to appeal the verdict in cassation.\nIn the Court of Appeal, Liya Maltseva drew attention to the fact that not a single statement or action of hers, in which hatred, violence or enmity was manifested, was presented to the court of lower instance. She stressed: \"The State Prosecution has not demonstrated that I participated in any socially dangerous activity. All the evidence examined in the trial court only shows that I discussed the Bible and its teachings with other people. I participated in a peaceful worship service, where I sang songs, listened to a Bible speech, studied a religious text that was not included in the federal list of extremist materials. All this was of an exclusively peaceful nature\".\nThe believer has been under house arrest since August 2020. Then a search was conducted in her apartment, and Maltseva herself was subjected to a psychiatric examination, for which she had to go to Ussuriysk, 200 km from home. The basis of the criminal case was the testimony of one of the participants in the religious service, who conducted covert videotaping of the meetings of believers.\nIn Primorye Territory, criminal cases were opened on similar charges against 44 other people. The sentences for 13 of them have already entered into force.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-11-01T15:25:12+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/11/011525/image_hu_16b5de4d247a289a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/11/011525/image_hu_1a8fed0cfa4fcb3b.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/11/011525/image_hu_5719572b2077351d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/11/011525/image_hu_aa235b9fdd59f514.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/11/011525.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","disability"],"title":"In Vladivostok, the Appeal Upheld Liya Maltseva's Sentence for Professing the Faith of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 31, 2022, the retrial of the case of Svetlana Monis was completed in the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region. The result was a suspended sentence of 2.5 years for believing in Jehovah God — the same sentence was given by the regional court at the first appeal.\nSvetlana Monis' sentence includes a two-year probationary period, as well as a one-year restriction of freedom. The believer insists on her complete innocence, which she stated at the stage of the debate of the parties. She has the right to appeal the verdict again in the court of appeals.\nThe starting point of the criminal prosecution of Monis was Operation Doomsday, which took place in May 2018 in Birobidzhan. A year and a half later, the believer was accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization for practicing her religion. Monis' legal battle has been ongoing since March 2020. First, Svetlana was fined, later the regional court toughened the sentence. The cassation returned the case to the stage of appeal, which, in turn, sent it to a new consideration in the court of first instance. The hearings began in the spring of 2022. After seven months, the prosecutor again requested four years of imprisonment in a colony for the believer.\nThe Birobidzhan District Court is also considering the case of Svetlana's husband, Alam Aliyev. It is expected that it will enter the stage of debates in November 2022.\nIn June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights concluded that the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses unleashed in Russia is groundless.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-10-31T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/11/011521/image_hu_568b36d5d9b9c74.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/11/011521/image_hu_51de52748a6406e9.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/11/011521/image_hu_8c00ca79885872bb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/11/011521/image_hu_610e692bcd33f530.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/11/011521.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","families","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"The Birobidzhan District Court Again Issued a Verdict in the Case of the Believer Svetlana Monis — 2.5 Years Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 25, 2022, the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok considered Andrey Gubin's cassation appeal against verdict and appeal ruling, according to which he was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 2 years and 6 months suspended for his religion.\nThe believer considers himself innocent and unjustly convicted. At one time, the Local Religious Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan was liquidated by the decision of the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region. In its appellate ruling in the case, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation stated that \"members of this local organization are not deprived of the opportunity to perform their own religious worship.\" Gubin believes that he exercised this right. He tried to draw the attention of the Court of Cassation to this and many other rehabilitating circumstances of the case, but the verdict was not overturned.\nThe criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is puzzling to many legal scholars and human rights activists.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-10-25T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/10/271133/image_hu_5dc72b9213160aaf.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/10/271133/image_hu_c76e90f0d250f39f.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/10/271133/image_hu_b441066a606da1f2.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/10/271133/image_hu_cdae458ac691eddc.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/10/271133.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["cassation","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal of Jehovah's Witness Andrey Gubin against the verdict of the Birobidzhan District Court","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 20, 2022, the Krasnodar Territory Court dismissed an appeal of 49-year-old Aleksandr Nikolaev from the village of Kholmskaya. The father of five children will have to spend another 11 months in a penal colony for participating in an online worship service where he read aloud a passage from the Bible.\nThe sentence came into effect. The believer still insists on his innocence and has the right to file a complaint with the court of cassation. He has already spent almost 13 months in the detention center, which is added to his sentence on the basis of the principle one day for one and a half. The presumed date of release from the colony - September 19, 2023, but after release, Aleksandr Nikolaev must regularly report to the inspection of the Federal Penitentiary Service for six months at his place of residence. This part of the sentence was added by the appellate court.\nIn December 2021, the Abinsk District Court of Krasnodar Territory found Aleksandr Nikolaev guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and sentenced him to 2.5 years in a penal colony. The prosecutor asked for a sentence of 3 years in prison for the believer.\nEarlier, in April 2021 the house of Nikolayev was searched, Aleksandr was placed on his own recognizance not to leave. In September, an investigator summoned him to the Investigative Committee, allegedly for questioning. However, the believer was detained and taken to court, which sent him to jail.\nDuring the trial, the defense discovered falsifications. For example, the resolution on bringing him as an accused and the indictment were forged after Nikolaev had previously read them. \"They added that he was at home, gave an address and indicated that it was between 2017 and April 2020. Sometime in that interval,\" the lawyer said. However, the judge did not order an examination of the documents for falsification. The lawyer also reported that several pages in the case file had been replaced.\nThe accusation is based on a recording of a worship service made by security officers using spyware installed on the computer of Nikolaev's father-in-law, Alexander Ivshin (he is already serving a 7.5-year prison sentence for his faith). A total of six residents of the village of Kholmskaya were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment for reading the Bible.\nIn connection with the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, late Lyudmila Alekseeva, chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group, expressed her indignation: \"The extremism of Jehovah's Witnesses is expressed in the fact that they believe their faith is true. But, excuse me, what believer doesn't consider his faith to be true?\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-10-20T16:08:32+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/10/211608/image_hu_87d06f0c8e1cd292.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/10/211608/image_hu_d2195af3f1e45faa.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/10/211608/image_hu_cdc83e19ee70662b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/10/211608/image_hu_f415fcc43adf6dba.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/10/211608.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["minors","appeal","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"The Appeal in Krasnodar Affirmed the Verdict for the Faith of Aleksandr Nikolaev, a Many-Child Father","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator M. A. Grigorieva makes a decision to bring Natalia Voropaeva as an accused.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Voropaeva in Krasnoyarsk","date":"2022-10-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/krasnoyarsk10/index.html#20221020","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On 18 October 2022 the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok considered the appeal of Sergey Sergeyev and Yuriy Belosludtsev against their sentence. The judicial board disregarded their right to freedom of religion and upheld the decision of the first instance.\nAddressing the court of cassation, Yuriy Belosludtsev said: “I am an ordinary believer, and my actions, which were regarded as criminal by the court of first instance, are reading the Bible, singing songs, praying, and also talking on biblical topics. But these cases are ordinary cases for any believer, and they are protected by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation”.\nSergey Sergeyev noted: “I am a Christian and have never hated anyone and do not now. My beliefs are based on the commandments of God, on norms, principles, love and justice . . . Therefore, for me, being an extremist and a terrorist is simply unthinkable”.\nBelosludtsev and Sergeyev still do not admit their guilt and believe that the charge of extremism brought against them does not correspond to reality, as they exercised their right to freedom of religion and continued to worship Jehovah God, they did not commit any illegal actions.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-10-18T16:20:06+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/10/211620/image_hu_916ed9bdad18cd77.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/10/211620/image_hu_4bcdf058cc5cb3ff.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/10/211620/image_hu_164a76fd806b6b25.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/10/211620/image_hu_26306797f31c3253.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/10/211620.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","cassation","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"The Court of Cassation Upheld the Conviction of Sergey Sergeyev and Yuriy Belosludtsev - Six Years of Suspended Sentence for Believing in God","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 11, 2022, a panel of judges of the Birobidzhan Regional Court of Jewish Autononous Region overturned the conviction of Oleg Postnikov and his wife Agnessa and sent the criminal case for a new trial to the court of first instance. Believers will once again have to defend their right to freedom of religion in court.\nThe couple faced reprisals for their faith in May 2018, when their house was searched as part of the “Judgment Day” special operation. The prosecution against the Postnikovs was based on the testimony of police officer Yuliya Zvereva and another woman who feigned an interest in Bible study. A hidden video camera was installed in her house to record conversations with believers.\nJudge of the Birobidzhan District Court Marina Tsimarno sentenced Oleg and Agnessa to 5.5 and 5 years of suspended imprisonment respectively in April 2022. The prosecutor requested 5.5 years in a colony for Oleg, and 5 years in a colony for Agnes. It is not yet known why the Court of Appeal overturned the verdict.\nThe Jewish Autonomous Region is the region with the largest number of criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses. There were 19 cases against peaceful believers. Convictions for 14 of them have already entered into force.\n","category":"trial","date":"2022-10-11T15:43:18+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/10/111543/image_hu_544dc443110a1cc2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/10/111543/image_hu_efe39a4201b5e3b.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/10/111543/image_hu_e0de7b461f761c48.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/10/111543/image_hu_ceea1e0966db4732.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/10/111543.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","families"],"title":"An Appeal in Birobidzhan Overturned the Verdict for the Faith of the Postnikov Spouses and Returned Their Case for a New Trial","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 10, 2022, the Solnechniy District Court of the Khabarovsk Territory sentenced Boris Yagovitov to 5 years suspended sentence. It was only because of his faith that he was found guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and being involved in it. Yagovitov was released from custody in the courtroom. He spent more than 9 months in the pre-trial detention center.\nA criminal case against Boris Yagovitov was opened in May 2021. The believer was suspected of a crime under Part 1.1 and Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. A few weeks later, the Yagovitovs were detained in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and taken for interrogation to the village of Solnechniy. The place of residence of Boris and Nataliya was searched in their absence. In June 2021, the believer was placed under house arrest, and in December of the same year, he was placed in a pre-trial detention center.\nThe imprisonment of Boris added to the hardships of the Yagovitov family. Boris's wife, Nataliya, said: \"Difficulties for me are connected with emotional stress: you need to voluntarily go to a place where it is not entirely comfortable to stay, and at the same time be in a good mood in order to be a source of support for my Boris.\" In addition, Yagovitov's elderly mother was left for a long time without the necessary care of her son and his wife, as she lives 6700 km from them.\nThe investigation considered the testimony of Pavel Baleychuk to be the main evidence of Yagovitov's guilt, who, after several conversations with Boris, turned to the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and agreed to participate in operational-search activities. The case file contains audio recordings of his personal conversations with Yagovitov, as well as divine services attended by the informant.\nConsideration of the case in the Solnechniy District Court began in December 2021. Three months later, Judge Pavel Nesterov returned the case to the prosecutor's office to eliminate the violations committed at the preliminary investigation stage. The case returned to court in May 2022, and this time he was appointed to judge Alyona Stolyarova. The prosecutor asked the court to sentence the believer to 5 years in a penal colony, as well as 2 years and 11 months of restriction of freedom, but the judge assigned 50-year-old Boris Yagovitov a suspended sentence with a probationary period of 3 years and restriction of freedom for 1 year and 7 months. The believer insists on his complete innocence. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nIn the Khabarovsk Territory, 25 Jehovah's Witnesses are already being persecuted for their faith. Four of them served their sentences. Most human rights structures in Russia condemn the actions of the authorities.\nIn October 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarified that worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses do not fall under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Nevertheless, the intensity of criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is not decreasing.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-10-10T16:23:18+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/10/101623/image_hu_ae2e465823ae18d8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/10/101623/image_hu_dde09cfe1ed97367.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/10/101623/image_hu_76b81abc1327b576.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/10/101623/image_hu_1ef0ff95fee23e3d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/10/101623.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","retrial"],"title":"In Khabarovsk Territory, a Court Sentenced Boris Yagovitov to Five Years Suspended Sentence for Believing in Jehovah God And Released After Nine Months in a Pre-Trial Detention Center","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 6, 2022, the Krasnodar Regional Court, chaired by Igor Krainik, denied 45-year-old Lyudmila Shchekoldina her appeal against the verdict, which has now entered into force.\nIn May 2022, Lyudmila Shchekoldina was sentenced to 4 years and 1 month in a penal colony for participating in the peaceful worship of Jehovah's Witnesses. The believer appealed the verdict. In her appeal, she stressed that the court of first instance did not explain why the peaceful way of expressing faith in God was regarded as a crime, while freedom of religion is enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation.\nThe believer still insists on her innocence and can file a complaint with the court of cassation.\nIn February 2022, at a meeting of judges, Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev explained that peaceful religious rites and ceremonies cannot be considered extremist crimes. However, since 2017, at least 349 Jehovah's Witnesses have passed through Russian prisons.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-10-06T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/10/100921/image_hu_f35a5dea294ad686.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/10/100921/image_hu_d5fc4f4c1afea72.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/10/100921/image_hu_e304e472e18220e1.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/10/100921/image_hu_ef90d1a5c66c6d9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/10/100921.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"title":"The Court of Appeal in Krasnodar left behind bars Lyudmila Shchekoldina, sentenced to more than 4 years in prison","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 4, 2022, the Kirov Regional Court, chaired by Aleksandr Kulguskin, denied the appeal of six local believers. The verdict of the first instance — 2.5 to 6.5 years of suspended imprisonment — came into force.\nAndrzej Oniszczuk, Yevgeniy and Andrey Suvorkov, Maksim Khalturin, Vladimir Korobeynikov and Vladimir Vasilyev insist on their innocence because they practiced their religion legally. They have the right to appeal the verdict in cassation.\nSpeaking with his last word in the Court of Appeal, Andrzej Oniszczuk noted that he had been a Jehovah's Witness for more than 30 years and lived according to Biblical principles. He said: \"As a believer, I never even thought about extremism ... Inner convictions do not allow me to oppose the state system.\" Vladimir Vasilyev also noted: “I profess religious views that are not prohibited by law. I have never had anything to do with extremism.\"\nVladimir Korobeynikov said: “I love my family very much and take care of them. My wife and daughter, who lives with us, have disability of I and II degree. My relations with neighbors are friendly, and they know me as a person who is always ready to help. There is also a characteristic in the case file confirming this. Do extremists have such qualities?”\nMaksim Khalturin emphasized: “My parents, due to their age and illnesses, depend on my help, which is unrealistic for social services to provide. They have no other relatives who can help them. Therefore, if I am deprived of their liberty, they will be put on the brink of survival and will not last long.”\nThe peace-loving views of Andrey and Yevgeniy Suvorkov (stepson and stepfather) had prompted them to do alternative civilian service instead of military service, but in court they were forced to prove that they were not extremists.\nEarlier, four other of Jehovah's Witnesses from Kirov were convicted. For practicing their peaceful religion, they received fines ranging from 200 to 500 thousand rubles.\nDespite the fact that the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation issued a ruling in defense of the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses to hold worship services and joint religious rites and ceremonies, the persecution of believers in the country does not stop.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-10-04T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/10/060947/image_hu_87ce803a516d1bc1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/10/060947/image_hu_ea9ff580be5037bc.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/10/060947/image_hu_8b0abd816dd75bd4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/10/060947/image_hu_3eac32f83fd18de8.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/10/060947.html","regions":["kirov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","suspended","families"],"title":"Appeal in Kirov Upheld the Verdict Against 6 of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 3, 2022, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, chaired by Dmitriy Dobrobabin, considered Yevgeniy Yegorov’s appeal against the verdict and decided to return the criminal case for a new trial to the Birobidzhanskiy District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region.\nSpeaking with his last word in the court of appeal, the believer said: \"Four years of criminal prosecution undermined my emotional and physical health, I acquired an incurable disease, with which I now need to somehow survive. How else have I been hurt? Instead of devoting time to caring for my family and raising my little son, I am forced to defend my violated honor and restore my good name.\"\nYevgeniy Yegorov was convicted in June 2021 for meetings with fellow believers. In November of the same year, the appeal left the sentence unchanged—2.5 years of suspended sentence. However, later the Ninth Cassation Court in Vladivostok sent the case back for a second appeal, which now, in turn, initiated a new trial of the case.\nSimilar criminal cases have been opened in the Jewish Autonomous Region against 23 Jehovah's Witnesses, and 18 believers have already been sentenced.\n","category":"trial","date":"2022-10-03T16:09:54+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/10/031609/image_hu_7741842f6e07e6ab.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/10/031609/image_hu_d0f7ce43db4c7143.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/10/031609/image_hu_f7afcc81f8deb51e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/10/031609/image_hu_1936df758af8a3b4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/10/031609.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["2-appeal","282.2-2","health-risk","suspended"],"title":"A Second Appeal in Birobidzhan Returned the Case of Yevgeniy Yegorov for a New Trial","type":"news"},{"body":"As of September 30, 2022, 95 men and 5 women professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses are behind bars. Of these, 32 are in the penal colony and 68 in the pre-trial detention centers. Dmitriy Dolzhikov, arrested after a raid on Jehovah's Witnesses in Chelyabinsk, became the 100th prisoner.\nOn May 13, 2020, A. Bryuzgin, investigator of the Investigative Committee of the RF Investigative Committee for the Novosibirsk Region, opened a case against Dolzhikov. Two years later, the believer was detained in Chelyabinsk, and then placed in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Novosibirsk region. The search at Dmitriy's place of residence in Chelyabinsk was authorized by investigator A. Chepenko, who is known for the criminal persecution of believers in the Chelyabinsk region.\nDolzhikov is charged with Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, because he allegedly “intentionally, out of extremist motives, took part in the activities of a religious association . . . in the form of participation in religious meetings and meetings of an extremist organization, conducting conversations . . . demonstrations and watching educational videos.”\nWhile there are simultaneously 100 people in custody, another 249 of Jehovah's Witnesses have been to prisons and pre-trial detention centers, some of whom have spent more than five years behind bars. Information about these people, including their criminal prosecution history, can be found at jw-russia.org under \"Prisoners of Conscience\" using a filter system. A total of 643 people have been criminally persecuted for believing in Jehovah God.\nWhat is happening to Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is of concern to the international community. For example, on September 28, 2022, the OSCE held a conference in Poland to discuss religious freedom and protection of human rights. The speakers drew attention to the fact that \"Russia's actions against... Jehovah's Witnesses... include raids, arrests, long prison sentences, and probably torture.”\n","category":"analytics","date":"2022-09-30T16:15:16+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/09/301615/image_hu_6c45459f3b56b73d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/09/301615/image_hu_5f690ff17e43f63a.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/09/301615/image_hu_48621369ed711b6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/09/301615/image_hu_76888d2fbe3dd170.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/09/301615.html","regions":["novosibirsk","chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","analytics","review","statistics","282.2-2","international-community"],"title":"The 100th Jehovah's Witness Has Been Sent Behind Bars in Russia: Dmitriy Dolzhikov, 44, Is in a Novosibirsk Pre-Trial Detention Center","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 26, 2022, the Primorye Territory Court, having considered the appeal of six believers, upheld the guilty verdict. The decision of the court entered into force. Believers continue to insist on their innocence and can appeal the verdict in cassation.\nIn June 2022, the Leninskiy District Court of Vladivostok sentenced Valentin Osadchuk to 6 years of suspended sentence and 1 year of restriction of liberty. Five elderly women—Nadezhda Anoykina, Nina Purge, Raisa Usanova, Lyubov Galaktionova and Nailya Kogay—received 2 years of suspended sentence and 9 months of restriction of freedom.\nLitigation began in October 2019, when the believers' case first came to the Leninskiy District Court. At the request of the defense, a month later the court returned the case to the prosecutor's office. The prosecution repeatedly tried to appeal this decision, and in January 2021, the Ninth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction nevertheless decided to return the case for consideration to the court of first instance, which ultimately convicted the peaceful believers.\nIn Primorye Territory, 12 Jehovah's Witnesses have already been convicted for peacefully practicing their faith. For six of them, the sentence has already entered into force.\nThe Supreme Court of the Russian Federationdid not prohibit Jehovah's Witnesses from discussing biblical issues in the circle of fellow believers or other persons and thus performing worship services. This constitutional right is reserved for every citizen of the country, however, more than 640 Jehovah's Witnesses in 71 regions of Russia have already become defendants in criminal cases for their faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-09-26T16:22:46+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/09/261622/image_hu_35eae64a4149b420.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/09/261622/image_hu_5c48bdaac0129680.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/09/261622/image_hu_a5c66f0195c50bdf.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/09/261622/image_hu_1821f5235772f9a7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/09/261622.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"Appeal in Vladivostok Approves Sentencing of Valentin Osadchuk and Five Women to Suspended Sentences for Believing in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 22, 2022, the Second Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Moscow, chaired by Sergey Krylov, upheld the conviction of Jehovah's Witness Dmitriy Terebilov from Kostroma. For faith in God, he will spend 3 years in a penal colony.\nThe criminal prosecution of Dmitry Terebilov began in 2018 - the first search was carried out in his apartment. A year later, the search was repeated, and the believer learned about the criminal case initiated against him. Soon he was included in the list of extremists of Rosfinmonitoring. The court sentenced Terebilov to 3 years in prison, the appellate instance upheld the sentence. The criminal prosecution of Dmitriy Terebilov began in 2018—the first search was carried out in his apartment. A year later, the search was repeated, and the believer learned about the criminal case initiated against him. Soon he was included in the list of extremists of Rosfinmonitoring. The court sentenced Terebilov to 3 years in a penal colony, the appeal court upheld the sentence.\nThe believer attended the trial via video conference call from the penal colony. In the appeal, Terebilov emphasized that the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of April 20, 2017 did not impose a ban on the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which was reaffirmed in the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of October 28, 2021. Despite this, mass repressions against Jehovah's Witnesses do not subside.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-09-22T17:32:22+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/09/221732/image_hu_b6f664f8d587239d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/09/221732/image_hu_e32fea7e85e19c7a.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/09/221732/image_hu_3e6cd395e51ef430.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/09/221732/image_hu_574524cc621dcd1f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/09/221732.html","regions":["kostroma"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["cassation","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"Dmitriy Terebilov From Kostroma Will Remain in a Penal Colony. The Court of Cassation Affirmed the Verdict of the Believer","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 22, 2022 the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region reconsidered the appeal of Natalya Kriger at the direction of the 9th Court of Cassation of general jurisdiction. The new panel of judges overturned the first-instance sentence of 2.5 years of probation and returned the case for a new trial to the trial court.\nEarlier, 18 Jehovah's Witnesses from Birobidzhan were convicted for their faith and given suspended sentences of 2 to 2.5 years. The sentence of 14 of them came into force.\nRussian human rights activists and the international community condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The ECtHR recognized this persecution to be groundless and unlawful.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-09-22T15:13:13+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/09/231512/image_hu_d9a71f13d2eca70e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/09/231512/image_hu_8284238c15c9b44e.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/09/231512/image_hu_fb0f5664ec8b6f38.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/09/231512/image_hu_ab95551a913fdbd5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/09/231512.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","families"],"title":"Appeal in Birobidzhan Returned the Case Against Believer Natalia Kriger for a New Hearing","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 21, 2022, the Ninth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction in the city of Vladivostok upheld the sentence imposed on Anna Lokhvitskaya from Birobidzhan—a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence for her belief in Jehovah God.\nThe criminal prosecution of the Lokhvitsky family began in May 2018 when searches were carried out in the home of Anna and her husband and in the home of her mother-in-law. Later, in 2019, the FSB initiated a case against Anna's husband, Artur Lokhvitsky, and about a year later, Anna herself and her mother-in-law, Irina, were accused of extremism.\nOn July 20, 2021, the Birobidzhansky District Court sentenced Anna Lokhvitskaya to a two-and-a-half-year suspended prison sentence. The believer filed an appeal, but the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region did not grant it.\nIn her cassation appeal, Anna stated that she was a \"victim of discrimination\" and a \"victim of arbitrary criminal prosecution.\" She also pointed out that during the entire period of the investigation and trial, her rights guaranteed to her as a citizen of Russia, including freedom of religion and of expression and respect for personal life, family life, and home, were repeatedly violated.\nArtur Lokhvitsky and his mother, Irina Lokhvitskaya, were also given two-and-a-half-year suspended prison sentences. The cassation court upheld these judgments.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-09-21T09:37:03+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/09/230937/image_hu_1f99b756f49ae61e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/09/230937/image_hu_4e33df2fa2e28979.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/09/230937/image_hu_ca163e2fa1842b2d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/09/230937/image_hu_3a9dedbd9ab6a75a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/09/230937.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["cassation","families","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"The Cassation Court Did Not Change the Sentence Imposed on Anna Lokhvitskaya from Birobidzhan for Her Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 20, 2022, Aleksandr Yagubkin, a judge of the Partizan City Court of Primorye Territory, found 53-year-old Liya Maltseva guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. The believer was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months of suspended imprisonment and 7 months of restriction of liberty.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. Maltseva insists on her complete innocence. In her last statement in court, she said: \"It is unthinkable for me not only to commit a crime, but also to hate or even offend someone.\"\nIn July 2020, Liya Maltseva, a disabled person of group II, was surprised to find out that she was on the list of extremists of Rosfinmonitoring. As it turned out, a criminal case was initiated against her.\nCurrently, another trial is underway in Partizansk against believer Irina Buglak. The presiding judge is Darya Didur, who authorized the search at Liya Maltseva's house as well.\nAs Memorial Human Rights Center notes, the decisions of Russian courts, including the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, “contain not a single fact of violation of public order by believers, manifestations of aggression or violence on their part, evidence that their peaceful religious activities threatened the security of the Russian Federation [...] The foregoing allows us to speak about the obvious illegality of the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses, whose ‘crime’ is that they exercised the right to freedom of religion enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-09-20T15:01:52+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/09/211501/image_hu_cd81be14bdfb5045.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/09/211501/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/09/211501/image_hu_12246eeb66d2954.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/09/211501/image_hu_6bd23e7419205342.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/09/211501.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["disability","282.2-2","suspended","rosfinmonitoring","sentence"],"title":"Primorye Court Found Liya Maltseva, One of Jehovah's Witnesses with Disability, Guilty of Extremism for Believing in God","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 19, 2022, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court dismissed Ilya Olenin's appeal. The verdict has entered into force. The believer still insists on his innocence. He has the right to appeal the verdict in cassation.\nOn July 26, 2022, Judge Oleg Klementyev of the Snezhinskiy City Court of the Chelyabinsk Region found Ilya Olenin, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization and fined him 500,000 rubles. The fact that the believer “took part in the religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses, conducted conversations about the creeds of Jehovah's Witnesses” is cited as a justification for guilt. These actions are not prohibited by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but, on the contrary, are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation as fundamental human rights and freedoms.\nThe Court of Appeal excluded some evidence from the prosecution, but this did not affect the final punishment. During the trial, the fact that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not prohibit the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses was also not taken into account, but only assessed the actions of specific legal entities.\nDespite the fact that the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation issued a ruling in defense of the right of Jehovah's Witnesses to hold worship services and hold joint religious rites and ceremonies, the persecution of believers in the country does not stop. Despite the fact that the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation issued a ruling in defense of the right of Jehovah's Witnesses to hold worship services and hold joint religious rites and ceremonies, the persecution of believers in the country does not stop.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-09-19T10:40:46+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/09/201039/image_hu_1eeab035a7577a37.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/09/201039/image_hu_a0a9dd1c4bbc1659.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/09/201039/image_hu_6f9b814623b9f121.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/09/201039/image_hu_b01a27c9047a33a2.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/09/201039.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","appeal","fine"],"title":"An Appeal in Chelyabinsk Approved the Sentence of Ilya Olenin—a Fine of 500,000 Rubles for Believing in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"Judge of the Vyazemsky District Court of the Khabarovsk Territory Irina Loginova acquits Ilya Degtyarenko.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Degtyarenko in Vyazemsky","date":"2022-09-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyazemskiy2/index.html#20220919","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","acquittal"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 19, 2022, a panel of judges of the Krasnodar Regional Court upheld the sentence of Maksim Beltikov — 2 years in a general regime colony for believing in Jehovah God.\nThe court of first instance delivered its verdict in the Beltikov case on January 17, 2022. The believer was immediately taken into custody. Since that day, he has been behind bars, separated from his wife and three minor children. Maksim Beltikov maintains his innocence and can appeal the verdict on cassation.\nThe criminal prosecution of the believer began in the spring of 2020, when FSB officers searched the homes of many Jehovah's Witnesses in the Krasnodar Territory. Among them were Alexander Ivshin, Oleg Danilov, Alexander Shcherbina, Vladimir Skachidub andLyudmila Shchekoldina — the courts sentenced them to imprisonment in a colony for terms ranging from 2 to 7.5 years.\nBeltikov's accusation of extremism was based on audio recordings of his conversations about the Bible with the infiltrated intelligence agent Ilchenko. He was also a key witness for the prosecution in the case of Lyudmila Shchekoldina. Beltikov's accusation of extremism was based on audio recordings of his conversations about the Bible with the infiltrated agent Ilchenko. He was also a key witness for the prosecution in the case of Lyudmila Shchekoldina.\nRussian courts interpret the very fact that Jehovah's Witnesses hold worship services as extremist activity. However, the Government of the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that the courts did not prohibit the followers of this religion from singing songs, praying together and discussing the Bible - all of these are ways of practicing religion, protected by both Russian and international law. Russian courts interpret the very fact that Jehovah's Witnesses hold religious services as extremist activity. However, the Government of the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that the courts did not prohibit the followers of this religion from singing songs, praying together and discussing the Bible - all these are ways of practicing religion, protected by both Russian and international law.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-09-19T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/09/201604/image_hu_e9b971f86e7649f9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/09/201604/image_hu_f994328032669b74.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/09/201604/image_hu_e09d17a4c71b8418.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/09/201604/image_hu_58a4c473fc7aaaa.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/09/201604.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","minors","282.2-2"],"title":"An Appeal in Krasnodar Upheld the Sentence to Maksim Beltikov for His Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 15, 2022, the Seventh General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation in Chelyabinsk refused to satisfy the prosecutor's cassation submission and upheld the acquittal of Aleksandr Pryanikov, Venera and Darya Dulova.\nThe criminal persecution of believers began in June 2018, when police detained Aleksandr Pryanikov and Venera Dulova, who had disability of hearing, while talking about Bible topics. A month later, a criminal case was opened against them, accusing them of participating in the activities of an extremist organization for discussing the Bible. A year later, the third defendant in the case was the daughter of Venera, Darya Dulova.\nThe court of first instance issued a guilty verdict in January 2021, but in August an appeals court in Yekaterinburg overturned it and returned the case to the court of first instance. As a result of repeated hearings in the new composition, the court again sentenced the believers to suspended sentences. In the spring of 2022, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court overturned the decision of the court of first instance and acquitted the believers. But the prosecutor filed a cassation presentation with the Seventh Court of Cassation.\nAleksandr Pryanikov, Venera and Darya Dulova are defendants in another criminal case initiated for their faith on similar charges.\n","category":"victory","date":"2022-09-15T15:58:43+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/09/151558/image_hu_976c795f0bac696e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/09/151558/image_hu_b6ce5571f45a3b21.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/09/151558/image_hu_d1ee2c3a7b911667.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/09/151558/image_hu_28bbc2d95f51e70c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/09/151558.html","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["cassation","282.2-2","acquittal","families","disability"],"title":"An Appeals Court Upheld the Acquittal of Three Jehovah's Witnesses from Karpinsk","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 14, 2022, the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok approved the sentence of 29-year-old Tatyana Sholner - 2.5 years of suspended imprisonment.\nSholner faced criminal prosecution for her faith in 2020, when FSB investigator Dmitriy Yankin opened 6 criminal cases for faith against women from Birobidzhan in one day. All of them were charged with participation in the activities of an extremist organization. The basis was the reading and discussion of the Bible, prayers and religious songs in the circle of friends.\nThe court of first instance ruled on June 25, 2021, then in December of the same year, the upheld the upheld the verdict. Tatyana Sholner still considers both of these decisions unjust, as she stated in her appeal: “Law enforcement agencies did not establish a single fact of my illegal activities … Not a single person has been identified who suffered from the activities of believers.” The decision of the court of cassation deprived Tatyana of the right to rehabilitation.\nIn total, the Ninth Cassation Court received complaints in 16 cases of Jehovah's Witnesses from the Jewish Autonomous Region. Four of them were sent for re-appeal.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-09-14T09:12:14+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/09/150912/image_hu_8001b85467a10483.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/09/150912/image_hu_36107428ddeba7f4.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/09/150912/image_hu_12b94eae06fcc779.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/09/150912/image_hu_772d7d2ca9c6737a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/09/150912.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","cassation","suspended"],"title":"An Appeals Court Left Unchanged Birobidzhan-Based Tatyana Sholner's Court Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"Senior Lieutenant of Justice Grigorieva opened a criminal case against Natalia Voropaeva on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, she was involved in extremism, as she \"participated ... in reading and discussing texts from the Bible... in the performance of religious chants and prayers.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Voropaeva in Krasnoyarsk","date":"2022-09-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/krasnoyarsk10/index.html#20220905","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Grigoriev initiates a criminal case against Izolda Guseva. The woman is charged with participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The investigation considers it a crime that she discussed the Bible with friends via video conferencing.\n","caseTitle":"Guseva's case in Yaroslavl","date":"2022-08-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/yaroslavl4/index.html#20220829","regions":["yaroslavl"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Deputy Head of the Investigation Department for Komsomolsk-on-Amur of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region, Captain of Justice V.S. Meshcheryakov is prosecuting Tatyana Bondarenko and Yelena Nesterova as defendants under Parts 1.1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (inducement, recruitment or other involvement of a person in the activities of an extremist organization and participation in it). According to the investigation, the women, talking about the Bible with people, urged them to spread and promote beliefs banned in the Russian Federation. According to the ruling, Bondarenko persuaded a certain V. N. Dyomina to \"participate in the activities of a religious organization ... by persuasion and otherwise involving it in the activities of this extremist organization through a false belief in the correctness of its teachings.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Tatyana Svoboda and others in Komsomolsk-on-Amur","date":"2022-08-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/komsomolsk-on-amur/index.html#20220828","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 25, 2022, Yelena Simonova, judge of the Leninskiy District Court of Saransk, sentenced six Jehovah's Witnesses, including a woman and a father of two young children, to gross terms of imprisonment in a penal colony just because of their religion.\nThe prosecutor requested 2.5 years in a penal colony for Shevchuk, Antonov and Korolev, 4 years and 2 months for the Nikulins, and 6.5 years for Atryakhin. Despite the absence of victims in the case, the court assigned real terms of imprisonment to all believers: for Vladimir Atryakhin—6 years, for Georgiy Nikulin and his wife Yelena—4 years and 2 months each, for Aleksandr Shevchuk, Aleksandr Korolev and Denis Antonov—2 years each. The believers were taken into custody in the courtroom.\nThe criminal prosecution of believers began on February 6, 2019, when a series of searches and detentions took place in Saransk. On the same day, the three detainees were sent to custody, where they subsequently spent from 51 (Atryakhin) to 147 days (Nikulin and Shevchuk). They were accused of organizing, continuing, and financing the activities of an extremist organization (Parts 1, 1.1, and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) because of talking about the Bible. The investigation of the case was carried out by the investigator of the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia in the Republic of Mordovia, E. V. Makeev. Long before the ban on legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, back in 2003-2004, he himself was interested in the Bible and, together with his wife, attended services of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nAt the time of Vladimir Atryakhin's arrest, his children were 9 months and 2 years old. According to him, during his stay in the pre-trial detention center, worrying about his family was a difficult test for him. In places of detention, he also faced pressure: “The conditions of life in detention were difficult, especially at first. The staff of the pre-trial detention center tried to humiliate, put pressure on . . . Constant searches. During the day it was impossible to lie on the bed, only sit on the bench. Cold. Instead of a mattress, in fact, a piece of fabric on top of a sheet of iron.\nDenis Antonov lost his business due to a criminal case. He and his wife, Olga, were forced to work odd jobs to take care of themselves and their elderly mother, Olga, in their care.\nYelena Nikulina, while her husband was in jail, was left without a job and a livelihood. Also, she was not allowed to meet with her husband. And a year after the search, the family lost their homes due to a fire. According to Yelena, fellow believers came to the rescue: “During this period [after the fire], we felt like members of a global family. Support poured in from all over the world, and after 4 months we had a small apartment.”\nOther defendants also felt the support of those who are not indifferent. “At the moment, my wife and I have everything we need and even more,” said Denis Antonov. Aleksandr Shevchuk, who is a descendant of Jehovah's Witnesses who were repressed in 1951, recalls: “Letters brought particular joy. Each of them had something just for me.”\nThe Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts to liquidate and ban organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not evaluate the dogma of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain restrictions or prohibitions on individually practicing the above doctrine.\" The European Court of Human Rights declared the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses unlawful.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-08-25T09:14:51+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/08/260914/image_hu_e87da610fd649a5d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/08/260914/image_hu_d5c8b4712e6b1021.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/08/260914/image_hu_83a19ef70e607e8a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/08/260914/image_hu_9d20724239afb088.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/08/260914.html","regions":["mordovia"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","minors","families","help-providing"],"title":"A Mordovia Court Sentenced Six Saransk-Based Jehovah's Witnesses, Including a Woman, to Two to Six Years in Prison for Practicing Their Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Lyubov Galitsyna was charged in a previously initiated criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yeritsyan and Others in Novocherkassk","date":"2022-08-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novocherkassk/index.html#20220816","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In the early morning of August 11, 2022, in Novocherkassk (Rostov region), security forces conducted searches at 10 addresses, after which local believers were interrogated. The court placed two men, Garegin Khachaturyan, 55, and Gevorg Yeritsyan, 35, in pre-trial detention center No. 3 in Novocherkassk for 2 months.\nThis is already the 11th criminal case against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Rostov Region. The news is being added.\nUpdate. It became known that Lyubov Galitsyna, 66, was detained and sent to a pre-trial detention center. Returning from vacation, she found out that she had been summoned for interrogation. Anticipating a possible arrest, the believer took essentials and medicines with her. Senior investigator R. A. Bakhramov charged her under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and detained.\nThe Novocherkassk city court decided to send Galitsyna to a pre-trial detention center for 2 months. The woman was led to the courtroom and later to the paddy wagon to the applause of 30 fellow believers who came to support her.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-08-11T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_4c19bccc616a0461.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_e7ed3c04c528ed3b.jpg","webp":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_e58593e77498609.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_3097a2541128b86e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/08/161428.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","search","interrogation","new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"Searches Were Carried Out at the Homes of Local Jehovah's Witnesses in Novocherkassk. Two Believers Were Placed in a Detention Center","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 11, 2022, in Trubchevsk and Unecha, two cities in the Bryansk Region, searches were carried out at the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses. Some of them were already invaded by the security forces in 2019.\nThe raid, conducted by officers Center for Combating Extremism (CPE) and the Investigative Committee, took place at least at four addresses. Electronic devices, personal records and friendly letters were confiscated from believers. During subsequent interrogation in the Investigative Committee, citizens used the 51st article of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.\nUpdate. According to updated information, on August 11, not four, but two searches took place, in the city of Unecha and the village of Vorobyovka, Unechsky district. According to available information, the investigative measures took place within the framework of a criminal case under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against 44-year-old Yelena Yashina. According to the investigation, the believer “being in public places and living quarters of residents of the city of Unecha and other settlements in the region, promoted the activities of the organization [Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia], distributing relevant literature and making attempts to involve new members in the banned organization” (from the press release of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Bryansk Region).\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-08-11T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_a3b2ced771142e34.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_ec173bd2c80c730f.jpg","webp":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_613284c7a1a776c5.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_7959300de005eb5f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/08/161430.html","regions":["bryansk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","282.2-2","interrogation","new-case"],"title":"Three Years After the Mass Raid on Jehovah's Witnesses, Searches Were Again Held in the Bryansk Region. Criminal Case Was Initiated","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 9, 2022, a panel of judges of the Second Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction, chaired by Judge Komarova, upheld the verdict and appeal decision regarding the spouses Rayman, Sergey and Valeria.\nEarlier, on October 9, 2020, the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma found the believers guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization and participating in it and sentenced them to 8 and 7 years of probation. In February 2021, the Kostroma Regional Court mitigated this punishment, and then the cassation sent the case back for re-appeal.\nOn March 30, 2022, a panel of judges of the Kostroma Regional Court excluded Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation from the verdict, and also recalculated the sentence taking into account the 9 and 6 months of restriction of liberty served by Sergey and Valeria. As a result, the Ryman spouses were given 7 and 6.5 years of probation with a probation period of 2 years.\nBased on the results of the cassation, this decision remains in force.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-08-09T16:01:32+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/08/101601/image_hu_dc8575f81c5d6665.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/08/101601/image_hu_c822576f84d4eed9.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/08/101601/image_hu_e5eb3704c54ea3a6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/08/101601/image_hu_8319f01b31028326.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/08/101601.html","regions":["kostroma"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","cassation","families","suspended"],"title":"The court of cassation finally upheld the sentence to Sergey and Valeria Rayman from Kostroma - 7 and 6.5 years suspended with a probationary period of 2 years","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 5, 2022, the judge of the Zelenogorsk City Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Marina Petukhova, found 62-year-old Aleksandr Kabanov guilty of extremist activities and sentenced him to 2 years of suspended sentence.\nAt the end of December 2019, a series of searches were carried out in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in the closed city of Zelenogorsk. Law enforcement officers interrogated 8 people, among whom were minors. The Investigative Committee of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia opened a criminal case against Aleksandr Kabanov, the security forces detained him at his workplace. Later, his home was searched. He was arrested and placed in a temporary detention center for a day. The believer was charged under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of the activities of an extremist organization). Later, the article of the charge was mitigated by Part 2 of Art. 282.2 (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\nAccording to investigators, Kabanov \"organized... the activities of 24 groups of members of the banned organization and supervised their activities,\" which consisted of holding peaceful meetings where believers read and discussed the Bible. The security forces also considered it a crime to talk about God with those who do not share the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nThe investigation went on for 1 year and 2 months, and on February 15, 2021, the case was submitted to the Zelenogorsk City Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. After about 10 months of court hearings, instead of announcing the verdict, the court returned the case to the stage of judicial investigation.\nAs emphasized by the defense and Aleksandr Kabanov himself, there is not a single evidence in the case that he caused any harm to anyone. During the court hearings, the secret witness also did not confirm the charges against the defendant. Nevertheless, state prosecutor A.V. Ermakova asked the court to sentence the believer to 2.5 years in prison.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-08-05T14:53:09+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/08/051453/image_hu_774e99aab196286.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/08/051453/image_hu_1a7fe6769a4e52cd.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/08/051453/image_hu_d85ceb21e87cd8d6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/08/051453/image_hu_677c4277504ce606.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/08/051453.html","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","secret-witness","elderly"],"title":"A Court in the Krasnoyarsk Territory Sentenced one of Jehovah's Witnesses, Aleksandr Kabanov, to a Suspended Sentence for Discussing the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 2, 2022, the 9th General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation overturned the appeal decision in the case of Nataliya Kriger and sent the case for a new trial at the appeal stage. The verdict for faith is considered not to have entered into force.\nOn July 30, 2021, the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region found Nataliya Kriger guilty of extremism, considering her presence at the services of Jehovah's Witnesses a crime, although this belief is not prohibited in Russia. The court sentenced her to 2.5 years suspended and 1 year of restriction of liberty. The believer appealed the verdict, but on November 25 the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region approved it. Nataliya considered these decisions illegal and filed a cassation appeal.\n“April 19 and May 6, 2018, several families of the Christian religion peacefully gathered together at their homes, read and discussed the Bible, prayed, sang religious songs. This became the basis for criminal prosecution against me. Such persecution was carried out not because I had committed any crime, but because of who I am — a Christian, one Jehovah's Witness,” Nataliya wrote in her appeal.\nAccording to Nataliya Kriger, law enforcement agencies have not established a single fact of her illegal activities. “Even [under surveillance] nothing was recorded to claim that I or any of Jehovah's Witnesses committed or called for illegal acts. Not a single person has been identified who suffered from the activities of believers,” says Nataliya.\nHaving considered the arguments of the believer, the court overturned the decision of the appellate instance, which recognized the sentence for faith as just. The new appeal hearing will be held in a different composition of judges of the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region.\n","category":"trial","date":"2022-08-02T15:35:49+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/08/051535/image_hu_3f9dd9960e1f78d7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/08/051535/image_hu_542037ea2f920886.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/08/051535/image_hu_8195c49bd4606252.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/08/051535/image_hu_c07e0a31486f7424.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/08/051535.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["families","cassation","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"In Birobidzhan, the Cassation Sent the Case of Nataliya Kriger, Convicted for Her Faith, to a New Appeal Hearing","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 28, 2022, the Primorye Regional Court, presided over by Judge Anna Chernenko, upheld the conviction of Jehovah's Witness Vitaliy Ilyinykh. For his belief in God, he was found guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization.\nThe decision of the lower court adopted in April 2022 came into force—Vitaliy Ilyinykh was sentenced to 2.5 years of suspended sentence with a two-year probationary period. The prosecutor asked for a longer suspended sentence—4 years. The believer insists on his complete innocence and can file a cassation appeal.\nVitaliy Ilinykh and his mother, Olga Opaleva, have been persecuted for their faith since 2019. The Ilinykhs' house was searched twice, after the second one Vitaliy spent 2 days in the temporary detention center. Recalling those events, the believer said: “The hardest thing was to realize that the ‘calm’ life was over.” The criminal prosecution deprived Vitaliy Ilinykh of the opportunity to fully take care of his mother. He also faced financial difficulties due to the blocking of his accounts.\nIn total, 41 Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted for their faith in Primorye Territory, more than in any other subject of the Russian Federation. Among those charged with extremism are 87-year-old Yelena Zaishchuk, 74-year-old Lyudmila Shut and 79-year-old Vladimir Filippov.\nThe Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not prohibit Jehovah's Witnesses from discussing biblical issues in the circle of fellow believers or other persons and thus performing worship services. This constitutional right is reserved for every citizen of the country, however, more than 630 Jehovah's Witnesses in 71 regions of Russia have already become defendants in criminal cases for their faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-07-28T16:18:05+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/07/281618/image_hu_4126039dfad27657.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/07/281618/image_hu_c0501c601688bea6.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/07/281618/image_hu_f89318dd8d3f09c9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/07/281618/image_hu_37edb53375fe240f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/07/281618.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","rosfinmonitoring"],"title":"Appeal in Ussuriysk Approved the Conviction of Vitaliy Ilinykh—a Suspended Sentence for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigation opened a criminal case against Sergey Petrenko under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the basis of the case materials against another believer, Aleksandr Kalistratov.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Petrenko in Gorno-Altaysk","date":"2022-07-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/gorno-altaysk2/index.html#20220728","regions":["altai"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Vladislav Minaev prosecutes Tatyana Sushilnikova as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in criminal case No. 12202320010000232. The investigation believes that the believer \"repeatedly personally actively participated in meetings of followers of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Sushilnikova in Novokuznetsk","date":"2022-07-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novokuznetsk2/index.html#20220722","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lyubov Serebryakova is being prosecuted as a defendant in violation of Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). The woman is accused of attending services of Jehovah's Witnesses and telling other people about her faith.\nThe believer is again interrogated and a preventive measure is chosen for her in the form of a recognizance not to leave and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Serebryakova in Novokuznetsk","date":"2022-07-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novokuznetsk3/index.html#20220722","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2","interrogation","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 14, 2022, a panel of judges of the Tomsk Regional Court mitigated the sentence of one of Jehovah's Witnesses, Andrey Ledyaykin, 33, replacing the sentence of 2 years and 2 months in prison with a suspended sentence of the same term.\nIn July 2020, FSB and Investigative Committee officers, accompanied by two OMON fighters, arrived at Andrey Ledyaikin’s place of work, the administration of Seversk, to pick him up for a search of his home. After the Seversk Investigative Department opened a criminal case against Ledyaykin in March 2021, he was forced to resign. Rosfinmonitoring has included a peaceful believer in the list of extremists and terrorists.\nOn April 26, 2022, the judge of the Seversky City Court of the Tomsk Region, Yekaterina Soldatenko, sentenced Andrey Ledyaykin to 2 years and 2 months in prison with serving a sentence in a penal colony, although there were no victims and evidence of harm to the state and society in the case. Since then, Andrey has been held in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Tomsk region.\nThe believer still insists on his innocence and can appeal the decisions of the courts in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nThe courts of the Tomsk region have already sentenced 6 Jehovah's Witnesses for their faith, including an 80-year-old woman. On June 7, 2022, the ECHR declared illegal the liquidation of the administrative center and another 395 legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, which law enforcement agencies take as a basis for criminal prosecution, although not a single Russian court has banned the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-07-14T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/07/151002/image_hu_b81b0c60af66b3f5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/07/151002/image_hu_cf37f85fee169b8f.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/07/151002/image_hu_9144d6c9218ba2a3.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/07/151002/image_hu_618618e67c723e23.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/07/151002.html","regions":["tomsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","appeal","mitigation","suspended","liberty-deprivation","work-restrictions","rosfinmonitoring"],"title":"An Appeal in Seversk Replaced the Prison Term of Andrey Ledyaykin With a Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"On the morning of July 13, 2022, searches were carried out in Rybinsk at 16 addresses where Jehovah's Witnesses live; three families were also searched at their country-house. There were no arrests. Criminal cases have been initiated.\nThe raid was initiated by the Russian Investigative Committee for the Yaroslavl region. Special events were held with the participation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Guard officers, as well as detectives of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Yaroslavl Region A. Ivanenko, V. Moskalev and D. Kovalenko. The basis was the decision of the Rybinsk City Court of July 12, 2022.\nCommunication equipment, electronic devices, data carriers, a digital camera, audio cassettes with music files, several copies of the Bible in different translations, and a book by a religious scholar about Jehovah's Witnesses were seized from the believers.\nOne of the believers said that 7 people came to her with a search. They did not show their official identification, but showed a search warrant. One of the officers was armed. The woman recalls: “It was very scary. Violence was not used, but for me the interrogation was real torture, since my health is very poor, I fell into faint. The interrogation of the believer lasted about 4 hours.\nUpdate. The woman's son and his wife were also searched. First, the security forces invaded their dacha. The search was attended by an investigator of the Investigative Committee, Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Bruders, a representative of the FSB and two witnesses, who, according to the victims, were police officers and assisted in conducting the search. The believer's wife was taken away for interrogation to the investigative committee, and he himself was taken to the apartment in the city to continue the search. There he found that the door to the dwelling had been broken down. Later, he was taken for interrogation to the building of the local lyceum, where other believers from Rybinsk were also interrogated. The man was told that he was a witness in the case against Yevgenia Samoilova and Olga Golovacheva (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which would be conducted by Dmitry Kolesnikov, an investigator for especially important cases.\nThe security forces also came with a search to the family of 60-year-old believers, where the wife is disabled since childhood. One police officer introduced himself as a neighbor and asked to open the door, another, entering, began to record what was happening on video, but at the request of the owner of the house, he stopped filming. The couple's bank cards, on which pensions and salaries were accrued, were confiscated. They were later interrogated separately from each other.\nDuring a search in the apartment of Alexander Belyakov, the security forces demanded him to explain for what purpose he installed a program for video conferencing. According to the believer, the law enforcement officers behaved rudely: “They ordered me to stand up facing the interior door, raise my hands up, turning them palms out, and at the same time spread my legs as wide as possible. They said that I would stand like that until I told the password from the mail. There were threats of physical force.\" After the search, the believer was interrogated at the FSB department, and then taken to the Investigative Committee. All these events lasted about 15 hours. A criminal case has been initiated against the man.\nDuring a search in the apartment of Alexander Belyakov, the security forces demanded him to explain for what purpose he installed a program for video conferencing. According to the believer, the law enforcement officers behaved rudely: “They ordered me to stand up facing the interior door, raise my hands up, turning them palms out, and at the same time spread my legs as wide as possible. They said that I would stand like that until I told the password from the mail. There were threats of physical force.\" After the search, the believer was interrogated at the FSB department, and then taken to the Investigative Committee. All these events lasted about 15 hours. A criminal case has been initiated against the man.\nThe day after the raid, on July 14, one of the believers, 45-year-old Dmitriy Lebedev, was summoned for interrogation, where he was told that a criminal case had also been opened against him. The believer was threatened with 6 years in prison.\nOn July 27, Dmitriy Lebedev's house was searched again. Earlier, during the first raid in Rybinsk, an unknown man called Dmitriy from his mother's phone and said from the name of ambulance doctors that he needed to come to her. When he arrived at the house, he was met by police officers and taken away for interrogation. It also became known that on July 27, another believer, Yuriy Gusev, was taken to the Investigative Committee. Information regarding him is being specified.\nIn April 2021, mass searches were already taking place in Yaroslavl and Rybinsk. Criminal cases were initiated against 4 peaceful believers, now they are under a ban on certain actions.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-07-13T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/UAZ_Police_hu_947dc7e0f5f68c90.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/UAZ_Police_hu_73c0f0de456d043.jpg","webp":"/news/common/UAZ_Police_hu_8aa4f932f69f3d33.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/UAZ_Police_hu_f0775ec321e7e27e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/07/250918.html","regions":["yaroslavl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["interrogation","new-case","search","282.2-2","disability"],"title":"Mass Searches and Interrogations of Believers Took Place in the Yaroslavl Region","type":"news"},{"body":"D. S. Kovalenko, an investigator of the Rybinsk Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Yaroslavl Region, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Evgenia Samoilova and Olga Golovacheva.\nOn the same day, the investigator draws up a petition to search the house of another local believer, who is also suspected of participating in extremist activities.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Samoilova and Others in Rybinsk","date":"2022-07-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rybinsk/index.html#20220711","regions":["yaroslavl"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator for particularly important cases of the SO in the city of Novokuznetsk of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Kemerovo Region - Kuzbass, Captain of Justice Vladislav Minaev initiates a criminal case against Lyubov Serebryakova. According to the investigation, she \"conducted conversations\" of a religious nature, and also participated in religious services.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Serebryakova in Novokuznetsk","date":"2022-07-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novokuznetsk3/index.html#20220708","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 30, 2022, a panel of judges of the Tomsk Regional Court upheld the conviction of one of Jehovah's Witnesses—Sergey Belousov, 44. The believer was found guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization.\nIn sentencing Sergey Belousov to three years of suspended sentence, judge Yekaterina Soldatenko of the Severskiy City Court of the Tomsk Region did not take into account that the right to be a believer does not depend on the existence of a legal entity or its prohibition. “As a result of a miscarriage of justice, I was only convicted of professing Bible-based beliefs and peacefully practicing my Christian faith as a Jehovah's Witness,” the believer said during the consideration of his complaint. Despite this, as well as a number of other violations, the appellate court upheld the verdict of April 14, 2022.\nThe believer still insists on his innocence. The verdict came into force, but Sergey Belousov has the right to appeal it in cassation.\nIn the Tomsk region, 7 believers are already being repressed for their faith in Jehovah God. Sergey Klimov and Yevgeniy Korotun were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment (6 and 7 years, respectively), and Yelena Savelyeva, 80,—to 4 years of suspended sentence.\nInternational organizations, Russian human rights activists and the European Court of Human Rights condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-06-30T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/07/011113/image_hu_c27108e2a7667412.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/07/011113/image_hu_270921e743fc28c3.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/07/011113/image_hu_f79b71fea7ecad7f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/07/011113/image_hu_111ab8c1d0e4dcc8.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/07/011113.html","regions":["tomsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","appeal","suspended"],"title":"A Seversk Appeal Upheld Sergey Belousov's Suspended Three-Year Sentence for Practicing Faith in God","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 30, 2022, the Tomsk Regional Court, chaired by Judge Andrey Kaplyuk, mitigated the sentence imposed by the court of first instance and replaced Andrey Kolesnichenko, 52, having changed four years in a penal colony for four years of probation.\nThe hearing was held via video-conferencing, as Kolesnichenko is in the pre-trial detention center in the city of Kolpashevo, which is more than 300 kilometers from Seversk. After the decision of the Court of Appeal, the believer was released. The verdict has entered into force. Kolesnichenko has the right to appeal against it in the cassation procedure.\nIn January 2022, Andrey Kolesnichenko was found guilty by the judge of the Severskiy City Court of the Tomsk Region, Yalchin Badalov. He considered proven the believer's guilt in participating in the activities of an extremist community (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The sentence turned out to be somewhat milder than the prosecutor requested—5 years in prison. The believer was taken into custody.\nOn the same day, the judge of the Severskiy City Court, Svetlana Chebotareva, found guilty and sent to a colony for 7 years the brother of Andrey's wife, Yevgeniy Korotun.\nThe criminal prosecution of both Andrey Kolesnichenko and Yevgeniy Korotun began with searches that took place in July 2020. The Investigative Committee for the Tomsk Region opened a criminal case against Korotun, from which 8 months later he separated the case of Kolesnichenko into a separate proceeding.\nOn December 17, 2021, the 35 member countries of the International Religious Freedom Alliance issued a joint statement in defense of Jehovah's Witnesses who are being persecuted for their religious beliefs. The statement calls for the immediate release of all prisoners and an end to torture, violence, searches and other forms of discrimination against this denomination.\n","category":"trial","date":"2022-06-30T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/07/011108/image_hu_be64779a29383cfc.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/07/011108/image_hu_b1e7f28203b9a5bf.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/07/011108/image_hu_d63719bd84f1d135.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/07/011108/image_hu_f1f4d150e7921ffc.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/07/011108.html","regions":["tomsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","mitigation","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","families"],"title":"Tomsk Regional Court Replaced Seversk-Based Andrey Kolesnichenko's Four-Year Prison Sentence With a Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 27, 2022, Porkhovsky District Court of Pskov Region found 47-year-old Aleksey Khabarov not guilty of participation in activity of extremist organization (article 282.2 part 2 of Criminal Code of Russian Federation). Friends who came to support the believer met the court's decision with applause.\nThe verdict will come into force, if the prosecutor's office does not appeal. For now, Aleksey Khabarov will continue to be under recognizance agreement.\nIn September 2021, the Porkhovsky District Court sentenced Khabarov to three years of suspended sentence, although no evidence of Khabarov's involvement in extremist activity was presented during the trial. Two months later, an appeal overturned the verdict and sent the case back for reconsideration. All this time Aleksey Khabarov was under recognizance agreement.\n\"Both during the first hearing and now, no intent to carry out extremist activities was seen,\" Aleksey Khabarov said during the debate, \"there is not a single proof that I participated in activities that in any way resemble extremism, aimed at inciting religious and social hatred and hostility towards persons who practice another religion”. Speaking in court, he also referred to the recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights, which declared the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia unjust, and all unfolded persecution of followers of this religion unfounded.\nAleksey Khabarov welcomes the court's unbiased consideration of the case and its protection of his legal right to peacefully practice Jehovah's Witnesses religion in association with others. Earlier at one of the hearings he noted, \"The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not forbid me, together with my friends or with my family, to discuss biblical issues and thus to perform worship services. And this constitutional right does not depend on whether or not there is a legal entity or any registration. Discussion of the Bible by a group of people is not included in the list of extremist activities”.\n","category":"victory","date":"2022-06-29T15:57:01+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/06/291557/image_hu_237bee8e25bda955.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/06/291557/image_hu_142e0fc24864020f.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/06/291557/image_hu_fa7bd9dc60e97132.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/06/291557/image_hu_83800c9b8542e131.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/06/291557.html","regions":["pskov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","acquittal","recognizance-agreement","retrial"],"title":"In Pskov Region, the Court Completely Acquitted Aleksey Khabarov—One of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 14, 2022, at least 5 civilians were subjected to searches in the town of Baley, Trans-Baikal Territory. These are Lidiya Bzovi, Yelena Baylukova, 71-year-old Tatyana Kuznetsova and the Saranchuk spouses: 75-year-old Valeriy and 71-year-old Tatyana.\nThe elderly believer Lidiya Bzovi is facing religious persecution for the second time in her life. In 1951, by order of Joseph Stalin, she was exiled to Siberia along with other Jehovah's Witnesses. That sad page in the history of Soviet repressions was called Operation North.\nThe searches were initiated by the investigator of the Nerchinsk Interdistrict Investigation Department N. O. Buintseva. In June 2022, she opened a criminal case No. 12202760012000028 under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in extremist activities). The search warrant was given by the judge of the Baley City Court of the Trans-Baikal Territory O. Yu. Shcheglova.\nIn 2020, the previous wave of searches struck local Jehovah's Witnesses in the Trans-Baikal Territory. They were accompanied by beatings and torture. A criminal case was initiated against seven detainees. One of the believers in June 2022 was sentenced to 6 years in prison, two — to 6.5.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-06-23T10:01:33+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/omon_hu_cc21e0c1b202fec1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/omon_hu_ffc696cb236da5bb.jpg","webp":"/news/common/omon_hu_4c87d2ce782042cd.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/omon_hu_9c4da176cf33a608.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/06/231001.html","regions":["zabaykalsky"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","elderly","282.2-2","families","ussr"],"title":"New Searches in Homes of Believers in the Trans-Baikal Territory. For One Victim, History Repeats Itself 71 Years Later","type":"news"},{"body":"The Eighth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Kemerovo upholds the sentence of Sergey and Anastasia Polyakov, as well as Gaukhar Bektemirova and Dinara Dyusekeyeva.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2022-06-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20220623","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["cassation","282.2-2","282.2-1","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Captain of Justice Vladislav Minaev, investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Directorate for the city of Novokuznetsk of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kemerovo Region - Kuzbass, initiates a criminal case against Tatyana Sushilnikova on the basis of a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, Sushilnikova \"conducted conversations\" of a religious nature, and also participated in religious services.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Sushilnikova in Novokuznetsk","date":"2022-06-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novokuznetsk2/index.html#20220620","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 16, 2022, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Khakassia approved the verdict against Aleksandr Vergunov and Matrena Spiriadi. The Judicial Collegium, chaired by Judge Yelena Dyukareva, considered attending services and discussing the Bible a criminal offense.\nIn the court of first instance, it turned out that most of the 42 witnesses either did not know the defendants or were confused in their testimony. Despite this, the prosecutor asked to sentence the believers to 5 years in prison. The court limited itself to a suspended sentence: 2.5 years each.\nThe verdict has entered into force. Believers still insist on their innocence. They have the right to appeal the verdict in cassation.\nThe third suspect in the case was 44-year-old Irina Sidorova, who died in hospital in July 2020 after two surgeries. Her minor child was left without a mother.\nThe case of the Abakan believers was separated from the case of Roman Baranovskiy and his mother Valentina . The 70-year-old believer was released on parole. Her son is still in prison for his faith in God.\nA recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights once again confirmed the incompetence of the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-06-16T11:18:41+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/06/161118/image_hu_bf9a9b9e385f96a7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/06/161118/image_hu_b8bc387a1d5d9c9b.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/06/161118/image_hu_f26b464c8154f903.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/06/161118/image_hu_3d0408fb716b5487.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/06/161118.html","regions":["khakassia"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"An Appeal in Abakan Upheld Suspended Sentences for Two Believers—Two-and-a-Half Years Each for Holding Bible Discussions","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Oleksandr Chepenko prosecutes Irina Mikhailenko as accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. According to the investigation, the believer is guilty of \"directly participating and personally speaking in those convened and organized by V.N. Suvorov. religious meetings.\" One of the \"proofs\" of her guilt is the fact that she and other believers who gathered in her house for joint prayer and Bible reading, \"had signs of cohesion, unity of purpose,\" \"common interests and goals.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Mikhaylenko in Chelyabinsk","date":"2022-06-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk6/index.html#20220615","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 6, 2022, the judge of the Vyazemsky District Court of the Khabarovsk Territory, Kseniya Matvievskaya, sentenced 21-year-old Yegor Baranov to 5 years of suspended sentence. She found him guilty of participating in the activities of a banned organization and involving other persons in it.\nYegor Baranov was detained in May 2020 after searches in Vyazemsky. That same morning, armed FSB agents aggressively broke into the home of another believer, Yen Sen Li. The day before the searches, the investigation department of the FSB of Russia for the Khabarovsk Territory opened a criminal case against Baranov and Li.\nBaranov spent almost six months in a pre-trial detention center, and all this time he did not have the opportunity to receive letters of support. This was due to the decision of the FSB investigator S. V. Nemtsev to seize all incoming correspondence. In the first four months alone, the number of letters reached 1200. Shortly before his release from the pre-trial detention center, about 2500 letters were given to Yegor under the ban on certain actions. The investigator continued to study the remaining letters, intending to attach them to the charges. The defense considered this as a way of influencing the arrested person in order to force him to give the testimony necessary for the investigation.\nThe investigation of the criminal case lasted more than 8 months. In February 2021, the case went to court. During the court hearings, it turned out that the written testimonies of some witnesses were completely or partially untrue. These witnesses also drew the court's attention to psychological pressure and threats from law enforcement officers. For example, a key prosecution witness completely refuted the testimony signed during the preliminary investigation. She stated that she gave them under pressure: FSB investigator Kuznetsov and FSB officer Svetachev threatened her with deprivation of parental rights.\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case, prosecutor Natalya Ozhogina asked the court to sentence Baranov to 6 years in a penal colony and 1.5 years of restriction of freedom.\nIn January 2022, during the period of court hearings, 69-year-old Yen Sen Li, the second defendant in the criminal case, died of COVID-19 at the stage of the trial. The criminal case against the believer was dropped.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. Yegor Baranov insists on his complete innocence.\nIn the Khabarovsk Territory, 24 Jehovah's Witnesses are persecuted for their faith. Four of them have already received suspended sentences ranging from 2 to 4.5 years, and one was given a large fine.\nDespite numerous calls from human rights activists and clarifications from the Plenum of the Supreme Court, harsh sentences continue to be handed down in Russia for the peaceful religious activities of believers.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-06-06T16:42:37+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/06/061642/image_hu_7a2d2af2c6cfabae.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/06/061642/image_hu_7624fbaa32f016b3.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/06/061642/image_hu_c9004834e071abd3.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/06/061642/image_hu_9560074b9000b2b0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/06/061642.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["suspended","282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","letters","sentence","died"],"title":"Vyazemsky-Based Yegor Baranov Received a Five-Year Suspended Sentence for Holding Discussions About the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 3, 2022, Timur Yusupov, judge of the Pervomaisky District Court of Kirov, convicted six believers and sentenced them to 2.5 to 6.5 years of suspended imprisonment, considering reading and discussing the Bible together extremism. Polish citizen Andrzej Oniszczuk, 53, was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months; 29-year-old Andrey and 44-year-old Evgeniy Suvorkov got 6 years and 3 months each; Maksim Khalturin, 47, - 6 years and 2 months; Vladimir Korobeynikov, 69, was sentenced to 3 years and 3 months, and Vladimir Vasilyev, 65, — to 2 years and 6 months. Yuriy Geraskov, who died during the investigation, was also found guilty of extremism, but the criminal case was dismissed due to the death of the defendant. Earlier, the prosecutor asked the court to impose a prison sentence on everyone except Vladimir Vasilyev, while Vasilyev was to be fined 900,000 rubles.\nThe criminal prosecution of civilians in Kirov began with mass searches in 2018. The Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kirov Region opened a criminal case on charges of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, participating in it and financing it. According to the prosecution, the believers “organized meetings of followers and members of this association [Jehovah’s Witnesses] in various apartments in compliance with the actions characteristic of this association, expressed in the joint singing of biblical songs, improving the skills of carrying out missionary activities, and studying religious literature.”\nThe residents of Kirov was detained and placed in a pre-trial detention center, where they spent from 3 to 11 months. After 70 days of imprisonment in solitary confinement, the court placed Vladimir Korobeinikov under house arrest, since his wife is seriously ill, and his daughter Nina is not able to provide her with the necessary support, since she herself is a group I disabled person. The rest of the believers were also under house arrest for 6 to 9 months after imprisonment.\nThe investigation lasted over 2 years. A week before the start of the hearing, Yuriy Geraskov died due to a long illness, aggravated by the stress of the criminal prosecution.\nTraditionally for such trials, there were no victims in the case. Vladimir Korobeynikov, in his last word in court, said: “My convictions are exclusively peaceful, therefore there are no victims in this case. For me, the humiliation of human dignity, the undermining of the foundations of the constitutional order, the incitement of religious or racial hatred are unacceptable. And the prosecution during the entire trial did not provide a single piece of evidence to the contrary!” Andrzej Oniszczuk, in turn, emphasized: “Biblical principles and inner convictions do not allow me to oppose the state system and cause harm and pain to someone.” Vladimir Vasilyev, addressing the court, was perplexed: “Like other disciples of Jesus Christ, by reading everything that is written in the Bible, I am learning to live as Jesus commanded. Can this be called a crime? According to Yevgeniy Suvorkov, \"It is clear that Jehovah's Witnesses are being tried only for their faith, and not for any crime.\" Andrey Suvorkov added: “All our actions were dictated only by love for God and neighbor!” Maksim Khalturin, in whose care the elderly parents are, urged the court: “Please do not bring me to criminal liability for following the commandments of Christ.”\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-06-03T16:27:01+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/06/031626/image_hu_315fd7889ab9eccd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/06/031626/image_hu_b35d51d65b7b5443.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/06/031626/image_hu_6112e07320b7c9e4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/06/031626/image_hu_83adeec7efe88f09.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/06/031626.html","regions":["kirov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["families","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","elderly","died","sentence","suspended"],"title":"Six Jehovah's Witnesses in Kirov, Including a Polish Citizen, Received Suspended Sentences for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 1, 2022, the judge of the Leninsky District Court of Vladivostok, Maksim Anufriyev, convicted Valentin Osadchuk, Nadezhda Anoykina, Nina Purge, Raisa Usanova, Lyubov Galaktionova, and Nailya Kogay for their faith.\nThe defendants were sentenced to various types of punishment: Valentin Osadchuk received 6 years suspended and 1 year of restriction of freedom; the rest of the defendants received 2 years of suspended imprisonment and 9 months of restriction of freedom. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believers insist on their complete innocence.\nDespite the absence of a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Valentin Osadchuk to 6.5 years in prison, and elderly women, the eldest of whom is 81 years old, to 5 years of suspended imprisonment. Valentin was accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, and five women were accused of participating in it.\nThe believers have been subject to criminal prosecution since April 2018. The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Primorye Territory opened a criminal case against Valentin Osadchuk under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. As part of this case, searches were carried out. Valentin spent 9 months in a pre-trial detention center and another 2.5 months under house arrest. In April 2019, part of the article under which he was accused was replaced — now he was charged with organizing extremist activities.\nAt the same time, six women were charged with extremism. They were under recognizance agreement for four years. The case against Yelena Zayshchuk was later suspended.\nAfter 2 years and 9 months of investigation, in January 2021, the case was submitted to the Leninsky District Court of Vladivostok. While the proceedings went on, Nailya Kogaiy's husband died. “It's like losing one leg,” she says. “He was very worried about me. My persecution took a toll on his health. He died of cardiac arrest.\" The believer herself underwent a surgical operation during the same period.\nDue to criminal prosecution, chronic diseases have worsened among older believers. Lyubov Galaktionova, 80, who has a group II disability, says: “I experienced great stress during the search. It was bad physically and emotionally. The most difficult thing was to survive the interrogations and the first days after it ... It was difficult to understand the course of the criminal case and what they generally talked about in court.”\nAll defendants in the case were included in the List of extremists and terrorists of Rosfinmonitoring. In her last speech, Nadezhda Anoykina said: “I still can’t receive my pension normally, because my card is blocked ... I continue to work to help sick parents, and it hurts me a lot that I can’t receive even my modest salary.\"\nA total of 39 Jehovah's Witnesses in Primorye Territory are persecuted for their faith, and five have already been sentenced. The Russian authorities continue to maintain that this religion is not banned.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-06-01T14:04:55+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/06/011404/image_hu_dfb95dee5f12e6a5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/06/011404/image_hu_8b6f02bf90cc7168.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/06/011404/image_hu_457981050a81ab8d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/06/011404/image_hu_67d58ed3b748bf13.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/06/011404.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","282.2-1","282.2-2","sentence","suspended"],"title":"Six Jehovah's Witnesses in Vladivostok Received Suspended Sentences for Reading the Bible Together","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Zorina opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against unidentified persons. consisting in convening meetings of persons from among the followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses living in the territory of Prokopyevsk and the Prokopyevsk district of the Kemerovo region - Kuzbass, organizing religious speeches and services at these meetings.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Brilkov in Prokopyevsk","date":"2022-05-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/prokopevsk3/index.html#20220530","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 23, 2022, Olga Marchenko, a judge of the Pavlovsky District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, sentenced 45-year-old Lyudmila Shchekoldina to four years and one month in a penal colony. The woman was taken into custody in the courtroom. The court equated her ordinary religious practices with participation in the activities of an extremist organization and involving others in it.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. Shchekoldina insists on her complete innocence.\nAlthough Lyudmila Shchekoldina's health has recently deteriorated and she needs a surgery, the prosecutor asked the court to find the believer guilty under Articles 282.2 (1.1), 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and sentence her to 4.5 years in prison.\nThe criminal case against Lyudmila Shchekoldina was initiated on April 23, 2020. A week later, a series of searches took place in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Krasnodar Territory, and Lyudmila also became a victim. The accusation against the believer was based on a report by intelligence agent Ilchenko that the woman tried to involve him in the activities of an extremist organization. This is how he described their conversations about the Bible.\nThe case of Shchekoldina was investigated by the investigative department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory for a year. On May 13, 2021, the case went to court. It was examined by Judge Olga Marchenko of the Pavlovsky District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, the same judge who sentenced one of Jehovah's Witnesses, Vladimir Skachidub, to 4 years in prison.\nRussian human rights activists and the world community consider criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses for the faith incompetent and strongly condemn it.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-05-24T14:52:11+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/05/241452/image_hu_80d4769b59669150.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/05/241452/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/05/241452/image_hu_4e2b4c2aa00a582c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/05/241452/image_hu_87841fd0a7eea12.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/05/241452.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2","sentence","secret-witness","health-risk"],"title":"A Court Sentenced a Woman, Located in the Krasnodar Territory, to a Four-Year Penal Colony Term for Practicing Her Faith in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 19, 2022, Anton Kokovin, a 31-year-old Jehovah's Witness, was detained on the main street of Yaroslavl. After the search and interrogation, the believer was given a written undertaking not to leave the place. On this day, operatives searched at least 3 dwellings. In the apartment of his friends, where Anton Kokovin was staying, law enforcement officers conducted a search on the order of the senior detective of the FSB of Russia in the Yaroslavl region, Major M.A. Morenov. In the absence of the owners, the security forces confiscated system units, laptops and hard drives that did not belong to the believer.\nThe second search took place at Anton Kokovin's place of residence. All electronic devices were also confiscated from him. After that, the man was taken to the investigative department for the Yaroslavl region for interrogation. There, the investigator informed Kokovin that he was suspected of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and a criminal case was initiated against him.\nThe security forces entered the house of another believer through the fence, as no one was at home. The information is being specified.\nUpdate. It became known that on May 18, a believer from Yaroslavl, 50, received a summons for interrogation as a witness to the investigator of the Investigative Committee Aleksandr Grigoryev. Since the document did not indicate what case the call was connected with, the believer refused to come. A few days later, he was detained and placed in a pre-trial detention center. In Yaroslavl, 4 more Jehovah's Witnesses, including a woman, are persecuted for their faith. Their case is at the stage of preliminary investigation.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-05-24T11:31:45+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/05/241131/image_hu_bdd51c5259a39c7b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/05/241131/image_hu_21210f6686fe4bf.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/05/241131/image_hu_2d1f6940147243e4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/05/241131/image_hu_b36e4246546e0560.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/05/241131.html","regions":["yaroslavl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","recognizance-agreement","sizo","282.2-2"],"title":"Jehovah's Witnesses Were Searched in Yaroslavl. A Criminal Case Has Been Initiated","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Yaroslavl Region Alexander Grigoriev initiates a criminal case against Anton Kokovin. The believer is suspected of participating in extremist activities for being present at an Internet conference dedicated to religion.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kokovin in Yaroslavl","date":"2022-05-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/yaroslavl2/index.html#20220518","regions":["yaroslavl"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The believer is summoned for interrogation as a witness to the investigator of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Grigoriev. Since the document does not indicate what case the call is connected with, Andrey refuses to come. On the same day, a criminal case was opened against him under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Glazov's case in Yaroslavl","date":"2022-05-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/yaroslavl3/index.html#20220518","regions":["yaroslavl"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 12, 2022, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court upheld the verdict against Victoriya Verkhoturova from Nizhny Novgorod. A panel of judges chaired by Nikolay Kozlov found the believer guilty of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, interpreting this as extremism.\nIn November 2021, a lower court sentenced Verkhoturova to 4 years suspended for participation in the activities of a banned organization. The verdict has entered into force. The believer still does not plead guilty to extremism and has the right to appeal the verdict on cassation.\nIn the summer of 2019, the home of Victoriya and her husband Sergey was searched, during which the believers were subjected to psychological pressure. Phones were tapped in the family for a long time and covert video filming was carried out. For 1 year and 10 months, Victoriya was under house arrest and proper behavior.\nThe case featured a secret witness of \"Sidorov\" and a witness for the prosecution, who \"never heard that Viktoriya Verkhoturova involved anyone in a banned organization\", and also \"never saw her on stage with any appeals.\" The other prosecution witness never met Victoriya in person.\nIn total, 16 people in the Nizhny Novgorod region are subjected to criminal prosecution for believing in Jehovah God. Victoriya's husband Sergey Verkhoturov received 6 years of suspended sentence, three more were given 3 years suspended.\nAccording to the statement of the Government of the Russian Federation, “the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated April 20, 2017 and the appeal ruling of the Board of Appeal of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 17, 2017 do not provide an assessment of the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to profess individually the above religion”. On October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the religious services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint performance of rites and ceremonies, in themselves do not constitute a crime under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-05-12T13:50:48+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/05/131350/image_hu_4ce933f8e296dec7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/05/131350/image_hu_5da027ee770c4e55.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/05/131350/image_hu_12dbd243d7c5b427.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/05/131350/image_hu_4067e316f1a4da39.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/05/131350.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","families","282.2-2","suspended","hidden-surveillance","secret-witness"],"title":"A Nizhny Novgorod Appeal Upheld Victoriya Verkhoturova's Four-Year Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 12, 2022, the Primorye Regional Court of Vladivostok upheld the conviction of 49-year-old Sergey Melnikov for continuing to attend Jehovah's Witnesses’ services and discussing the Bible with residents of Ussuriysk.\nThe verdict has entered into force. The believer still insists on his innocence and has the right to appeal against it in cassation.\nSergey Melnikov has been subjected to criminal prosecution for more than two years, which began in June 2019. He was detained in his own car during a conversation with agent provocateur Konstantin Belousov, who collaborated with the FSB. He asked Melnikov questions about the Bible and made audio recordings of their conversations. At the same time, in his testimony in court, Belousov admitted that the believer had not forced him to talk about the Bible or encouraged him to join Jehovah's Witnesses. Despite this, Melnikov was searched and arrested, spent 122 days in a pre-trial detention center and 145 days under house arrest, and since February 2021 he has been under recognizance agreement.\nDuring the hearings in the first instance court, the prosecutor requested a 4-year suspended sentence. On February 3, 2022, the judge of the Ussuriysk District Court of Primorye Territory, Dmitry Babushkin, passed a suspended sentence of 3 years with a probationary period of 2 years and 8 months of restriction of liberty.\nIn Primorye, 39 believers have already been prosecuted. Six of them have been sentenced.\nRussian human rights activists consider the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses groundless. Olga Sibireva, an expert from the SOVA Human Rights Center, draws attention to the absence of any facts confirming the accusations of Jehovah's Witnesses of extremism. In her opinion, “there are no calls for terrorism and something like that, because Jehovah’s Witnesses are a completely peaceful doctrine.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-05-12T10:24:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/05/121023/image_hu_bfd679560022b5ee.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/05/121023/image_hu_7f851fb2b094a136.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/05/121023/image_hu_2edad45cf0a931e8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/05/121023/image_hu_2d741fa6d95a0bb9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/05/121023.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","secret-witness"],"title":"Sergey Melnikov's Primorye Appeal Was Upheld: A Three-Year Suspended Sentence for Practicing His Faith in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"The Court of Appeal on Sakhalin upheld the verdict against five believers On May 11, 2022, the Sakhalin Regional Court dismissed the appeal of Yevgeny Yelin, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Aleksandr Kozlitin and Sergey Kulakov and his wife Tatyana. The verdict has entered into force.\nThe court of first instance found five believers guilty of extremism. Sergey Kulakov and Yevgeny Yelin, who were accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, were sentenced to 6.5 years of suspended imprisonment. The court sentenced Tatyana Kulakova, Vyacheslav Ivanov and Aleksander Kozlitin to 2 years suspended sentence for participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Believers received such a punishment for reading and discussing the Bible together with fellow believers.\nFor all the defendants, this criminal prosecution was a test of strength. Sergey Kulakov, 60, and his wife have physical limitations — Tatyana, 48, is visually impaired, and Sergey cannot walk without a cane. The head of the family was included in the Rosfinmonitoring list. Bank accounts were also blocked at 51-year-old Vyacheslav Ivanov and 46-year-old Aleksandr Kozlitin.\nThe verdict has entered into force. Believers still insist on their innocence. They have the right to appeal the verdict in cassation.\nThe persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia continues despite the clarification of the Plenum of the Russian Supreme Court that liturgical meetings and conversations about the Bible cannot in themselves be considered extremism. Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev additionally emphacized on February 9, 2022: “Actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely in exercising the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including through the performance of religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-05-11T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/05/121122/image_hu_72ab5982df3cd23f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/05/121122/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/05/121122/image_hu_c5560a9383719164.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/05/121122/image_hu_e9ca12ae62ccc539.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/05/121122.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","families","282.2-1","282.2-2","rosfinmonitoring"],"title":"A Sakhalin Appeals Court Upheld the Verdict Against Five Believers","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 4, 2022, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Khakassia approved the decision of the Ust-Abakan district court about the parole of 71-year-old believer. She was greeted on her way out of the colony by her many friends.\nThe court considered the appeal of the prosecutor against the decision of the judge of the Ust-Abakan district court Maria Zablotskaya of February 22, 2022. A few months earlier the believer had petitioned for parole. The court granted it, but Abakan's assistant prosecutor V. Hasan filed a complaint against this decision. The woman was forced to remain behind bars until the appeal hearing. This further aggravated her health condition, as Valentina suffered a stroke in 2020.\nIn October 2021, the believer, who is convinced that she did not commit anything illegal, had already asked for a commutation of her sentence due to her illness. She had petitioned the same court, but was denied. Her next petition for parole, filed several months later, was granted.\nAlmost three years ago, in April 2019, a criminal case was opened against Valentina Baranovskaya and her son Roman Baranovskiy under the article \"participation in the activities of a liquidated organization.\" This is how law enforcers regarded the usual practice of believers to meet and discuss the Bible in a circle of friends. Mother and son received unprecedentedly harsh sentences: Valentina received two years in prison and Roman received six years. Roman Baranovskiy remains in a penal colony, where he will spend another five years.\nThere are still 13 Jehovah's Witnesses over the age of 60 in prisons at the moment. The oldest is Vilen Avanesov, who will turn 70 in 2022.\nUnfortunately, such unjustified persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses continues in dozens of Russian regions. The world community condemns the persecution of peaceful believers simply because they remain faithful to their religious beliefs.\n","category":"sentence","date":"2022-05-04T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/05/050853/image_hu_489a3fdd028e1d83.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/05/050853/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/05/050853/image_hu_eb3d8437c6b19e83.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/05/050853/image_hu_e341af1160f5bd56.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/05/050853.html","regions":["khakassia"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","release","parole","appeal","families","282.2-2"],"title":"The Oldest Believer Was Released From Prison on Probation. The Court of Appeal Approved the Decision to Release Valentina Baranovskaya","type":"news"},{"body":"A. G. Andrianov, senior investigator for the Central District of Sochi, involves Danil Suvorov as an accused. In addition to Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, he is charged with Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - participation in the activities of a banned religious organization.\nThe investigator claims that \"in the period from 10.11.2019 to 30.08.2020 ... Suvorov, acting deliberately... carried out active actions aimed at persuading, recruiting and otherwise involving a person ... in the activities of the banned extremist religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses.\" This is how the investigation interprets the believer's peaceful conversations on biblical topics.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Danil Suvorov in Sochi","date":"2022-04-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sochi3/index.html#20220429","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The criminal case of Denis Suvorov is separated into a separate proceeding.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Denis Suvorov in Sochi","date":"2022-04-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sochi4/index.html#20220429","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 26, 2022, the judge of the Seversk City Court of the Tomsk Region, Yekaterina Soldatenko, sentenced Andrey Ledyaykin to 2 years and 2 months in a penal colony. The court considered the participation of a believer in peaceful religious meeting as extremism. He is taken into custody in the courtroom.\nAndrey Ledyaykin worked as an accountant in the administration of Seversk for 10 years. In July 2020, Ledyaykin was detained at his workplace. After that, the security forces, in the presence of Andrey's parents, searched his house and garage. The FSB officials exerted emotional pressure on Andrey, forcing him to incriminate himself.\nIn March 2021, a criminal case was initiated against the believer. Soon his boss received a call from the antiterrorist security department of Tomsk, after which the believer was fired. “I had a job that I loved it very much,” said the believer. — I valued and respected my colleagues. And it's simply impossible to express my feelings when the management of the administration asked me to resign because of a criminal case. I lost my regular income. I had to register with the Employment Center and work odd jobs. In addition, Rosfinmonitoring added me to the list of persons involved in extremist activities, restricting access to my bank accounts and cards.”\nThe Investigation Department for ZATO in Seversk investigated the case of Ledyaykin for three months. The accusation against the believer was based on the videos of the FSB agent Kira Klisheva, made during peaceful worship. The believer spent more than a year under house arrest.\nLedyaykin's defense emphasizes that in this case, as in other cases initiated in fact for confessing the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses, there are no victims, there is no evidence of harm to the state and society. The prosecutor asked the court to sentence Andrey Ledyaykin to 4.5 years in prison, but the court imposed a sentence of 2 years, 2 months in prison with serving the sentence in a general regime colony with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to the placement of appeals and other materials in information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet, for a period of 5 years, with restriction of freedom for 1 year.\nAndrey Ledyaykin has firmly denied the guilt of extremism and may appeal the verdict. In his last word, he noted: \"Contrary to the assertion of the prosecution that I have a deliberate criminal intent, I still do not realize, despite all the unfounded accusations, what a danger to the constitutional order is posed by joint prayers, reading the Bible, chanting and discussing biblical texts.\"\nIn the Tomsk region, six Jehovah's Witnesses, including an 80-year-old woman, have already been convicted for their faith. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in its decisions has repeatedly pointed out that the practice of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses on the territory of Russia is not prohibited by law, they are not deprived of the opportunity to practice religious services on their own.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-04-26T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/04/271429/image_hu_21974172d1e0e12c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/04/271429/image_hu_318ecd0bb2328f62.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/04/271429/image_hu_e725b9e3de89a59e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/04/271429/image_hu_f613f7c7ca6e9295.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/04/271429.html","regions":["tomsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["liberty-deprivation","sentence","rosfinmonitoring","work-restrictions","282.2-2"],"title":"A Court Sentenced a Former City of Seversk Administration Employee to Two Years and Two Months in Prison for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"Judge Marina Tsimarno sentences Oleg and Agnessa Postnikov to 5.5 and 5 years of suspended imprisonment, respectively, with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year 6 months with a probationary period of 5 years each.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of the Postnikovs in Birobidzhan","date":"2022-04-25T15:16:31+03:00","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan19/index.html#20220425","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["sentence","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","suspended","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 21, 2022, the Primorskiy Regional Court in Vladivostok approved the verdict against Yuriy Belosludtsev and Sergey Sergeyev from Luchegorsk. A panel of judges chaired by Yevgeniy Oleshchenko found the believers guilty of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, interpreting this as extremism.\nThe lower court sentenced civilians to 6 years of suspended sentence with a probationary period of 5 years and restriction of freedom for 1 year and 9 months. They had to spend half a year in a pre-trial detention center, about 5 months under house arrest and more than two years under house arrest. They were included in the list of extremists of Rosfinmonitoring, having blocked bank accounts.\nThe accusations against the believers were based on videos of conversations on biblical topics made by an FSB agent. The court ruled that talking about God and reading the Bible with friends was extremist activity. The verdict has entered into force. The believers still do not admit their guilt and have the right to appeal to the court of cassation.\nThis is already the fifth conviction of Jehovah's Witnesses in Primorye Territory. In total, criminal cases for faith were initiated against 39 people in the region. It should be noted that the first in Russia acquittal of a Jehovah's Witness under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was canceled by the same court of appeal.\nIn connection with the growing number of criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses, Tatyana Moskalkova, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, noted in her report to V. V. Putin: “The events taking place with the followers of Jehovah's Witnesses make us think about the existence of a conflict between the constitutional right to practice one's religion . . . and signs of extremist activity specified in Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-04-25T14:37:12+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/04/251437/image_hu_ff49fa208f08246f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/04/251437/image_hu_ecdfb77aa828de74.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/04/251437/image_hu_8ce81a97c2a893bf.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/04/251437/image_hu_99630800a8e64c8d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/04/251437.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","rosfinmonitoring","secret-witness"],"title":"An Appeal in Vladivostok Upheld the Sentence of Two Believers from Luchegorsk—a Six-Year Suspended Sentence for Practicing Faith in God","type":"news"},{"body":"Andrey Martynov is again charged with organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nAn indictment is also issued to Nina Martynova. According to the investigation, by talking about the Bible to a certain \"T. A. Ivanova\", Martynova and Pavlova involved her in the activities of an extremist organization (part 1.1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, the presence of women at worship services, praying to God, singing Christian songs and discussing biblical issues with friends is equated by the investigator with participation in the activities of a banned organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nAlthough believers are charged under different parts of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code, the texts of the decisions to prosecute them are almost identical.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Martynov and Others in Alatyr","date":"2022-04-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/alatyr/index.html#20220425","regions":["chuvashia"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 25, 2022, Judge Mariya Tsimarno found Oleg Postnikov and his wife Agnessa guilty of involvement in and participation in extremist activities and sentenced them to 5.5 and 5 years suspended sentence, respectively. This is the 16th conviction of Jehovah's Witnesses from the Jewish Autonomous Region.\nThe prosecutor requested 5 and 5.5 years in prison for Agnessa and Oleg, respectively, although there were no victims in the criminal case, no specific facts of extremist actions were presented to the court, only the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses was proved by the defendants. A conditional sentence for faith was imposed on the Postnikov spouses with restriction of freedom for a period of 1 year 6 months with a probationary period of 5 years each: they are forbidden to change their place of residence, to leave the territory of the municipality without the consent of the state body, and they must also appear once a month for registration in specialized government agency.\nOleg Postnikov noted that despite what is happening, they have developed respectful relations with the investigator and court employees. Agnessa Postnikova said that the events she had experienced did not go unnoticed and had a negative impact on her health.\nThe couple faced repressions for their faith in May 2018, when searches were carried out in their house as part of the “Judgment Day” special operation. Almost two years later, Oleg became a defendant in a criminal case, and a year later a second criminal case was opened against him and two cases were brought against Agnessa. FSB investigator I. Fedorov later combined the cases into one proceeding. The believers have been under house arrest: Oleg since February 2020, and Agnessa since March 2021.\nIn June 2021, the consideration of the case began in the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region. One of the witnesses for the prosecution is the notorious police officer Yuliya Zvereva. Her testimony formed the basis of most similar cases against believers in Birobidzhan. Another prosecution witness is a woman who asked the couple to study the Bible. A hidden video camera was installed in her house to record conversations with believers. In court, she said of the benefits of these conversations: “I have become a better person. I could flare up [before]. Now I can keep within the limits”.\nThe verdict did not take effect. Believers insist on their complete innocence and can appeal against it.\nIn total, there are 19 similar criminal cases in the Jewish Autonomous Region against 23 Jehovah's Witnesses, 16 of whom have already been convicted for their faith.\nThe world community resolutely condemns the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Despite this, law enforcement officers in dozens of Russian regions continue to inappropriately persecute Jehovah's Witnesses simply because they do not renounce their beliefs.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-04-25T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/05/031445/image_hu_dd69e345da5758b4.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/05/031445/image_hu_8347d31b6e156a6d.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/05/031445/image_hu_5fb08de5bc5698db.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/05/031445/image_hu_fd1ecd466dd79c86.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/05/031445.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2","sentence","suspended","families"],"title":"The Court in Birobidzhan Sentenced the Postnikov Spouses to Suspended Sentences for Their Convictions","type":"news"},{"body":"Plotnikov is charged under Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Plotnikov and Others in Yoshkar-Ola","date":"2022-04-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/yoshkar-ola2/index.html#20220423","regions":["mari-el"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 20, 2022, the Krasnodar Regional Court upheld the sentence of Vladimir Skachidub, a 60-year-old Jehovah's Witness from the village of Kholmskaya. The believer will have to spend more than 4 years behind bars.\nOn October 11, 2021, the judge of the Pavlovskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, Olga Marchenko, convicted Vladimir Skachidub under two extremist articles, finding him guilty of participation in the activities of a banned organization and involvement in it. Since then, Vladimir, a group III disabled person, has been kept in a pre-trial detention center. According to the investigation and the court, his fault lies in the fact that he shared his beliefs with acquaintances and did not renounce them when the legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses were liquidated in 2017.\nThe verdict has entered into force. The believer still insists on his innocence. He has the right to appeal the verdict in cassation.\nIn total, 16 criminal cases were initiated in the Krasnodar Territory against 25 believers. 12 of them have already been convicted and received real prison terms. The most severe punishment - 7.5 years in prison - was received by a resident of the village of Kholmskaya Aleksandr Ivshin.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-04-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/04/211533/image_hu_f88cf5636581b801.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/04/211533/image_hu_3e50c8c212f1d2c0.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/04/211533/image_hu_3a42c84fbbfbf53a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/04/211533/image_hu_c3b423a0595eaf0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/04/211533.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","disability"],"title":"Vladimir Skachidub's Verdict of Four-Years-and-Two Months in Prison for Believing in Jehovah God Was Upheld Despite an Appeal Filed in Krasnodar","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 14, 2022, the Severskiy City Court of the Tomsk Region sentenced Sergey Belousov to three years suspended sentence. Despite the recent clarification of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Judge Yekaterina Soldatenko found the believer guilty of extremism only for participating in peaceful worship.\nThe court deprived Belousov of the right to post materials in information and telecommunication networks and on the Internet for a period of 5 years with restriction of freedom for 1 year. The believer is also forbidden to leave the house from 22:00 to 6:00, visit places of sports, cultural, entertainment and public events and participate in them.\nThe accusation was based on the testimony of the notorious Kira Klisheva, an intelligence agent who collected information about believers in Seversk and made covert videos of worship services. The court reviewed five such records. The prosecution did not present any evidence of Belousov's extremist activities. Despite this, the prosecutor asked for a sentence of 5 years in a general regime penal colony with restriction of freedom for 1 year for the believer.\nIn his last speech, Belousov emphasized: “It is important for me to have a good reputation in the eyes of God. Of course, under pressure, out of fear, someone can give up their beliefs. But what's next? How to live with it? To trample your conscience? Never! It is better to be not recognized by people, but approved by God.”\nSergey Belousov faced criminal prosecution for his faith back in July 2020, when officers from the Investigative Committee and the FSB broke into the homes of several families in Seversk. Then the case was brought against another believer, Yevgeniy Korotun. In March 2021, the investigative department for ZATO in Seversk brought the case against Belousov into a separate proceeding and placed him on a recognizance agreement. Three months later, the case went to court.\nThe criminal prosecution proved to be a test for the entire Belousov family: the feeling of constant surveillance does not leave them and any knock on the door reminds them of the search they experienced. Due to the constant stress Sergey's chronic diseases worsened. Because of his travel ban he could not visit his elderly parents. “I worry about my father and mother. I am sorry that I cannot be with them: they are already aged, and my father has to deal with a serious illness that threatens his life,” Belousov shared.\nThe verdict has not entered into force. The believer insists on his complete innocence and has the right to file an appeal.\nIn the Tomsk Region, 7 Jehovah's Witnesses are already being repressed simply for not giving up their peaceful beliefs. One of them, Sergey Klimov, is currently serving a long term in a penal colony, and 80-year-old Yelena Saveliyeva was sentenced to 4 years of probation.\nThe world community and Russian human rights activists unanimously condemn the infringement of the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-04-18T09:15:36+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/04/180915/image_hu_91aab79ba81b08c2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/04/180915/image_hu_104b9509c3f8c753.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/04/180915/image_hu_9ec4be18fe9aadfd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/04/180915/image_hu_de703bfd17a6c39b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/04/180915.html","regions":["tomsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","secret-witness"],"title":"Seversk-Based Sergey Belousov Was Given a Three-Year Suspended Sentence for Attending Peaceful Worship Services of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 15, 2022, Anna Zakharova, judge of the Ussuriysk District Court of the Primorsky Territory, found Vitaliy Ilinykh guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and sentenced him to 2.5 years of suspended sentence for religious beliefs (text updated, previously reported on a suspended sentence of 2 years).\nAddressing the court with the last word, the believer noted: “During the investigation, they often hinted at me and even directly told me to change my religion. But it was my religion that made me who I am today. Thanks to Jehovah's Witnesses, I have quit smoking, drinking, using drugs, swearing, disrespecting people, and the list goes on. And now I need to change religion? This would mean betraying Jehovah God, in whom I believe and who showed me the meaning of life.”\nThe first search at the Ilinykh' and his wife's home took place in February, 2019, as part of a criminal case against his mother. In September 2019, investigator E. S. Marvanyuk opened a criminal case against the believer, charging him with organizing the activities of an extremist organization, and later mitigated the charge to participation in extremist activities (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). His home was searched again in October 2019. On the same day, Ilinykh was detained. After 3 days in the temporary detention facility, the court released the believer from custody, and the investigator Marvanyuk placed him under recognizance agreement.\nAfter 13 months of investigation, in November 2020, the case was submitted to Judge Tatyana Pavlenko for consideration at the Ussuriyskiy District Court of Primorye Territory. In March 2021, the Ilinykh case was transferred to another judge, Anna Zakharova. The accusation was based on the testimony of a secret witness, an anti-Jehovah's Witness woman who attended religious services to collect information. At the same time, during interrogation in court, she admitted that she had never heard threats from them against her, calls for violence, genocide or overthrow of state power. Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence the believer to 4 years of suspended sentence.\nVitaliy Ilinykh looked after his mother, Olga Opaleva, for some time, who also faced criminal prosecution for her faith. During the investigation, the elderly woman suffered a heart attack and a stroke. Due to restrictions imposed by the court, Vitaliy could not fully take care of her.\nThe verdict has not entered into force. The believer insists on his complete innocence and can appeal the verdict.\nOn February 3, 2022, the Ussuriyskiy District Court sentenced another believer, Sergey Melnikov, accused under the same article, to 3 years of suspended sentence.\nAs in other cases against believers, the essence of the charge is that the peaceful legal expression of faith is equated with extremist activity. At the same time, at court hearings, evidence is given only of citizens belonging to the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, and not of inciting religious hatred by them.\nRussian and foreign human rights activists and politicians pay attention to this legal collision. So, on November 8, 2021, the public committee “Freedom of Conscience” stated: “The decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia should be implemented in judicial practice. The state must admit its mistake, and law enforcement agencies and courts must stop the repressions against Jehovah's Witnesses. The state should apologize to believers . . . The truth of the faith, the correctness of the translation and interpretation of the Bible, as well as the rootedness of the confession in the domestic tradition—all this should not be of interest to the state, which must observe neutrality in matters of religion . . . The definition of extremism in the law should be stated in such a way that under only actions that pose a real public danger—violence, propaganda of violence, calls for violence fell under it”.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-04-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/04/180908/image_hu_869a9850697a1b5b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/04/180908/image_hu_43623c07dfdd0972.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/04/180908/image_hu_14733afdfb34b590.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/04/180908/image_hu_1f38b0d45468c65f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/04/180908.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","secret-witness","families"],"title":"An Ussuriysk Court Sentenced 47-Year-Old Vitaliy Ilinykh to a Two-and-a-Half Year Probation for Believing in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 14, 2022, the Astrakhan Regional Court, by an appeal decision, approved the sentence of Anna Safronova, 56,—6 years of real imprisonment. The panel of judges, chaired by Nikolay Marevskiy, considered the discussion of the Bible and the collection of funds to help fellow believers extremism.\nThus, the record-breaking sentence for female Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia came into force. The believer still insists on her innocence. She has the right to appeal the verdict in cassation.\nAnna Safronova drew attention of the security forces in June 2020: she was brought in as a witness in a case against four fellow believers. A year later, a criminal case was opened against Anna herself, a search was conducted in her house, after which the believer was taken away for interrogation and placed in a temporary detention facility for a day. The next day, the court placed Anna under house arrest. After the guilty verdict was announced, she spent 80 days in a detention center waiting for an appeal.\nThe judge of the first instance repeatedly and grossly violated the right to defense and a fair trial in relation to the believer: he interrupted the hearings, did not allow the defense side to file petitions; gave the lawyer one week to familiarize himself with the 27 volumes of the case. At the same time, witnesses for the prosecution pointed out that there was no extremism in the actions of Anna Safronova.\nIn the Astrakhan region, eight believers have already been subjected to criminal prosecution. Four of them were also severely punished simply for not refusing to practice the peaceful religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, commented: “In Russia, a criminal can get even a shorter sentence for killing or rape. Justice officials put harmless talk of the Bible on a par with heinous crimes.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-04-14T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/04/180926/image_hu_d776d57acf00206f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/04/180926/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/04/180926/image_hu_7c23a2ec18654c43.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/04/180926/image_hu_380d5f7eac675d5d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/04/180926.html","regions":["astrakhan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"title":"Astrakhan Regional Court Affirms an Unprecedented Six-Year Prison Sentence for Anna Safronova — One of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"It became known that on March 28, 2022 the judge of Khostinsky District Court of Sochi Konstantin Sidoruk found four of local Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of extremism. Two of them were sentenced to a penal colony, but they have already served their sentences in the pre-trial detention center. Another two were given suspended sentences by the court.\nThe court sentenced 49-year-old Tatyana Velizhanina to 1 year and 5 months in prison, 55-year-old Vladimir Deshko—to 1 year and 4 months, with a sentence to be served in a penal colony. The believers were not placed in custody as they have actually served their sentences—during the investigation and court hearings, Velizhanina and Deshko spent 11 and 10 months in the pre-trial detention center, respectively, after which they were placed under house arrest (one day spent in custody is equal to 1.5 days of imprisonment, and 2 days of house arrest—to one day in the penal colony).\nThe court sentenced 55-year-old Yuriy Loginskiy and 57-year-old Yuriy Moskalev to 2 years of suspended sentence without restriction of freedom with a probationary period of 2 years. Both believers have been released from house arrest.\nThe believers did not admit their guilt in extremism. The verdict has entered into force.\nIn the winter of 2021, the investigative department for the Khostinskiy district of Sochi of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case against four believers under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code. They were arrested and imprisoned in the temporary detention center. Two days after the detention, Yuriy Loginskiy and Yuriy Moskalev were placed under house arrest, and Vladimir Deshko and Tatyana Velizhanina were placed in a pre-trial detention center. Subsequently, Vladimir and Tatyana were also placed under house arrest, they were deprived of the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families.\nOn February 21, 2022, after 11 months of investigation, the case was submitted to the Khostinskiy District Court of Sochi. The accusation was based on the testimony of a young man who feigned an interest in biblical teachings. During personal conversations, he collected information about believers and passed it on to the security forces.\nAs in other similar cases against Russian believers, over a month of court hearings, the court only proved that the defendants belonged to the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Sochi residents were tried for the fact that they \"held on the territory of the city . . . meetings\", and also \"carried out preaching activities.\" Commenting on the situation, Yuriy Moskalev said: “When I was sitting in the cell, I understood that I was arrested not for some real crime, but for the Word of God, for the truth that I wanted to convey to another. But the mind did not accept this reality of the matter.\nYuriy Loginskiy during the persecution had to face \"arrest, strong emotional stress from his mother, the death of his mother-in-law.\" The repressions were a particularly painful blow for the Deshkos, as their son, Yevgeniy, was also convicted for his faith. And Tatyana Velizhanina’s emotional shock was compounded by a deterioration in her health (she suffered COVID-19 behind bars).\nIn the Krasnodar Territory, 24 Jehovah's Witnesses have already become victims of repression for their faith. Four of them are in penal colonies, and two have served their sentences.\nDespite numerous appeals by human rights activists and clarifications, the Plenum of the Supreme Court in Russia continues to groundlessly condemn believers for peaceful religious activity.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-04-12T09:39:43+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/04/120939/image_hu_2a5e2f95951f5f61.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/04/120939/image_hu_228548741bbe070f.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/04/120939/image_hu_f19d25cddeeabad8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/04/120939/image_hu_f35b67368aea9852.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/04/120939.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","liberty-deprivation","suspended","secret-witness","families"],"title":"A Sochi Court Convicts Four Jehovah's Witnesses, Including a Woman","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 7, 2022, a panel of judges of the Tomsk Regional Court chaired by Andrey Kaplyuk commuted the sentence of Aleksey YErshov from Seversk. Instead of 3 years in prison, the 69-year-old Jehovah's Witness was given 3 years of suspended sentence. The verdict has entered into force.\nIn July 2020, employees of the Investigative Committee and the FSB broke into the homes of five families of Jehovah's Witnesses at the same time and searched their homes for several hours. As in the case of 5 other believers from Seversk, the accusation of extremism against Aleksey Yershov was based on the testimony of Kira Klisheva, who collaborated with the FSB, and pretended to be interested in the Bible.\nThroughout the investigation of the criminal case—almost 11 months—the believer was under house arrest. On January 19, 2022, immediately after the Severskiy City Court sentenced the pensioner to 3 years in prison, he was taken into custody, and he spent a month and a half in a pre-trial detention center awaiting an appeal.\nYershov still insists on his innocence. Now he can appeal the verdict in cassation.\nThe criminal prosecution of Russian Jehovah's Witnesses was condemned by the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the European Union and many other Russian and international organizations. The new clarifications of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia dated June 28, 2011 state that communal worship in itself does not constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which the security forces use as justification for the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-04-07T16:20:26+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/04/071620/image_hu_e0c39dc2162c5eb8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/04/071620/image_hu_706fecead9e4c3b7.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/04/071620/image_hu_ab081b775f0812d7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/04/071620/image_hu_f3521bdc573c4a8c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/04/071620.html","regions":["tomsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","elderly","secret-witness"],"title":"An Appeal Overturned Seversk-Based Aleksey Yershov's Initial Prison Term for Practicing One's Faith and Replaced It With a Three-Year Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"In the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, the prosecutor speaks with a debate on the Postnikov case. He requests for Oleg 5.5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony and another 1.5 years of restriction of freedom, and for Agnessa 5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony and 1.5 years of restriction of freedom.\nAt the next meeting, the debate of the defense will be held.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of the Postnikovs in Birobidzhan","date":"2022-04-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan19/index.html#20220405","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 4, 2022, the judge of the Abakan City Court, Yuriy Lotsky, sentenced Matrena Spiriadi and Aleksandr Vergunov to 2.5 years of suspended sentence. By its decision, the court equated the discussion of the Bible among friends with participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\nThe criminal case against the civilians of Khakassia—Aleksandr Vergunov, Matrena Spiriadi and Irina Sidorova—was initiated on April 20, 2020 by the investigative department for the city of Abakan of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia. Three months later, 44-year-old Irina Sidorova died in the hospital after two surgeries. Her minor child was left without a mother.\nA year after the initiation of the case, the senior detective of the CPE of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Khakassia, police major Artem Kononov, searched the homes of Vergunov and Spiriadi. The believers were under an obligation to appear promptly when summoned by an interrogating officer, investigator, or to court.\nAt the time of the initiation of the case, Aleksandr Vergunov was doing alternative civilian service in a medical center for newborns. The draft board took into account his beliefs that did not allow him to take up arms.\nMatrena Spiriadi grew up in a large family, she was the youngest of 11 children. Now the believer lives with a disabled grandson suffering from cerebral palsy, whom she continues to take care of, despite her own health problems: she suffers from hyperglycemia. Due to the nervous shock after the searches, the blood sugar level of an elderly woman rose to a critical level. In this regard, she constantly has to take many medications. The investigation did not consider the life situation of the elderly woman as a mitigating circumstance.\nThe Abakan City Court has been hearing the case since June 29, 2021. To prove the guilt of the believers, the prosecution brought in 42 witnesses, most of whom were not acquainted with the defendants and had a superficial understanding of Jehovah's Witnesses. One of the two secret witnesses under the pseudonym \"Nadezhda Petrova\" for some time made secret audio recordings of conversations with believers, providing information to law enforcement officers. Many witnesses were unable to recognize the defendants in the courtroom, while others were confused in their testimony.\nThe line of accusation, as in many similar cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, was based only on proving the defendants' religious affiliation. Among the evidence are books “evidencing involvement in the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” The file contains the conclusions of religious expert examinations of audio recordings of “meetings to glorify Jehovah and sermons on specific topics: ‘Do not give up, doing good!’, ‘Forgive your enemies,’ and others.” At the same time, no specific facts of the commission of unlawful actions by believers at the trial were provided.\nAleksandr Vergunov drew the court's attention to this in his final statement: \"All the evidence collected only shows that I was exercising my constitutional right to freedom of religion.\"\nSpeaking before the court with her last word, Matrena Spiriadi said: “As a believer, I profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. It is a peaceful Christian religion whose teachings are based solely on the Bible. I have been studying the Bible for a long time and it does not make me worse. On the contrary, this holy book helped me to break with bad habits in due time. I also learned from the Bible how to build relationships with people and keep peace with them.”\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence the believers to 5 years in a penal colony, but the court limited itself to a suspended sentence. Vergunov and Spiriadi insist on their complete innocence. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nThe case against Aleksandr Vergunov and Matrena Spiriadi was separated from another high-profile case against believers in Abakan, Roman Baranovskiy and his mother Valentina . A 70-year-old believer and her son are sent to a colony for their faith in God.\nAccording to clarification of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the profession of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses cannot in itself be considered extremism. The world community expresses its concern about the unlawful use of anti-extremist legislation to organize religious repression.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-04-04T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/04/051433/image_hu_bf9a9b9e385f96a7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/04/051433/image_hu_b8bc387a1d5d9c9b.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/04/051433/image_hu_f26b464c8154f903.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/04/051433/image_hu_3d0408fb716b5487.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/04/051433.html","regions":["khakassia"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","elderly","died","minors","secret-witness"],"title":"Matryona Spiriadi, 68, and Aleksandr Vergunov, 24, Based in Abakan, Were Each Handed a Two-and-a-Half-Year Suspended Sentence for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice N. A. Berg, charges Konstantin Zotov in a new edition.\nThe believer is prosecuted under several articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2, Part 1 of Article 282.3 and Part 3 of Article 33. At the same time, criminal prosecution under Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 (involvement) is terminated for lack of corpus delicti.\nZotov is accused of \"carrying out pastoral work, personally holding meetings of participants, including using video conferencing technology, at which, together with other members of the local religious cell, he memorized religious texts ... was actively engaged in missionary work.\"\n","caseTitle":"The case of Zotov and others in Berezovsky","date":"2022-03-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/beryozovsky3/index.html#20220317","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 14, 2022, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, presided by judge Angela Sizova, having considered the case of Konstantin Guzev, ruled to make minor changes to the sentence that do not change its essence.\nThe sentence was passed by the Birobidzhan District Court in February 2021. Judge Aleksey Ivaschenko sentenced Konstantin Guzev to a 2.5-year suspended sentence for participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2. Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code). In May 2021 the court of appeal confirmed the verdict for the believer, but seven months later the Ninth Court of Appeal of General jurisdiction cancelled this decision and returned the case for a new appeal hearing. That's what took place on March 14, 2022.\nKonstantin's wife Anastasiya is among the seventeen Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan who have been convicted for believing in God. Six more believers are awaiting a court decision.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-03-15T11:18:21+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/03/151118/image_hu_59f70597708c6640.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/03/151118/image_hu_68dfb8470b8cadee.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/03/151118/image_hu_c29dd8b8e57427da.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/03/151118/image_hu_e75765f37c5889b1.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/03/151118.html","regions":[],"subtitle":null,"tags":["2-appeal","282.2-2","families","suspended"],"title":"A Second Appeal in Birobidzhan Left Unchanged Konstantin Guzev's Sentence: a Two-and-a-Half Year Suspended Sentence For Believing in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 15, 2022, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court overturned the conviction of Aleksandr Pryanikov, Venera, and Darya Dulova for being Jehovah's Witnesses. The believers have the right to rehabilitation. Earlier, the same court initiated a retrial of the believers' case.\nOn July 15, 2021, the Karpinsk City Court of the Sverdlovsk Region again found the believers guilty, giving them a suspended sentence of 1 to 2.5 years.\nVenera Dulova has hearing disability. Her youngest daughter Darya faced criminal prosecution when she was only 18. It became difficult for Aleksandr Pryanikov to provide for his family. During the criminal process, all three believers were under house arrest. In addition, they were included in the list of extremists of Rosfinmonitoring.\nIn June 2018, Venera Dulova and Aleksandr Pryanikov were detained for talking about the Bible, which the investigators considered participation in the activities of an extremist organization. A criminal case was initiated. Soon their homes were searched. A year later, Darya became the third defendant in the case.\nThe trial revealed the inconsistency of the allegations. Secret witness \"Osokina\" was unable to give examples of illegal actions on the part of the defendants. She stated that the believers did not cause any harm to either her or her property. Another witness stated that he identified one of the defendants by the color of her hair, but it turned out that the investigator showed him only black and white photographs.\nIn 2020, the Dulovs and Pryanikov became defendants in another criminal case for their faith. They were charged with more serious charges: Venera and Darya - recruitment, and Aleksandr also the organization of extremist activities and the involvement of minors in it. Among the accused were also Alexander's wife Anastasia, Svetlana Zalyaeva and her husband. It is noteworthy that Ruslan Zalyaev does not profess the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses, nevertheless he is suspected of \"participating in the activities of the Local Religious Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Krasnoturinsk by [...] holding conversations in order to promote religious exclusivity.\"\nThe Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarified that worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint performance of rites and ceremonies, in themselves do not constitute a crime.\n","category":"victory","date":"2022-03-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/03/160903/image_hu_ed4b58f6827952e5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/03/160903/image_hu_ff7e8027879cab0f.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/03/160903/image_hu_6299b159a501700f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/03/160903/image_hu_7452c726c10e72da.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/03/160903.html","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","acquittal","282.2-2","secret-witness","families"],"title":"The Sverdlovsk Regional Court Overturned the Sentence of Three Karpinsk-Based Believers, Finding Them not Guilty of Extremism","type":"news"},{"body":"67-year-old Nikolay Dikhtyar is being prosecuted under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigation calls the communication of believers with each other and the conduct of worship services \"criminal activity\", which was \"stable, cohesive in nature, which was expressed in the presence of a common conviction and intent to commit serious crimes among the leaders and participants of an organized group.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Ponomarenko and Others in Luchegorsk","date":"2022-03-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/luchegorsk2/index.html#20220314","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 9, 2022 panel of judges of Penza regional court presided by Olga Podshibyakina did not satisfy the appeal of Peter and Maya Krupnovs against the sentence of the court of first instance - 2 years of suspended imprisonment for believing in God. The verdict came into force. The believers have the right to appeal the verdict in cassation as well as in international instances.\nThe Krupnovs insist on their innocence and consider the conviction unfair: the court only proved their belonging to the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which the believers never hid. At the same time, neither the prosecution nor the secret witness presented the facts of the extremist actions of the defendants. Other witnesses claimed that their preliminary testimony had been falsified.\nA court case against another believer from Nikolsk, Viktor Shayapov, is about to begin.\nPersecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia continues despite a clarification by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation that worship meetings and conversations about the Bible cannot be considered extremism per se. Supreme Court Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev emphasized on February 9, 2022: \"Actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely of the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including through the performance of religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-03-09T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/03/101404/image_hu_e8cb41a926bfc4c2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/03/101404/image_hu_4245bd6b29d67147.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/03/101404/image_hu_3a89f241072cb695.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/03/101404/image_hu_f2636e0bf6ff4b88.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/03/101404.html","regions":["penza"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","families","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"An Appeal in Penza Upheld the Conviction of a Married Couple of Jehovah's Witnesses Based in Nikolsk","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 9, 2022 a panel of judges of the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, chaired by Elena Pyshkina, overturned the conviction of Jehovah's Witness Svetlana Monis. The case is returned to the Birobidzhan District Court for review by a new panel of judges.\nIn February 2021, Svetlana Monis was convicted and sentenced to a fine of 10 thousand rubles for alleged participation in the activities of an extremist organization. In May 2021, the appeal panel of the same court toughened the sentence, replacing the fine with a suspended sentence. But in December 2021, the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction overturned the decision of the appellate instance. The criminal case for the faith was returned to the appellate stage for review by a new court.\nSvetlana's husband, Alam Aliyev, also ended up on the bench on charges of extremism. A total of 23 Jehovah's Witnesses in the region have already been persecuted for their beliefs.\nRussian authorities have repeatedly assured that the Jehovah's Witnesses faith is not banned. As the Russian Supreme Court Plenum explained on October 28, 2021, worship by Jehovah's Witnesses does not by itself constitute an \"extremist\" crime, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"trial","date":"2022-03-09T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/03/101355/image_hu_63989ef2427b84b6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/03/101355/image_hu_69237904ae4cec48.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/03/101355/image_hu_a8ce0060429ef8b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/03/101355/image_hu_f7bff67f15873eb9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/03/101355.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","retrial","282.2-2"],"title":"Svetlana Monis' Criminal Case Based on Practicing Her Faith Is Routed to the Original Jurisdiction for a Second Hearing","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 3, 2022, the Astrakhan Regional Court upheld the harsh sentence for Jehovah's Witnesses: 8 years in prison for Yevgeniy Ivanov, Rustam Diarov and Sergey Klikunov, and 3.5 years in prison for Ivanov's wife, Olga.\nFour believers were detained and placed in a temporary detention center in June 2020 during mass searches. After that, the men were imprisoned in a pre-trial detention center. Olga Ivanova spent about a year and a half under house arrest, and then waited 4 months for an appeal decision while in a pre-trial detention center.\nAt the hearings in the first instance - the Trusovsky District Court of Astrakhan - dozens of defense witnesses indicated that extremism was alien to the defendants. The prosecutor, in turn, refused to question 20 prosecution witnesses, which limited the right of believers to a full and objective study of the circumstances of the case.\nThe prosecution strategy was reduced to proving that the defendants belonged to the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. At the same time, as stated by the Russia’s Government, religion itself is not prohibited. In reality, the security forces do not distinguish between the constitutional right to freedom of religion and participation in the activities of an organization banned by the court. The believers insist on their innocence and intend to appeal the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nAnna Safronova from Astrakhan, who had previously been involved in the case of Ivanov and others as a witness, was also sent to jail in January 2022 by a harsh court decision only for peaceful religious beliefs — she was sentenced to 6 years in prison.\nThe persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia causes great resonance in the legal community. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the ECHR, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention are just some of the organizations condemning the repression of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2022-03-04T16:54:03+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/03/041654/image_hu_8692188b2f7f9d42.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/03/041654/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/03/041654/image_hu_98d685eeb22d8ef7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/03/041654/image_hu_ee98bf6f06023f1e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/03/041654.html","regions":["astrakhan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","families"],"title":"An Appeal in the City Astrakhan Upheld Prison Sentences for Four Jehovah's Witnesses, Including a Woman","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 16, 2022, the Kemerovo Regional Court rejected the appeal of Aleksandr Bondarchuk and Sergey Yavushkin, leaving the sentence unchanged - 4 years of suspended imprisonment.\nIn the summer of 2021, the Zavodskoy District Court of Kemerovo found Bondarchuk and Yavushkin guilty of extremism. The prosecution presented prayers and the rental of a pool for the rite of Christian baptism as a \"crime\". The position of the prosecutor's office was based mainly on the testimony of a witness who was covertly filming the services. At one of the hearings, Yavushkin drew the court's attention to the fact that most of the witness' testimonies were false and contradicted each other. The verdict was appealed.\nAfter the decision of the court of first instance, the believers were under house arrest. Prior to that, they spent 700 days under house arrest. Thus, at the time of the appeal decision, their movements had been restricted in total for more than 2.5 years. During the criminal prosecution, Yavushkin suffered a stroke, and his wife was hospitalized with nervous and emotional strain.\nThe believers vehemently reject the accusations of crimes and can appeal against the decisions of the courts in cassation and international instances. At one of the court hearings, Aleksandr Bondarchuk quoted the words of Russian President Putin: “You can’t force people to go against their faith, their traditions, family pedigree, in the end against truth, justice and just common sense!”\nThe groundlessness of the criminal prosecution of Yavushkin and Bondarchuk in May 2020 was confirmed by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. In its decision No. 10/2020, it was noted that criminal cases were initiated “only because [the accused] peacefully professed their religious beliefs, including having religious texts and Bibles with them, gathering together for worship with fellow believers.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-02-17T07:18:57+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/02/170718/image_hu_1bf92e30c2875dc1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/02/170718/image_hu_2211160873ddde25.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/02/170718/image_hu_f70c48692f80b5a2.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/02/170718/image_hu_b272360fdf5f21e2.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/02/170718.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"title":"An Appeal in Kemerovo Upheld Aleksandr Bondarchuk's and Sergey Yavushkin's Sentence - Both Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"Alexander Sizov, an investigator for particularly important cases of the Factory Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, is initiating a criminal case against 72-year-old Valentina Samus on suspicion of participating in extremist activities (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Samus in Kostroma","date":"2022-02-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kostroma3/index.html#20220217","regions":["kostroma"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On February 16, 2022, the judge of the Kerch City Court of the Republic of Crimea, Irina Altanets, sentenced one of Jehovah's Witnesses, Artem Shabliy, to 2 years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 3 years, finding him guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization.\nIn the spring of 2020, the investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Valery Zarubin, opened a criminal case against Artem Shabliy, the father of 2 young children, under part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). At the same time, a raid on Jehovah's Witnesses took place in Kerch. During a search in Shabliy's house, the security forces broke the windows, because of which a 4-year-old son of the believer cut his legs on splinters. Artem himself was kept undressed in the cold for several hours, as a result of which he fell ill.\nAfter the search and interrogation, the believer spent the night in a temporary detention center. The investigator persuaded Artem Shabliy to self-incriminate, but he refused and on the third day he was allowed to go home on bail.\nAccording to the investigation, the “extremism” of the builder from Kerch consisted in the fact that he “pointed to the correctness, value, usefulness of the proposed views, that is, he disseminated and explained the views and ideas of Jehovah’s Witnesses ... praised, justified and approved the ideology of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” The accusation was based on video recordings of conversations on religious topics, which were made by an I. Dukhanin, who portrayed an interest in the Bible.\nArtem Shabliy pleaded not guilty to extremism and may appeal the verdict. In his last word, he said: “It is impossible for me to even imagine that I can commit any active actions, the purpose of which is to incite racial, national and religious hatred. In fact, for me, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, such goals as the forcible change of the foundations of the constitutional order and the threat to the security of Russia are completely unacceptable.”\nCrimean courts have already sent four Jehovah's Witnesses to penal colonies for terms ranging from 6 to 6.5 years. At the same time, according to the clarification of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia, religious meetings and conversations about the Bible cannot in themselves be considered extremism. On February 9, 2022, Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev further emphasized this idea: “Actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely in exercising the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including through the performance of religious services and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-02-16T14:13:43+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/02/161413/image_hu_b754b34a8e5611d0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/02/161413/image_hu_8e928d90a9432d4f.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/02/161413/image_hu_ad5bb02cd231f0fb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/02/161413/image_hu_7efbddec9663765f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/02/161413.html","regions":["crimea"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["suspended","282.2-2","sentence","minors","health-risk"],"title":"A Court Handed Crimea-Based Artyom Shabliy a Two-Year Suspended Sentenced for Holding Bible Discussions","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 15, 2022, the Supreme Court of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic upheld the sentence for faith to Yelena Menchikova — 5 years’ suspended. At the same time, she is exempt from paying court costs.\nIn December 2021, the court of first instance found the believer guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and involving other persons in it, considering it a crime that Yelena Menchikova discussed the Bible with others, including at religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses. According to the believer's defense, the accusatory decision was made despite the fact that during the trial some witnesses gave false testimony. One of them said that he first saw Yelena only in court.\nThe believer denies the accusations of extremism and can appeal the decision of the appellate instance to the Court of Cassation and international structures.\nMenchikova is a group II disabled person and needs constant medication. Because of her recognizance not to live, it became more difficult for her to receive medical assistance. The former doctors, having learned about the criminal prosecution of Yelena, stopped helping her. The accounts of the 57-year-old woman were seized.\nAccording to the clarification of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia, religious meetings and conversations about the Bible cannot in themselves be considered extremism. On February 9, 2022, Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev additionally emphasized: “Actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely in exercising the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including through the performance of religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-02-15T17:07:55+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/02/151707/image_hu_c8c9dcd8dcfad5de.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/02/151707/image_hu_ce518f7a2c99480c.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/02/151707/image_hu_ba04f984fe757654.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/02/151707/image_hu_81e5e06119cc3540.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/02/151707.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["disability","appeal","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"A Cherkessk Appeals Court Affirmed Yelena Menchikova's, a Woman With a Disability, Sentence for Practicing Her Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Obukhov is prosecuting Margarita Moiseenko, Galina Yatsyk and Elena Yatsyk as defendants under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nAll women are placed on recognizance not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Margarita Moiseyenko and Others in Zeya","date":"2022-02-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/zeya4/index.html#20220215","regions":["amur"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Materials against 71-year-old Lyubov Serebryakova, containing information about \"committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation\", are separated from the criminal case of Sergey Sushilnikov into a separate proceeding.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Serebryakova in Novokuznetsk","date":"2022-02-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novokuznetsk3/index.html#20220210","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A. G. Andrianov, senior investigator of the Central District Department of Sochi of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory, initiates a new criminal case, now against not only Danil, but also Denis Suvorov (siblings) under Part 1.1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe investigator considers the Suvorovs' conversations about the Bible with a local resident to be involvement in extremist activities.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Danil Suvorov in Sochi","date":"2022-02-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sochi3/index.html#20220208","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Krasnodar Territory A. G. Andrianov initiates a criminal case against Denis Suvorov, the elder brother of Danila Suvorov. He is charged with two articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: 282.2 (1.1) and 282.2 (2) - involvement and participation in the activities of an extremist organization. The investigator considers conversations about God and the Bible with a local resident to be involvement in extremist activities.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Denis Suvorov in Sochi","date":"2022-02-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sochi4/index.html#20220208","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On February 3, 2022, Dmitriy Babushkin, a judge of the Ussuriysky District Court of the Primorsky Territory, found Sergey Melnikov guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and sentenced him to 3 years suspended. The believer can appeal the verdict.\nOn June 5, 2019, Sergey Melnikov was detained in his own car while talking with Konstantin Belousov, who, as it turned out later, collaborated with the FSB. He asked Melnikov questions about the Bible, and recorded conversations on audio. According to investigators, this conversation and the fact that Melnikov, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, continued to attend religious meetings of believers, was \"a continuation of the illegal activities of a banned religious organization\" and falls under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Later, a search was conducted in Sergey's house.\nEven at the investigation stage, the prosecutor's office returned materials for further investigation due to violations. But even after the case went to court, there were no victims, as well as no facts of causing damage to the individual, society or the state. Nevertheless, the prosecutor asked to sentence the believer to 4 years suspended.\nSpeaking in court , Melnikov pleaded not guilty to extremism and stressed that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not ban the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. However, for more than 2 years, Sergey has been under criminal prosecution simply for his religion. During this time, he spent 122 days in a pre-trial detention center, then 145 days under house arrest, and since February last year he has been under house arrest.\nThe judge sentenced the believer to 3 years probation with a probation period of 2 years, as well as 8 months of restriction of freedom.\nIn Primorsky Territory, 39 people have already been prosecuted for their faith. 6 of them received sentences: 5 received a suspended sentence and 1 was acquitted.\nThe world community strongly condemns the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-02-03T14:12:00+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/02/031411/image_hu_c6b03bd847bcea59.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/02/031411/image_hu_ff38133b09d81dd2.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/02/031411/image_hu_e6691e9840197f3f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/02/031411/image_hu_a8e93c360cce8df9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/02/031411.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["suspended","sentence","hidden-surveillance","282.2-2"],"title":"Ussuriysk-Based Sergey Melnikov Sentenced to Three Years of Probation for Adhering to Beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"In the early morning of February 3, 2022, a search was conducted at the home of a Kemerovo resident Vladimir Baikalov. A day earlier, a criminal case was initiated against him on charges of participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\nA criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Baykalov was initiated by Aleksandra Isaeva, senior investigator of the investigative department for the Zavodskoy district of the city of Kemerovo. According to law enforcers, Vladimir's extremism consisted in communicating on biblical topics via video conferencing.\nThe search lasted more than 4 hours and was attended by an expert of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and several detectives from the Center for Combating Extremism. The security forces confiscated Vladimir Baikalov's digital devices, electronic media, personal records, and his international passport.\nThis is already the 11th criminal case against Jehovah's Witnesses in the region. On October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarified that worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint performance of rites and ceremonies, do not in themselves constitute a crime.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-02-03T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/02/041420/image_hu_70fa4f75f69152ee.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/02/041420/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/02/041420/image_hu_4d9f9f663ca541ef.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/02/041420/image_hu_37bc27eb14dc519a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/02/041420.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2"],"title":"Another Search in Kemerovo. A Criminal Сase Is Initiated Against a 58-Year-Old Witness of Jehovah","type":"news"},{"body":"Pavel Sidorenko is being prosecuted under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Sidorenko in Krasnodar","date":"2022-02-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/krasnodar2/index.html#20220202","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The believer reads out the petition for an open hearing, but it is rejected, referring to the practice of the district court. The hearing at the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region is held behind closed doors.\nJudge Irina Zhurova reads out the complaint, after which the parties are given the floor. The prosecutor points out that the believers, despite the ban, continued to comply with the provisions of the charter of the LRO. Gubin objected, noting that the court did not consider the charter of the LRO and did not prohibit the worship of God. According to the believer, the court of first instance drew attention to the fact that even former members of the LRO can continue to profess their faith and gather together to worship God. Gubin then delivers his last word.\nThe Court of Appeal shall uphold the decision of the lower court. The verdict comes into force.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Gubin in Birobidzhan","date":"2022-02-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan18/index.html#20220201","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","suspended"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 31, 2022, Judge of the Pozharsky District Court of Primorsky Krai, Yevgeny Stefanyuk, found 66-year-old Sergey Sergeyev and 57-year-old Yuriy Belosludtsev from Luchegorsk guilty of extremism for talking about God and sentenced both to a suspended sentence of 5 years.\nUpdate. According to updated data, the court sentenced Sergey Sergeyev and Yuriy Belosludtsev to 6 years of suspended term with a probationary period of 5 years and restriction of freedom for 1 year and 9 months. Sergey Sergeyev said before the verdict: “I have never had a desire to harm someone ... I am accused of committing a serious crime, not because I did something bad or harmed someone, but because I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\nYuriy Belosludtsev also pleaded not guilty: “I have nothing to do with extremism, as it contradicts the biblical principles on the basis of which I try to build my life. And there is not the slightest hint of extremism in the case file.”\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nYuriy and Sergey were detained during mass searches and interrogations in Luchegorsk in March 2019. The local branch of the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case against them, accusing them of participation (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and involvement in the activities of an extremist organization (part 1.1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). One of the key witnesses in the case is FSB officer Prokhor Vasin, who secretly filmed conversations with believers. According to him, their extremism consisted in discussing the Bible with him. The intelligence officer did not report any real crimes. There are no victims in the case. Nevertheless, the prosecutor asked to send Belosludtsev to a colony for 5.5, and Sergeyev - for 5 years in a colony.\nBelievers have already had to spend half a year in a pre-trial detention center, then another almost 5 months under house arrest and more than a year under house arrest.\nIn total, in Primorsky Territory, criminal cases for faith were initiated against 39 people: 20 men and 19 women, some of whom are elderly.\nHuman rights activists unanimously condemn the repression of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that the decisions of Russian courts to liquidate the legal organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses do not prohibit their beliefs or restrict their right to gather for worship.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-01-31T15:56:43+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/311556/image_hu_2283f62a9bf364.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/311556/image_hu_5dccad9503f7217a.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/311556/image_hu_9e8b82c30e39527a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/311556/image_hu_8165c1a4a79f8a04.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/311556.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","elderly","suspended"],"title":"A Primorye Court Sentenced Two Jehovah's Witnesses to a 6-Year Suspended Sentence for Talking About God","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 31, 2022 Judge Nikita Kucherov of the Nevelsk City Court of Sakhalin Region found local Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization or in its organization. Sergey Kulakov and Yevgeniy Yelin were sentenced to 6.5 years of suspended imprisonment based on the more grave part of the article.\nTatyana Kulakova (wife of Sergey Kulakov), Vyacheslav Ivanov and Aleksandr Kozlitin were sentenced to 2 years of suspended sentence on the milder part of the article. The verdict has not come into force and can be appealed. The believers insisted on their complete innocence. There were no victims of the believers' actions in the criminal case.\nThe court fully satisfied the request of the prosecutor's office to give Yelin and Kulakov a suspended sentence of 6.5 years. However, the prosecutor's office asked for a more severe punishment: Ivanov 5 years, Kozlitin 4 years and Kulakova 3.5 years of suspended imprisonment.\nThe case for the faith against Sergey Kulakov was initiated on December 24, 2018. Within a month there were at least 11 searches in the homes of believers in Sakhalin. This was the first raid on Jehovah's Witnesses after President Vladimir Putin expressed bewilderment at the persecution of believers of this religion and promised to deal with it. From April 2019 to March 2020, the Sakhalin Region FSB opened criminal cases against Aleksandr Kozlitin, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Yevgeniy Yelin, and Tatyana Kulakova one after another. All cases were later merged into one case. Throughout the investigation, the believers were under house arrest. On December 10, 2020 the case went to court.\nDue to illness, 60-year-old Sergey Kulakov has difficulty walking without a cane. In October 2019, he was included in the federal list of extremists Rosfinmonitoring, due to which the believer can no longer use a bank card. Sergey Kulakov shared, \"When it all started, the fellow believers repeatedly provided us with assistance, helped with food products.\"\nTatyana Kulakova is visually impaired and has difficulty reading a lot, which she had to do throughout the trial. The searches affected her health, in addition, Tatyana was hospitalized with a Covid.\nVyacheslav Ivanov shared that he and his wife were helped to cope with all the events - they were sincerely interested in their friends and cared for them not only morally, but also financially.\nDespite their peaceful activities, hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia have already been subjected to repression, although Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that believers can continue to practice their religion freely. The world community and human rights organizations express strong concerns about systematic violations of the freedoms and rights of religious minorities, in particular Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-01-31T15:49:20+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/311528/image_hu_beec5e9578c58881.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/311528/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/311528/image_hu_f2ab36e53516cb94.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/311528/image_hu_e7fdaf8aca92e153.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/311528.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","282.2-1"],"title":"Five Sakhalin-Based Believers Received Suspended Sentences Ranging From Two to Six-and-a-Half Years for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 28, 2022, a series of searches and interrogations took place in the Krasnodar Territory. Criminal cases have been initiated against at least two peaceful believers: Pavel Sidorenko, 64, and Aleksey Lelikov, 61.\nSearches began around 6:30 in the morning and lasted about five hours, after which the men were taken for interrogation to the Krasnodar Territory FSB and then released. There were no reports of physical force or other violent actions towards the believers.\nDuring the search of the Sidorenko's house in Prigorodny, their adult daughter, who has a serious diagnosis, had a seizure. Law enforcement officers seized a laptop, phones, SIM-cards and memory cards, a Bible symphony and personal records from the family. The case was initiated against Pavel Sidorenko on suspicion of participation in extremist activity (part 2 article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). He signed a pledge not to leave.\nThe search of Alexey Lelikov's house was led by FSB Lieutenant Colonel Nikita Rudenko. The law enforcement officers seized literature, not included in the list of prohibited items: a book by religious scholar Sergei Ivanenko and an atlas of ancient Israel. In addition, they seized laptops, phones and plastic folders in which the utility receipts were kept.\nThe criminal case against Lelikov was opened by senior investigator Anton Poltoratsky on January 20, 2022. The believer is suspected of continuing the activities of a banned organization (part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), \"undermining the foundations of the constitutional order and state security,\" which was expressed through reading the Bible and preaching, a common practice of Jehovah's Witnesses which is not prohibited in Russia. Lelikov's wife and daughter are witnesses in the case.\nThere have already been 15 criminal cases in the Krasnodar Territory for practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. At the same time, the Plenum of the Supreme Court ruled that holding peaceful worship services cannot be considered a crime by itself.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-01-28T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/02/021103/image_hu_ee80051713b013d5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/02/021103/image_hu_7ae9915df0023392.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/02/021103/image_hu_5c3d22fbbdc5d376.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/02/021103/image_hu_be56baacf0288aec.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/02/021103.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","interrogation","282.2-2","282.2-1","recognizance-agreement"],"title":"A Series of Searches Took Place in Kuban. Two Criminal Cases Were Initiated Against Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 25, 2022, Aleksandr Lepsky, a judge of the Trusovskiy District Court of Astrakhan, considered Anna Safronova’s participation in Bible discussions extremism and sentenced her to 6 years in a penal colony, as requested by the prosecutor. After the verdict was announced, the believer was taken into custody.\nIn her last speech, Safronova said: “A conscience taught by the Bible does not allow me to harm the state and the people living in it. I have nothing to do with extremism. I am actually accused of believing in Jehovah God, praying to him, talking to others about the Bible and remaining a Jehovah's Witness, that is, enjoying the right guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution.” As in other \"extremist\" cases against Jehovah's Witnesses, in Safronova's case there are no victims or damage caused to anyone or anything. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nAnna Safronova is a 56-year-old widow. She takes care of her mother, who is already over 80. The women had to go through searches twice. The first one took place in the summer of 2020, when a raid took place in the homes of 26 more families of believers. Then Anna was a witness in the case of other Astrakhan believers accused of extremism. A year later, Anna and her mother's apartment was searched again. This time, Safronova was already a suspect. She was interrogated and sent to the detention center for 1 day.\nOn May 28, 2021, the investigator for especially important cases of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Astrakhan Region, Nikolay Banko, opened a criminal case against Anna Safronova under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 and part 1 of Art. 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, accusing her of participating in worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses and financing extremist activities. Among the evidence of Anna's “criminal intent” is a discussion of the Bible with fellow believers via video link and the singing of songs and prayers to Jehovah God. The investigation considers the financing of extremism to be the fact that Safronova helped collect voluntary donations for the common needs of believers. For example, to pay for the ZOOM program, video cameras and microphones to communicate with fellow believers. Almost immediately after the initiation of the criminal case, Anna was included in the list of extremists of Rosfinmonitoring, due to which her bank accounts were blocked.\nAnna Safronova became the first woman, Jehovah's Witness, in Russia to be sentenced to such a long prison term. In addition to her, after the guilty verdict, two more believers are currently behind bars: Olga Ivanova from Astrakhan (sentence - 3.5 years) and Valentina Baranovskaya from Abakan (2 years). In addition, Olga Ponomareva and Anna Yermak from the Krasnodar village of Kholmskaya were sentenced in absentia to 5 and 4.5 years in prison, respectively. Another woman, Tatyana Velizhanina from Sochi, is awaiting a court decision in a pre-trial detention center.\nAccording to the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of October 28, 2021, “the divine services of Jehovah’s Witnesses, their joint performance of rites and ceremonies, in themselves do not constitute a crime under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-01-26T08:38:12+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/260838/image_hu_951a4d6991667a91.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/260838/image_hu_8ad68d24cf37d6ea.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/260838/image_hu_b47971d7218fc338.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/260838/image_hu_d1d7294c5943c300.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/260838.html","regions":["astrakhan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"title":"For the First Time in Russia, a Court Sentenced a Woman to a Six-Year Prison Sentence for Adhering to Beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"Senior investigator of the FSB of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Nikita Rudenko initiates a criminal case against 64-year-old Pavel Sidorenko.\nThe investigation claims that no later than February 15, 2019, Sidorenko \"had a criminal intent to commit illegal actions for further participation in the activities of a local religious organization prohibited by law.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Sidorenko in Krasnodar","date":"2022-01-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/krasnodar2/index.html#20220126","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","elderly","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Anastasia Dunicheva attracts Tatyana Piskareva as an accused. Among the evidence of her guilt, the investigation lists recordings of telephone conversations and conversations with fellow believers via the Internet.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Piskareva in Oryol","date":"2022-01-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/orel4/index.html#20220126","regions":["oryol"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 20, 2022, the Lipetsk Regional Court denied the appeal of Artur Netreba, Alexandr Kostrov and Viktor Bachurin and upheld the sentence of the lower court. Believers are required to pay a fine of 300,000 rubles each.\nIn November 2021, the court found three Jehovah's Witnesses from Lipetsk guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and fined each of them 500 thousand rubles, but the amount was reduced to 300 thousand, since the believers spent almost a year in a pre-trial detention center. The court considered it a \"grave crime against the constitutional order\" for believers to participate in peaceful religious meetings and discuss the Bible with others.\nThe criminal case against Kostrov, Bachurin and Netreba was initiated on December 2, 2019, on the same day their homes were searched, followed by arrest.\nA psychologist, a religious scholar and a linguist were involved in the criminal case as experts, who did not find signs of extremism in the activities of the defendants or the motivation of others to do so. There were no casualties or any harm from the actions of the believers.\nThe verdict has entered into force, but believers consider it illegal and can appeal in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nIn total, 10 people have already been prosecuted for their faith in the Lipetsk region, including 3 women. Repressions against Jehovah's Witnesses continue despite the explanation of the Plenum of the Supreme Court that the joint worship of believers in itself is not a crime.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-01-20T16:37:52+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/201637/image_hu_7044609f2a05074d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/201637/image_hu_3f5705986bb8e294.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/201637/image_hu_34fdb1e598cf1a0e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/201637/image_hu_6aa4df0ef9854350.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/201637.html","regions":["lipetsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["fine","appeal","282.2-2"],"title":"An Appeal in Lipetsk Upheld the Sentence of Three Jehovah's Witnesses—Fines for Talking About the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 20, 2022, the judge of the Snezhinskiy City Court of the Chelyabinsk Region Timofey Smolyuk found Lyudmila Salikova guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist community and gave her a 6-year suspended sentence with a 4-year probation period for not giving up her faith in Jehovah God.\nSpeaking before the court, the believer said: \"The goals of Jehovah's Witnesses are the most peaceful, and I am guided in my life exclusively by the Bible.\" She also noted: “I want to emphasize once again that my intent was not aimed at resuming the activities of any legal entities, but solely at exercising my right to profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.”\nOn November 30, 2020, the investigator of the Investigative Committee for the Chelyabinsk Region, Alexandr Chepenko, searched Lyudmila Salikova, and 9 months later brought her in as a defendant under a serious criminal article. This is not the first time investigator Chepenko has initiated the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Chelyabinsk region and personally initiated at least 5 criminal cases against believers. Among those who have already received suspended sentences for their faith are pensioners Vladimir Suvorov and his wife Valentina.\nChepenko investigated the case for a year, and in November 2021 it was taken to court. The consideration of the case took two months. For six months the believer was under house arrest. Because of the criminal prosecution, the woman's reputation suffered, and Salikova had to resign from the Department of Municipal Services, where she worked as a leading engineer.\nThe charges were based on the testimony of an infiltrated FSB agent, Vera Kotelnikova, who feigned an interest in the Bible and made video and audio recordings of conversations. Later, they were sent for examination to three teachers of the Chelyabinsk State University: Andrey Konyuchenko, Yekaterina Zabelina and Olga Khokhlovskaya. After examining the conversations about God, they concluded that Lyudmila Salikova allegedly persuaded Kotelnikova to participate in the activities of the \"Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia\" and the local organization. However, according to the law, the production of a forensic examination could not be entrusted to these specialists, since they are not state experts and do not have a religious education.\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence the pensioner to 6.5 years in a penal colony.\nThe entire logic of Salikova's accusation was based on the fact that faith in God is \"a continuation of the activities of an extremist organization.\" Consequently, instead of searching for and proving Lyudmila's \"guilt\", the prosecutor's office was busy proving that she professed the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, despite the fact that the believer never hid this fact. In addition, no religion is prohibited in Russia, and on October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation confirmed this when it clarified that the worship of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint rites and ceremonies do not constitute a crime in themselves. Nevertheless, the court equated the peaceful pensioner with dangerous criminals and convicted her.\nLyudmila Salikova became the fifth woman in Russia to be convicted not for participating, but for organizing an extremist community just because of reading the Bible, praying and singing songs. Sentences under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for Valeriya Raiman, Yekaterina Pegasheva, Nataliya Sorokina and Mariya Troshina have already entered into force. The conviction of Lyudmila Salikova has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on her complete innocence.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-01-20T14:29:15+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/201429/image_hu_23e825b39dc77888.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/201429/image_hu_1a652ef1eb2788d2.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/201429/image_hu_a8a54f8202b3f114.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/201429/image_hu_cd79b84f1d108371.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/201429.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","elderly","suspended","282.2-2","studies-violations"],"title":"A Court Convicted 70-Year-Old Ural-based Retiree Lyudmila Salikova to Serve a Six-Year Suspended Sentence for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 19, 2022, the judge of the Seversky City Court of the Tomsk Region, Yalchin Badalov, found 51-year-old Andrey Kolesnichenko guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and sentenced him to real imprisonment for a period of four years. The believer was taken into custody in the courtroom.\nThe court also appointed Kolesnichenko an additional restriction of freedom for 1 year: after serving the term, the believer during this period will not be able to visit places of mass, sports, cultural and entertainment events and participate in them, change their place of residence and leave it at night.\n\"From the materials of the case and my testimony it is clear that I did not commit any crime. I peacefully and legally professed my faith in Jehovah God,\" Kolesnichenko said in an appeal to the court.\nIn July 2020, FSB officers detained this cabinet furniture maker right at his workplace, after which they searched his home. The case was opened in March 2021, 8 months after the search. The investigation was carried out for three months by the Investigation Department for Close Administrative-Territorial Unit Seversk, Investigative Committee of the RF Investigative Committee for the Tomsk Region.\nSix months after the initiation of the criminal case, Kolesnichenko retired. Due to the need to constantly visit the Investigative Committee, he could not devote proper time to work. Throughout the investigation and trial, the believer was under house arrest.\nKolesnichenko's accusation was based on data obtained during the surveillance of the believer and the testimony of prosecution witness Kira Klisheva. The woman pretended to be interested in the Bible for about a year, made videos of the services from her home computer and handed them over to the FSB. Based on her testimony, charges were brought against at least five other Jehovah's Witnesses in Seversk: Aleksey Yershov, Andrey Ledyaykin, Yelena Saveliyeva, Sergey Belousov, and Yevgeniy Korotun. The latter is the brother of Kolesnichenko's wife.\nOn June 22, 2021, the Kolesnichenko case was received by the Severskiy City Court of the Tomsk Region and was considered there for 7 months. The prosecutor asked the court to sentence the native of Seversk to 5 years in a penal colony and 1 year of various restrictions. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on his complete innocence.\nIn total, seven criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses were initiated in the Tomsk Region. Sergey Klimov, sentenced to 6 years in prison, has been serving his sentence since February 20, 2020. 80-year-old Yelena Saveliyeva received 4 years of probation. The court sentenced Aleksey Ershov to 3 years in a penal colony, and Yevgeniy Korotun—to seven years in prison. The cases of Andrey Ledyaykin and Sergey Belousov are still pending in court.\nOn October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the divine services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint performance of rites and ceremonies, in themselves do not constitute a crime under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-01-20T13:55:13+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/201355/image_hu_151d7adb71585be8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/201355/image_hu_f26194fdd2706055.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/201355/image_hu_3135ed544d0d1077.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/201355/image_hu_7c5573d16ddc5360.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/201355.html","regions":["tomsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"Tomsk Region-Based Andrey Kolesnichenko, One of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Holding Bible-Based Discussions","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 20, 2022, the Kursk Regional Court denied Andrey Andreyev, Andrey Ryshkov, Aleksander Vospitanyuk, and Artem and Alevtina Bagratyan their appeals against a guilty verdict. It came into force, almost all the defendants received real prison terms for their faith.\nHowever, on the same day Andrey Ryshkov was released from the pre-trial detention center. He served his term in full while being in custody for almost 2 years.\nAndrey Ryshkov leaves the pre-trial detention center, having served his sentence in full. January 2022 On June 3, 2021, the Industrial District Court of Kursk found 5 Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of extremism for their religion. Andrey Andreyev was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, Andrey Ryshkov — 3 years in prison, Alevtina Bagratyan — 2 years in prison. Alevtina's husband Artem Bagratyan was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, but he served his term while still in jail, and was released in June 2021. The court sentenced Aleksandr Vospitanyuk to 2 years of suspended imprisonment. The believers appealed against the guilty verdict. They still consider themselves innocent of extremism and can appeal the appeal decision to the cassation and international instances.\nMeanwhile, Andrey Andreyev continues to be held in the pre-trial detention center. He has spent more than 2 years behind bars. Alevtina Bagratyan is currently under house arrest.\nThe Federal Security Service of Russia for the Kursk region opened a criminal case against the Kursk believers in September 2019. About a month later, on October 16, groups of law enforcers raided them with searches and accused them of organizing and continuing the activities of a banned religious organization.\nDuring the trial, the defense drew the attention of the court to falsifications in the case file, and several witnesses retracted their earlier testimony, explaining that the investigation put pressure on them. Also, according to them, interrogation protocols contained information they never reported.\nThroughout the trial, the prosecution tried to prove their religious views as Jehovah's Witnesses, which they never concealed. The prosecution never explained what real crimes against the state and society were committed by the believers.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-01-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/211404/image_hu_8dd827e37817deef.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/211404/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/211404/image_hu_1f2203a5bd97c64a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/211404/image_hu_48bd66790589b3ef.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/211404.html","regions":["kursk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","282.2-1","liberty-deprivation","families"],"title":"A Kursk Appeals Court Upheld the Sentence of Five Believers, Including a Woman. Andrey Ryshkov has Served his Sentence and was Released","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 19, 2022, Yalchin Badalov, Judge of the Seversk City Court of the Tomsk Region, found 68-year-old Jehovah's Witness Aleksey Yershov guilty of participating in extremist activities and sentenced him to 3 years in a penal colony. He is taken into custody in the courtroom.\nAt the court hearing that preceded the sentencing, Aleksey Ershov stated that he had not committed anything extremist. Faith helped him keep his family together and lead a respectable life: “The facts … prove that Jehovah's Witnesses do not resort to violence, work conscientiously, pay taxes honestly, as a rule, have strong friendly families.”\nAleksey Ershov was brought up without a father in a large family. He worked as an engineer and teacher, held a position of a local deputy.\nIn the summer of 2020, a series of searches took place in Seversk, including at Aleksey’s home. A few months later, the local department of the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against him, accusing him of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), undermining the foundations of the constitutional order and state security, which was expressed in \"active participation in meetings\" where local believers peacefully discussed the Bible. Aleksey did not commit any real crimes.\nThe accusation is based on the testimony of Kira Klisheva, who collaborates with the FSB. When asked on what grounds she determined that Jehovah's Witnesses were extremists, Klisheva replied in court: \"Because they pronounce the name of God - Jehovah.\" Similar testimonies of this witness are the basis for accusations against 5 other believers from Seversk.\nThe guilty verdict of the Seversky City Court against Aleksey Ershov has not entered into force and can be appealed. In November 2021, the same court sentenced 80-year-old Yelena Savelyeva, a teacher with forty years of experience, to four years suspended, also for talking about the Bible. In total, since last years, 7 criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses have been initiated in the Tomsk Region.\nThe repression of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is carried out despite repeated assurances from the authorities that the religion is not banned.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-01-19T13:17:16+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/191317/image_hu_ad45a2327aeb3d32.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/191317/image_hu_69e7787f4496ea0a.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/191317/image_hu_5bbe285cd640adbc.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/191317/image_hu_76c0f32aa218366b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/191317.html","regions":["tomsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","elderly"],"title":"A Seversk Court Sentenced Aleksey Yershov, a Retiree, to Three Years in Prison for Participating in Christian Meetings","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 18, 2022 the Kamchatka Regional Court, for the second time considering the case of spouses Konstantin and Snezhana Bazhenovs and Vera Zolotova, found them not guilty of extremism. This is the second acquittal of Jehovah's Witnesses charged under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code since the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation issued an explanation.\n\"I would like to thank the panel of judges for the fair outcome of the case. Appeals hearings are now taking place all over Russia regarding the illegal convictions of Jehovah's Witnesses. We hope that the Kamchatka example will be effective for other judges, and they will take the courage to correct the mistakes made by their colleagues,\" commented Yaroslav Sivulsky, representative of the European Jehovah's Witnesses Association, on the court decision.\nIn September 2020, the Yelizovsky District Court sentenced three local residents to 2 years of suspended sentence, considering that 75-year-old Zolotova and 44-year-old Bazhenovs participated in the activities of an extremist organization by discussing the Bible with fellow believers. The appeal left the verdict unchanged, but the believers appealed it in the cassation instance, which returned the case for a second appeal hearing. The acquittal verdict, issued by judges D. E. Urban, A. Y. Ivakin and O. F. Slobodchikov, came into force immediately.\nTwo months earlier the Ninth Cassation Court in Vladivostok, having cancelled the appellate decision of the lower court, recommended that the regional court take into consideration the explanation of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation from 28 October 2021, which stated that the worship of Jehovah's Witnesses and their joint rites and ceremonies do not by themselves constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code.\nThe Russian government has repeatedly stated that decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses and do not contain restrictions or prohibitions on the individual practice of the above-mentioned doctrine.\"\n","category":"victory","date":"2022-01-18T14:08:30+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/181408/image_hu_1b012c9c78b002c7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/181408/image_hu_c49029d870991025.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/181408/image_hu_66ce638421990f94.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/181408/image_hu_24785f441359b71b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/181408.html","regions":["kamchatka"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["2-appeal","acquittal","282.2-2","families","elderly"],"title":"A secondary appeal acquitted three believers accused of extremism in Kamchatka","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 17, 2022, the judge of the Pavlovskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, Andrey Mynochka, found Maksim Beltikov guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and sentenced him to two years in a penal colony. The believer was immediately taken into custody from the courtroom.\nThe Beltikovs have three underage sons, the youngest of whom was 3.5 years old at the time the criminal prosecution began. The believer also has an elderly mother. Due to prolonged stress, her chronic diseases worsened.\nBeltikov faced difficulties at the investigation stage. He, the breadwinner of the whole family, had trouble getting his salary from the bank because his accounts were blocked. The criminal prosecution also undermined his health.\nNevertheless, the believer noted: “During the criminal persecution, fellow believers invited us to lunch and dinner and tried to support us financially and morally. Also, about 15 people regularly came to the courthouse to support us despite the bad weather.” Shortly before the sentencing, he said: “I work at the same place. The employer even kept my salary on those days when I went to the investigator or to court hearings”.\nAddressing the court with the last word, Maksim Beltikov emphasized: “Of course, I would like to hope that the court will pass an acquittal, but if not, then my faith will not be shaken. I am convinced that a peaceful religion cannot be extremist and never will be. I love all people regardless of their social status and faith.”\nMaksim Beltikov came to the attention of the special services at the end of April 2020, when the FSB, together with the Cossacks, raided Jehovah's Witnesses from two villages. Two months later, on June 23, 2020, a criminal case was initiated against the believer. It was initiated by the investigator of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory M. Loy. It took the police about six months to complete the investigation. It was submitted to the Pavlovskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory in January 2021.\nThe charges were based on audio recordings of conversations about the Bible between Beltikov and the secret agent Ilchenko (who is also a key witness for the prosecution in the case of Lyudmila Shchekoldina, which is being heard in the same court). During the hearings, it turned out that the negative remarks about adherents of other religions, which were attributed to Beltikov, actually belong to Ilchenko. He was twice forced to admit this during interrogations in court.\nIn addition, the phonoscopic examination, which was carried out as part of the investigation, was carried out in bad faith. During interrogation in court, the religious scholar and psychologist admitted that they did it on the basis of not an audio recording, but a transcript provided by them, which was distorted. Despite the obvious violations, the court repeatedly denied the defense the appointment of a repeated comprehensive phonoscopic examination.\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence the believer to 3 years in prison in a penal colony. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. Beltikov insists on his complete innocence.\nOn October 28, 2021, shortly before the sentencing of Maksim Beltikov, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint performance of rites and ceremonies, in themselves do not constitute a crime under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities. During the meeting of the Plenum, the judge-rapporteur Yelena Peisikova separately noted that new clarifications appeared in pursuance of the instructions of the President of Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-01-17T16:24:16+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/171624/image_hu_d7eea271fd807197.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/171624/image_hu_d46fd2e029ca2b01.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/171624/image_hu_c8035547bbfbff18.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/171624/image_hu_a1ed2e72f6d34147.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/171624.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["minors","liberty-deprivation","sentence","rosfinmonitoring","final-statement","secret-witness","282.2-2"],"title":"Court Sentenced Maksim Beltikov, a Father of a Large Family from the Village of Pavlovskaya, to a Two-Year Prison Sentence for Discussing the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 14, 2022, a panel of judges of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court, chaired by Olga Epifanova, upheld the sentence for residents of Pavlov, Aleksey Oreshkov, Alexander Rakovsky and Alexander Vavilov - 3 years suspended.\nBelievers still insist on their innocence. They have the right to appeal the verdict in cassation and international instances.\nThe cases of Oreshkov, Vavilov and Rakovsky, along with several other cases in the region, were the result of mass searches that took place in July 2019 in Nizhny Novgorod and the city of Pavlovo. The Pavlovsk City Court found three believers guilty of extremism, although there were no victims in the case, and the trial itself was held with violations. The line of accusation was based only on evidence that the three men belonged to the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. At the same time, one of the interrogated FSB officers admitted that this religion is not officially banned. No one presented evidence of real crimes in court. Witnesses involved in the court of first instance claimed that their testimony had been falsified.\nAlexey Oreshkov and Alexander Vavilov spent 7 and 8 months in pre-trial detention, respectively. Later, they were chosen a measure of restraint not related to imprisonment.\nDue to unjustified criminal prosecution, Alexander Vavilov lost his job and the opportunity to visit his children and granddaughters, Alexey Oreshkov for a long time could not take care of his mother, a disabled person of group I. Due to his criminal record, Alexander Rakovsky, the father of two young children, faces dismissal.\nHuman rights activists unanimously condemn the repression of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-01-14T17:00:52+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/141700/image_hu_8188568c79b10761.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/141700/image_hu_7f373544aca057a7.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/141700/image_hu_7f3ac8ce03d7bbcd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/141700/image_hu_2054d367e14b7223.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/141700.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","work-restrictions","282.2-2"],"title":"The Appeal Filed in Nizhny Novgorod Left Unchanged Suspended Sentences for Three of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 12, 2022, the panel of judges of the Kostroma Regional Court, chaired by Judge Yuliya Shumilova, rejected Dmitriy Terebilov's appeal. The verdict of the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma entered into force.\nAt the same time, the court decided to send for a new consideration to the Sverdlovsk District Court in a differently constituted bench the question of material evidence (in the verdict, the court did not specify which physical evidence was to be returned and which to be destroyed). The appeal court left the main part of the verdict unchanged—the believer will have to serve a sentence of 3 years in a strict regime colony.\nIn court, Terebilov emphacized that he considers the sentence to be illegal: “I am using my constitutional right to believe in Jehovah God. And this is not a crime. Therefore, the recognition of me guilty only for my religious beliefs testifies to discrimination and violation of the law.\" The believer also noted: \"I am being persecuted and punished only for being a Christian who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which is not prohibited by law.\"\nThe strict regime of serving the sentence is due to the fact that Dmitriy Terebilov in the past, before becoming Jehovah's Witness, had a criminal record. While behind bars, he decided to read the Bible for the first time. The knowledge in this book influenced him positively. The changes in the prisoner impressed the administration of the correctional institution so much that they petitioned for his early release. Dmitriy left his former lifestyle and became a Christian, but in September 2021 he was again thrown behind bars—now because of his faith. Dmitriy Terebilov has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.\nIn Kostroma, young spouses Sergey and Valeriya Rayman were also prosecuted for their faith, who were sentenced to 3 and 2 years' suspended imprisonment, respectively.\nThe Court of Appeal in Kostroma upheld the verdict of the believer, despite the clarifications of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of October 28, 2021, which indicated that the divine services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint rituals and ceremonies do not in themselves constitute a crime under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-01-12T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/01/130920/image_hu_bb8538aa9c7211db.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/01/130920/image_hu_38c9a501d489e702.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/01/130920/image_hu_6367641c45ebbdc0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/01/130920/image_hu_39d585ff4bcfa67f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/01/130920.html","regions":["kostroma"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"Kostroma Appeals Court Upholds Dmitriy Terebilov's Sentence — Three Years in a Maximum Security Penal Colony for his Faith in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 30, 2021, the judge of the Nikolsk District Court of the Penza Region, Irina Kuznetsova, sentenced Petr Krupnov and his wife, Maya, to 3 years probation and 8 months of freedom restrictions. The judge considered the discussion of the biblical commandments as participation in the activities of a banned organization.\n“I have not done anything illegal either before the people, or before the state, or before God!” Maya declared, speaking with her last word in court a few days before the verdict. “To be Jehovah's Witness is not a crime, but a great honor! All over the world, in more than 200 countries, Jehovah's Witnesses freely practice their religious beliefs based on the Bible.”\nPetr also did not admit guilt and stressed that he adheres to teachings based on love for people, and this is incompatible with the ideas of extremism.\nNevertheless, the court passed a guilty verdict, appointing a suspended sentence and obliging the family to pay 42 thousand rubles of legal costs. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nMaya Krupnova has gone through many shocks in her life. Her first husband was killed, her fellow villagers poisoned their livestock, and their house was nearly burned down. In 2020, Maya's middle daughter died.\nThe case against the Krupnovs, as well as 60-year-old Yuriy Kim, was initiated on October 7, 2020. It was led by Igor Saulin, Investigator for Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Penza Region. The main defendant was Kim, he was accused of organizing extremist activities. The decision to initiate the case stated that Yuriy \"in an unidentified manner involved Maya Krupnova to participate in the activities of the LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses.\" The investigation considered it a crime for the woman to discuss religious issues in the company of friends, for example, how the Bible helps to keep calm in stressful situations.\n19 days after the initiation of the case, Yuriy was summoned 120 km from his home to familiarize himself with the collected materials. Upon arrival, the believer was paralyzed, the ambulance did not manage to save him, and on October 30, 2020, he passed away.\nAfter a year of investigation, on October 6, 2021, the case was taken to court. The file contains audio recordings of Maya's conversations with a girl, an FSB agent, who portrayed an interest in the Bible. In court, she could not remember exactly when the meetings of the believers took place and what was discussed at them. In December 2021, it turned out that the prosecutor did not provide any evidence of the \"criminal actions\" of Petr Krupnov.\nDuring interrogations, many witnesses retracted their testimonies, claiming that they had not said anything like that. Among the witnesses were neighbors who described Maya positively as a hospitable woman. They also noted that the Krupnovs' spouses helped them with the housework.\nAnother Nikolsk resident, Viktor Shayapov, is being prosecuted on the basis of similar charges of extremism. Also, six residents of the regional center - Penza - received suspended sentences from 2 to 4 years.\nOn December 8, 2021, a member of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, Andrey Babushkin, sent an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection with the ongoing persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, despite the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court. “By inertia, the investigating authorities and courts continue to sanction searches, arrest believers and pass convictions on them,” the human rights activist expresses concern.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-12-30T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/12/310839/image_hu_b74590b1d0a2e38b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/12/310839/image_hu_89bd48d306220c74.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/12/310839/image_hu_cdb3bf0fbdd7e649.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/12/310839/image_hu_81a8d5f0a5282e01.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/12/310839.html","regions":["penza"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"Nikolsk Court Hands a Three-Year Suspended Sentence to the Krupnovs for Discussing the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 23, 2021, Nikolay Surmach, a judge of the Abinsk District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, found 48-year-old Aleksandr Nikolayev guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and sentenced him to 2 years and 6 months in a general regime colony.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and will be appealed. The believer insists on his complete innocence.\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case and all that is imputed to Nikolayev is one attendance at a divine service with reading from the book Genesis about the birth of sons and a daughter for Jacob, the prosecutor asked the court to impose a sentence on the believer in the form of imprisonment for 3 years in a general regime colony, 3 years of ban on activities for the organization of religious associations, and 1 year of restriction of freedom.\nAleksandr Nikolayev has many children. He and his wife Evgeniya have three adult sons and two adopted daughters of school age. In April 2021, a search was carried out in the house of Aleksandr Nikolayev and his family. The FSB personnel, accompanied by riot police, seized books, electronic devices, children's drawings, and a postcard with a Bible scripture.\nThe believer learnt that on March 31, 2021, the Investigative Department for the Abinsk District opened a criminal case against him under an extremist article. Nikolayev was interrogated at the Investigative Committee and released on recognizance agreement. Almost six months later, on September 30, 2021, Aleksandr was again summoned for interrogation, but instead he was detained and sent to a pre-trial detention center by a court decision.\nOn July 16, 2021, the case was transferred to the Abinsky District Court of the Krasnodar Territory. During the trial, the defense side discovered a falsification of the indictment, as well as forgery of some case materials.\nSince April 2020, the Abinsk District Court has brought convictions to eight Jehovah's Witnesses, including two women, Anna Yermak and Olga Ponomareva. All of them were sentenced to real prison terms, four are already serving their sentences. The maximum term: 7 and a half years in prison, was passed to 64-year-old Aleksandr Ivshin, who is Aleksandr Nikolayev's father-in-law.\n“It is paradoxical that after the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court, which sorted out the issue and decided to stop the persecution of ordinary believers simply for their religious beliefs, a district court continues to stamp guilty verdicts, ignoring the binding nature of the decision of the Plenum,” Yaroslav Sivulskiy, representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, commented on the verdict. “Two women received absurd prison sentences: 5 and 4.5 years. We hope that these unfair sentences will be overturned on appeal.”\nVladimir Ryakhovskiy, a member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, considers it a mistake to believe that repression will force Jehovah's Witnesses to renounce their religious beliefs. The human rights activist notes: “A true believer will never be silent, he will always talk about his views. Therefore, in this sense, Jehovah's Witnesses cannot be silenced. As they conducted divine services before, so they will conduct them in the future. Their entire history testifies to this. They are the only ones among all religious denominations that did not support the Third Reich. They were the first to be persecuted by the Nazis in the 1930s in Germany. Similar persecutions [of Jehovah's Witnesses] took place in the Soviet Union under Stalin.”\nOn October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarified that the divine services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint rituals and ceremonies do not in themselves constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-12-23T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/12/241338/image_hu_451fc4b253c87950.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/12/241338/image_hu_ebca557fc473cac1.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/12/241338/image_hu_60598642f6515301.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/12/241338/image_hu_1909f88079066675.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/12/241338.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["liberty-deprivation","sentence","282.2-2","minors"],"title":"First Prison Term After the Plenum Ruling: One of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Aleksandr Nikolayev, Sentenced to 2.5 Years in Prison","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 16, 2021, Judge of the Cherkesskiy City Court of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Din-Islam Chotchaev, found 57-year-old Yelena Menchikova guilty of extremism and sentenced her to 5 years of probation suspended sentence with the payment of all legal costs only for talking about the Bible.\nIn her last speech, the believer said: “My position in life is based on biblical principles, on high moral standards, where there is no place for extremism, violence or hostility. . . . In fact, I am accused of believing in God, that I remain Jehovah's Witness, that I remain loyal to my God. I am accused of communicating on religious topics with other people, more precisely, with my friends. The prosecution mistakenly calls the usual religious activities of a believer a crime.”\nYelena Menchikova is an architect by profession. For about 30 years she has been a disabled person of the II group. Because of the criminal prosecution, her chronic diseases have worsened and new ones have appeared.\nOn December 16, 2019, in Cherkessk, the local FSB department conducted 10 searches of Jehovah's Witnesses, including Menchikova. Almost a year later, on November 12, 2020, she was searched again. As the investigator of the FSB of Russia for the Karachay-Cherkess Republic V. A. Drakin told the believer, on November 3, 2020, he initiated a criminal case against her for participating in the activities of an extremist organization. Four months later, in March 2021, he attracted Menchikova under another article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — the believer was charged with the involvement of a local woman in a banned organization. The Menchikova case was separated into a proceeding from the Albert Batchaev case. On December 6, 2021, he was sentenced to 6 years of suspended sentence.\nThe investigation of Menchikova's case lasted about six months. In the apartment where she lived with her daughter, wiretapping and other technical devices were installed. On April 30, 2021, the case was sent to court. According to the defendant, the case involved an informant who collaborated with law enforcement agencies, gave deliberately false testimony and even presented false material evidence. Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to impose a sentence of 5 years in prison on the believer.\nThe court found Yelena Menchikova guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and involving other persons in it. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on her complete innocence.\nOn October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the divine services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint rituals and ceremonies do not in themselves constitute a crime under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-12-16T15:59:30+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/12/161559/image_hu_a2e575895744c665.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/12/161559/image_hu_75723c5b55e3ae07.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/12/161559/image_hu_32307590de466585.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/12/161559/image_hu_ac2e95607a1f69ba.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/12/161559.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","disability","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"The Court in Cherkessk Sentenced Yelena Menchikova, a Disabled Person of the II Group, to Five Years of Suspended Sentence for Talking About the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 16, 2021, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan, chaired by judge Marina Khomechko, upheld the verdict for discussing the Bible to 35-year-old believer Anatoliy Vilitkevich, who was found guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization.\nAnatoliy works in a sphere of construction — he is engaged in finishing work. A week before the appeal, he and his wife Alena had a son, Arseniy. Now Anatoliy is the only breadwinner in the family. Due to criminal prosecution and frequent court hearings, he is unable to find a permanent job and is forced to do odd jobs.\nVilitkevich was detained on April 10, 2018, when eight searches were carried out in the homes of local Jehovah's Witnesses in Ufa and nearby villages. He was prosecuted as a defendant in a criminal case under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It turned out that in October 2017, hidden video surveillance was installed in the apartment of the Vilitkevich family. Anatoliy spent almost 2.5 months in a pre-trial detention center, 8 months under house arrest and 2 years and 10 months under recognizance agreement.\nDuring the court hearings, it turned out that the protocols of the interrogations of one of the witnesses contradicted his testimony in court, which may indicate fabrication of materials. During the trial, prosecution witnesses repeatedly confused the defendant with his lawyer.\nOn September 27, 2021, the judge of the Leninskiy District Court, Oksana Ilalova, sentenced the believer to 2 years of probation with a probation period of 3 years and restraint of liberty for 6 months. The verdict entered into force. The believer still insists on his innocence. He has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.\nOn October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarified that the divine services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint rituals and ceremonies do not in themselves constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-12-16T14:47:56+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/12/161447/image_hu_38a5eaf458b23475.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/12/161447/image_hu_8947ab60b0053dce.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/12/161447/image_hu_1fc60949b0b38eaa.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/12/161447/image_hu_5089e504a325b085.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/12/161447.html","regions":["bashkortostan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"The Court of Appeal in Ufa Upholds the Verdict for Faith to Anatoliy Vilitkevich — Two Years of Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 16, 2021, the Jewish Autonomous Region Court upheld the sentence to 28-year-old Anna Lokhvitskaya: 2.5 years of suspended sentence. By its decision, the panel of judges chaired by Yelena Pyshkina equated communication of fellow believers with each other with “participation in extremist activities.”\nThe verdict entered into force. Lokhvitskaya still insists on her innocence. She has the right to file a cassation appeal and apply to international authorities.\nSpeaking with her last word in the appeal court, the believer drew the court's attention to the fact that the criminal case against her was filled with falsifications and inconsistencies. Thus, the prosecution witnesses, interrogated in the courtroom, were not eyewitnesses of the events imputed to her. In addition, the case of Lokhvitskaya, like other believers from Birobidzhan, is based on the testimony of police officer Yuliya Zvereva, who attended meetings of believers even before the 2017 Supreme Court decision, when they could not be equated with extremism. Zvereva also confirmed before the court that she had not heard any calls to extremism from the defendant.\nAddressing the panel of judges, Anna asked the question: “What law abolished the constitutional right of Jehovah's Witnesses to profess their faith in the circle of fellow believers? There is no such law ... The religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited. And religious meetings are one of the forms of expression of faith.”\nFor 1 year and 10 months, Anna was under recognizance agreement. Due to the criminal prosecution, she is deprived of the opportunity to care for her mother. She says: “The status of a criminal and the sentence passed completely limits my ability to help my mother manage household chores, especially in winter. For example, recently she had to hire people to help her around the house and chop wood, although my husband and I used to come to help with this. I am experiencing tremendous suffering from the fact that, having the strength and desire to help my loved one, I am limited in the ability to do so.”\nIn May 2021, the prosecutor declared before the Birobidzhan District Court that “the correction of Anna Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya is impossible without isolation from society,” and requested 4 years in prison for her. On July 20, 2021, Judge Vasilina Bezotecheskikh found Anna guilty, but issued a lighter sentence: 2.5 years of suspended imprisonment, 2 years of probation, and 1 year of restriction of liberty. The Court of Appeal upheld this judgment in full. Anna's spouse Artur and his mother Irina were previously sentenced to the same terms under a similar article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe case of Anna Lokhvitskaya is one of 19 criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Thirteen believers have already received suspended sentences ranging from 2 to 2.5 years.\nAs in many similar sentences against Jehovah's Witnesses, the court did not indicate which specific actions or words were illegal and constituted a crime. According to a recent clarification of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated October 21, 2021, such a practice is unacceptable. In this regard, Anna Lokhvitskaya asked a rhetorical question: “If the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation does not restrict me as a Jehovah's Witness in how to practice my faith, then why did the district court of our city allow itself to do this?”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-12-16T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/12/171429/image_hu_e0457df9f7eea0f6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/12/171429/image_hu_b64eb4827f21c335.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/12/171429/image_hu_3f72c2a25a86ea89.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/12/171429/image_hu_7bbf67b11e9e2d81.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/12/171429.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"Another Appeal in Birobidzhan Dismissed. Verdict to Anna Lokhvitskaya Entered into Force","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 16, 2021, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region considered Tatyana Sholner's appeal against the verdict of the Birobidzhan District Court. The panel of judges chaired by Svetlana Ketova approved the verdict.\nAccording to the defendant, the prosecution focused on proving the existence of some kind of organization among believers and their belonging to the denomination of Jehovah's Witnesses instead of specifying specific facts of criminal activity. Tatyana emphasized: \"All the actions imputed to me are fully consistent with the constitutional norm: 'everyone is guaranteed... the right to profess... together with others... religion.\" And my actions were legitimate. I did not disseminate extremist materials, did not call for violence, aggression, discord, hatred, enmity.\"\nTatyana Sholner is one of 23 victims of religious repression in the Jewish Autonomous Region, which began in 2018 with Operation “Judgment Day”, accompanied by massive searches in the homes of civilians. By profession, a 28-year-old believer is a sewing technician. Her friends and family do not understand why they are persecuting this peaceful girl.\nThe criminal case against Scholner, like many similar cases in Birobidzhan, was based on the testimony of police officer Yuliya Zvereva. According to the believer, Zvereva reported false information at the trial. Although Scholner became Jehovah's Witness only in 2017 and met Zvereva for the first time in the courtroom, she stated that she had known Tatyana since 2015. At the same time, Zvereva could not say anything about the services considered in the court, since she was not present at them.\nOn June 25, 2021, Judge Yuliya Tsykina found Tatyana Sholner guilty of participating in the activities of a banned organization and sentenced her to 2 years and 6 months of conditional imprisonment. The verdict entered into force. The believer still insists on her innocence. She has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nIn total, there are 19 similar criminal cases against believers in the Jewish Autonomous Region, 17 of them have already been convicted.\nRussian and foreign human rights activists unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. On October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the divine services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint rituals and ceremonies do not in themselves constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-12-16T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/12/171046/image_hu_538b509ff2f66ba0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/12/171046/image_hu_27752b80ed5ee897.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/12/171046/image_hu_a3ef4867168048f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/12/171046/image_hu_a8433f9b1c18c675.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/12/171046.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"The Court of Appeal in Birobidzhan Upholds the Sentence of Tatyana Sholner: 2.5 Years of Suspended Sentence for Faith in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"Zinaida Minenko is charged with participation in the activities of an extremist organization. This is how the investigation interprets the peaceful practice of religion. The criminal case is based on the testimony of two women and a man with whom Zinaida discussed Bible teachings.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Minenko in Zheleznovodsk","date":"2021-12-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/zheleznovodsk/index.html#20211207","regions":["stavropol"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 2, 2021, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, composed of the presiding judge I. P. Zhurova, as well as judges A. V. Sizova and V. G. Shabanov, upheld the sentence of Anastasia Guzeva — 2.5 years suspended for reading the Bible and talking on religious topics.\nThe believer still insists on her innocence and has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.\nTurning to the appellate panel with the last word, Anastasiya Guzeva noted that in a similar case, a court in Vladivostok had acquitted Dmitriy Barmakin.\nOn August 19, 2021, the Birobidzhan District Court sentenced peaceful believer Anastasiya Guzeva to 2.5 years of suspended sentence, 2 years of probation and 1 year of restriction of freedom. The court considered that participation in peaceful worship of Jehovah's Witnesses and conversations on biblical topics are a continuation of the activities of the banned organization. The believer appealed against the verdict.\nBefore the criminal prosecution, Anastasiya, together with her husband Konstantin, who was also convicted on the basis of similar charges, worked at a music school. Upon learning of the Supreme Court's decision regarding Jehovah's Witnesses, the manager, a former police officer, summoned the Guzevs to his office and said: \"You are extremists, and extremists have no place in a children's institution.\" So Anastasiya, together with her husband, faced religious discrimination and lost the opportunity to earn a living. For 1 year and 9 months, the believer has been under recognizance agreement.\nRussian human rights experts condemn the application of the extremism law to Jehovah's Witnesses. The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation in his report back in 2013 noted: “The problem of imperfection of the so-called “anti-extremist” legislation remains urgent. The vague formulation of the basic concept of “extremism” in itself becomes even more blurred when the definition of “religious” is added to it. Even religious scholars cannot yet decide what exactly is considered “religious extremism”. ”\nOn October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the divine services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint performance of rites and ceremonies, in themselves do not constitute a crime under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-12-02T15:50:31+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/12/021550/image_hu_9ecc9c4849726a04.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/12/021550/image_hu_c9f83a036e0cfb66.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/12/021550/image_hu_7e33f009af92ca72.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/12/021550/image_hu_33d4ddd69963067.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/12/021550.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"Appeal Court in Birobidzhan Upholds the Verdict for Faith of Anastasiya Guzeva","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator A. Sh. Uzdenov issues a decision to initiate a criminal case against Irina Perefilieva under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The ruling states that the believer \"shared the goals and objectives\" of the local religious organization, and also \"voluntarily took part in its activities.\"\nThe believer is accused of not stopping believing in Jehovah God from 2017 to 2019, but, on the contrary, continued to \"organize meetings, services, congresses of Jehovah's Witnesses\", carried out \"recruiting conversations\" and \"preaching activities\", conducted \"classes to study the basics of religious activity and religious literature of Jehovah's Witnesses\".\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Perefileva in Mednogorskiy","date":"2021-11-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mednogorskiy2/index.html#20211129","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 29, 2021, Viktor Yakovlev, judge of the Prioksky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod, sentenced 45-year-old Viktoriya Verkhoturova for allegedly participating in the activities of a banned organization.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on her complete innocence. Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence the woman to 4.5 years in a penal colony.\nVictoria has elderly parents. She is very worried about how worries about her daughter will affect their health. In the hospital where Verkhoturova works, there have recently been many patients with complications after covid. Due to the heavy workload, it is always difficult for her to ask for court hearings.\nAddressing the court with the last word, the believer said: \"I am accused of a serious crime that I did not commit, namely, participation in the activities of an extremist organization. And my whole 'crime' is simply that I call myself one of Jehovah's Witnesses.\" She added: \"As soon as we get together to sing songs, read the Bible, and that's it, are we criminals? Are we going back to medieval Europe when the Holy Inquisition burned people for reading the Bible?\"\nIn the summer of 2019, armed security forces broke into the house of Viktoria and her husband, Sergey. During the search, they threatened the woman with \"terrible conditions in prison, where her psyche will suffer,\" trying to force her to cooperate with the investigation.\nOn March 26, 2020, investigator Oleg Makerov opened a criminal case against the believer under Part 2 of Article 282. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\nThe investigation took 8 months, although in fact it began back in 2018, when law enforcement officers organized surveillance of the Verkhoturov spouses. The special services installed a hidden video camera in the believers' apartment and listened to their telephone conversations. The indictment stated that Verkhoturova's participation in the activities of a banned religious organization \"was expressed in participation in meetings, religious speeches and services at them, and the implementation of preaching activities.\" The accusation was also based on the testimony of two secret witnesses.\nOn November 30, 2020, the case was submitted to the Prioksky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod. Consideration of the case in court took exactly 1 year. At the meetings, the content of the videos, which depicted how believers discuss the Bible together, was analyzed in detail. At the same time, the prosecution did not provide facts of illegal actions on the part of Verkhoturova. \"She sang songs. [...] She did certain rituals: she got up, sat down, \"one of the prosecution witnesses answered the question at the trial about what exactly Viktoria's participation in extremist activities was expressed in.\nViktoriya Verkhoturova became the fifth Jehovah's Witness in the Nizhny Novgorod region convicted of religious beliefs. A month earlier, three peaceful believers from the town of Pavlovo had been sentenced to 3 years of suspended imprisonment. Sergey Verkhoturov, Victoria's husband, was also prosecuted by law enforcement officers. On March 5, 2021, the same Prioksky District Court found him guilty of organizing extremist activities and imposed a 6-year suspended sentence.\nThe religious principles that guide the lives of Jehovah's Witnesses reject extremism, violence and aggression in any form against other people. Believers do not consider themselves entitled to speak out for the purpose of political reforms. Their peacefulness and respect for the laws of the state are known all over the world. On October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the divine services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint rituals and ceremonies do not in themselves constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-11-29T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/11/301426/image_hu_5d4165bc744ca321.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/11/301426/image_hu_779cd70b8e4ec0c.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/11/301426/image_hu_711e829ab2f58a67.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/11/301426/image_hu_76402a224244c098.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/11/301426.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"Viktoriya Verkhoturova, a Nurse from Nizhny Novgorod, Sentenced to 4 Years of Suspended Term for her Faith in Jehovah","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 26, 2021, the Pskov Regional Court overturned the conviction of Jehovah's Witness Aleksey Khabarov by a lower court and returned the case for a new trial before a different court. The believer remains under recognizance not to leave for the time being.\nAlthough in the court of first instance the prosecutor demanded that Aleksey Khabarov be deprived of liberty for 3.5 years in a general regime colony, on September 7, 2021, the Porkhovsky District Court of the Pskov Region sentenced him to 3 years of suspended imprisonment with a probation period of 2 years. The court considered Aleksey's peaceful meetings with other Jehovah's Witnesses to be participation in the activities of an extremist organization. The believer appealed the verdict.\n\"My activity has never been related to harming the state,\" Aleksey Khabarov said in his last appeal and asked the court to acquit him, \"How can you become an extremist while learning how to show love, respect, kindness and humility? How can the moral principles of the Bible be reconciled with hatred and enmity? For me, it's like different ends of the world that can't be connected!\"\nAlexey Khabarov is a teacher by education. Most recently he worked in the field of construction and repair. The believer was under recognizance not to leave for more than 2.5 years. Despite the fact that Aleksey is self-employed, he could not use his bank accounts, pay for services and make purchases.\nIn April 2019, in the city of Porkhov, searches were carried out in the homes of believers, including Alexei Khabarov. After interrogation, they took a written undertaking not to leave the place. It turned out that in March of the same year, Irina Pravdivtseva, an investigator for especially important cases from the FSB of Russia in the Pskov region, opened a criminal case against Aleksey Khabarov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigator independently entered in the interrogation protocol the names and facts that Khabarov did not mention. The believer sent his testimony to the investigator stating that he had not provided the information inscribed in the protocol of the previous interrogation. In June 2020, the criminal case was sent to the prosecutor of the Pskov region. A week later, the prosecutor's office returned the materials of the criminal case to the investigation to eliminate the violations committed. In October 2020, hearings began in the Porkhovsky District Court, which lasted almost a year.\nDuring the trial, not a single piece of evidence of Aleksey Khabarov's involvement in extremist activities was found. Testifying, the believer pointed out that his civil rights were violated under at least nine articles of the Russian Constitution. According to Aleksey, \"the investigating authorities inappropriately freely interpret the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of April 20, 2017\" and discriminate against him because of his religion.\nHuman rights activists of the SOVA Information and Analytical Center state: \"We believe that this decision [of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of April 20, 2017], which led to mass persecution of believers under anti-extremist articles of the Criminal Code, had no legal grounds, and we regard it as a manifestation of religious discrimination.\" According to the explanation of the Plenum of the Supreme Court, worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their performance of rites and ceremonies do not constitute a crime.\n","category":"trial","date":"2021-11-26T15:18:13+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/11/261518/image_hu_a9b4aadd996d795c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/11/261518/image_hu_f67f17ea8cedca7e.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/11/261518/image_hu_e069e430a77c2a22.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/11/261518/image_hu_17426d8bbd094a2a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/11/261518.html","regions":["pskov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","retrial","282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"title":"In Pskov, Appeal Court Overturned the Conviction for Faith Against Aleksey Khabarov. His Case will be Considered by Another Judge","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 25, 2021, the Court of Jewish Autonomous Region approved the sentence of Nataliya Kriger, 43, who was sentenced to 2.5 years of suspended imprisonment and 1 year of restricted freedom for participating in the activities of an extremist organization.\nOn July 30, 2021 Birobidzhan District Court found Nataliya Kriger guilty after considering as a crime her presence at the worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses, although this faith is not banned in Russia. The prosecutor asked the court to send the believer to a penal colony for four years and to further restrict her freedom for two years.\nAddressing the court with her last word, Nataliya said: \"What did the court find extremist? That I professed religious beliefs as Jehovah's Witnesses with my husband and friends. However, according to Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, everyone is guaranteed freedom of conscience, freedom of religion. . . . Only Holy Scriptures—the Bible—taught me to truly love people and genuinely care about them. Today my reputation as an honest person is tarnished.\"\nThe verdict of the appellate court went into effect, but the believer has the right to appeal it in cassation and international instances.\nIn 2018, Nataliya's husband, Valeriy Kriger, was also prosecuted under an extremist article. The investigation found him guilty of organizing the activities of a banned organization.\nSeventeen of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan have already been convicted for practicing their faith, and for thirteen of them the sentence has come into force. The Birobidzhan District Court is currently hearing cases on similar charges against six other believers.\nOn October 28 this year the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia ruled that collective religious services of Jehovah's Witnesses do not by themselves constitute corpus delicti under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-11-26T08:44:47+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/11/260844/image_hu_b91114e57ae7928a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/11/260844/image_hu_57e7524e172d90a2.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/11/260844/image_hu_9e6c98f13cd3a5aa.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/11/260844/image_hu_9853adf4abe68b5c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/11/260844.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"Appeal in Birobidzhan Approved the Sentence for Faith for Nataliya Kriger","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 24, 2021, Judge Aleksandr Ustinov found Viktor Bachurin, Aleksandr Kostrov and Artur Netreba guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and imposed a fine of 500,000 rubles on each of them. The fine was reduced to 300,000 rubles, since the believers spent almost a year in a pre-trial detention center.\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the Sovetskiy District Court of Lipetsk to appoint each of them 4 years in prison and 8 months of restriction of liberty.\n60-year-old Aleksandr Kostrov has already retired. Another convict, Viktor Bachurin, is 59 years old. 43-year-old Artur Netreba lost his job in connection with the criminal prosecution, and his wife Svetlana cannot work for health reasons.\nAleksandr Kostrov in his last word emphasized:: “I am proud that I one of Jehovah's Witnesses and I try to sanctify the name of God with my righteous deeds. Becoming a Jehovah's Witness is not easy: for this you need to get rid of all bad habits, observe not only God's laws, but also the laws of the country in which you live. Therefore, the accusations against me and my friends are absurd. \"\nViktor Bachurin, in his address to the court, said: \"As a deeply religious person, it is difficult for me to imagine that for the good that we bring to people, we can, figuratively speaking, be executed.\"\nArthur Netreba, speaking with the last word, noted: \"I am credited with something that, as a Christian, is disgusting and alien. I was not convicted of anything reprehensible. Yes, I am a happy person, and I have nothing to blush for.\nOn December 2, 2019, the investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Lipetsk Region, Yaroslav Yakushev, opened a criminal case against Kostrov, Bachurin and Netreba under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Within an hour and a half after that, searches were carried out in 7 houses of residents of Lipetsk. Three believers were visiting their friend when a group of FSB officers burst into the apartment. After interrogation, Kostrov, Bachurin and Netreba were detained and placed in a pre-trial detention center. They all spent 333 days behind bars.\nThe investigation lasted over 12 months. On December 7, 2020, the case was filed with the Sovetskiy District Court of Lipetsk. Judge Yekaterina Ferapontova issued an order to arrest Alexandr Kostrov's property in the amount of more than 760,000 rubles. The decision was taken in the absence of the accused, who was not even informed about the trial.\nDuring the court hearings, which lasted about a year, the oral testimonies of some witnesses differed from their written statements. The secret witness \"Ivanov\" was also confused in his testimony. The prosecutor considered the oral answers to be untrue and requested that the written statements of witnesses be read out instead.\nThe defendants drew the court's attention to the fact that the evidence presented by the investigation did not correspond to the charges against them. Nevertheless, the investigation considered the holding of \"religious meetings\" to be manifestations of extremism.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believers insist on their complete innocence.\nThe Russian government has repeatedly stated that the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is not prohibited. In addition, Russian and foreign human rights activists unanimously condemn the actions of the authorities in relation to Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation. On October 28 of this year, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the very fact of collective religious services of Jehovah's Witnesses do not constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which is applied to believers.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-11-25T14:59:01+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/11/251459/image_hu_f9d34cff0dc276d2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/11/251459/image_hu_a0f87ded5cb52e16.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/11/251459/image_hu_14fea153cef9f4bb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/11/251459/image_hu_459039854ff68a5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/11/251459.html","regions":["lipetsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["fine","282.2-2"],"title":"Lipetsk Court Imposes Large Fines on Three Believers for Bible Reading","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 25, 2021, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region dismissed the appeal of 30-year-old Yevgeniy Yegorov, the father of a young child. The sentence of the lower court—2.5 years suspended and 1 year of restriction of freedom—came into force.\nThe believer considers the verdict as subject to cancellation because it was rendered with substantial violations of the norms of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, international legal acts, criminal and criminal procedural legislation of the Russian Federation, and its conclusions contradict the factual circumstances of the case. He has a right to appeal against the verdict in cassation as well as in international instances.\nAddressing the appellate court with his last word, Yegorov emphasized: \"The totality of all the evidence presented in my case includes only information that I am a Christian, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and not an extremist. And as the prosecution itself admits, I participated in worship services, not in extremist meetings.\"\nThe persecution of Yevgeniy Yegorov and other peaceful believers in Birobidzhan began in May 2018 after a large-scale operation codenamed \"Judgment Day.\" In the Jewish Autonomous Region, 19 criminal cases were filed against 23 believers between 2018 and 2020, including 12 women between the ages of 28 and 59. The criminal case against Yegorov was filed on July 29, 2019, after his apartment was searched in May 2018.\nAfter the indictment, Yevgeniy Yegorov was put on the Rosfinmonitoring's list of extremists, which creates significant difficulties for Yevgeniy and his wife, Ksenia, young parents: the believer's bank cards are blocked. Evgeny recalls, \"The unexpected happened. The day before the wedding we found out that the registry office had lost our application. Solving this problem, I learned from the news that the restaurant where the wedding reception was to be held was on fire. And, to make matters worse, the planner who had taken the money for the restaurant had quit. It seemed that the wedding was not going to happen, and the ground was gone from under my feet.” Finally, on the day of Yevgeniy and Ksenia's wedding, FSB officers charged Yevgeniy’s mother, Larisa Artamonova, as well as a few of the guests.\nMore than 60 Russian and foreign public figures and organizations condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and state: \"What is happening to them is essentially happening to us. This is a test of society's immune forces. Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses shows the failure of anti-extremist legislation in general. If society does not protect Jehovah's Witnesses, if they are not restored to their rights, it will mean that anyone can be declared an extremist. . . . In the story of how a man found at Jehovah's Witnesses answers to questions that a Catholic priest could not solve, the courts saw the promotion of religious superiority—that's all the extremism. Such \"extremism\", and much more brutal, can be found in the doctrinal, liturgical and other texts of most religions. If we approach religious scriptures with the same yardstick, we would have to ban all religions.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-11-25T14:37:47+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/11/261437/image_hu_6eeb6f562c497ad6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/11/261437/image_hu_2b8eb7e93198e8bb.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/11/261437/image_hu_7d3d00d39ba9bc1d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/11/261437/image_hu_2bc89f9fdaf70d26.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/11/261437.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","rosfinmonitoring"],"title":"The Appeal in Birobidzhan Left Unchanged the Sentence for Believer Yevgeniy Yegorov","type":"news"},{"body":"Pavel Gogolin, senior investigator of the Pyatigorsk Investigation Department of the Stavropol Territory Investigative Committee, is initiating a criminal case against 81-year-old Zinaida Minenko. According to the investigator, the believer, \"acting deliberately, together with persons unidentified by the investigation, on a date and time not established by the investigation ... took part in the activities of the LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Zheleznovodsk... through interviews to promote its activities, recruit new members, and participate directly in the organization's activities.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Minenko in Zheleznovodsk","date":"2021-11-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/zheleznovodsk/index.html#20211125","regions":["stavropol"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The indictment is being revised. Sergey Malyanov is being prosecuted under another part of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - 1.1 (involvement). Oleg Konshin, Roman Zhivolupov and Svetlana Malyanova remain accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Malyanov and Others in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2021-11-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod2/index.html#20211122","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"V. S. Obukhov, an investigator of the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Amur Region, who specializes in religious persecution in several cities of the Amur Region, makes a decision to initiate a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Margarita Moiseenko, Galina Yatsik and Elena Yatsyk. They are accused of \"participation in the activities of a religious association, in respect of which the court made a final decision on liquidation in connection with the implementation of extremist activities.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Margarita Moiseyenko and Others in Zeya","date":"2021-11-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/zeya4/index.html#20211122","regions":["amur"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A criminal case is being opened against the believer under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, Oleinik's extremist actions boil down to the fact that she provided her apartment and electronic devices for religious meetings with fellow believers, and also participated in worship services herself.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Oleynik in Novosibirsk","date":"2021-11-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novosibirsk6/index.html#20211118","regions":["novosibirsk"],"tags":["282.2-2","new-case","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Investigator of the Investigation Department for the Sharypovsky District of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, Senior Lieutenant of Justice Y. V. Zubanov initiates a criminal case against believers. Based on the report of senior investigator Kunko, believers Anatoly Khvostov, Dmitry Gorelov, Maksim Vigul, Aleksandr Miroshnichenko, Eldar Mammadov, Vladimir Osintsev, Gennady Solomentsev are suspected of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\n","caseTitle":"The case of Khvostov and Others in Sharypovo","date":"2021-11-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sharypovo2/index.html#20211117","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 16, 2021, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region affirmed the sentence passed on 59-year-old Irina Lokhvitskaya for \"participation in the activities of a prohibited organization\" — 2.5 years of suspended sentence, 2 years of probation and 1 year of restricted freedom.\nAddressing the court of appeal with her last word, the believer stated: \" To speak about God is my right from birth, and it is guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.\" She drew attention to the unfairness and baselessness of the accusation: \"In fact, the victims are me and my family.\"\nOn July 19, 2021, the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region found Irina Lokhvitskaya guilty of violating the law on extremism, essentially because of a religious practice common to all Jehovah's Witnesses in the world. The believer attended worship meetings and participated in a joint Bible study.\nDuring the trial, the prosecutors presented no evidence that the believer was a threat to society, but zealously demonstrated that she belonged to Jehovah's Witnesses. Thus a certain \"presumption of guilt\" was established in the case of the Jehovah's Witnesses religion, in violation of part 1, article 49 of the Russian Constitution, according to which no one may be accused of a crime until proven guilty. As a result, Irina was subjected to discrimination, despite the fact that the Constitution prohibits any form of restriction of the rights of citizens on the basis of religion.\nBy the decision of the court of appellate jurisdiction, the verdict came into force. Irina Lokhvitskaya has the right to file a cassation appeal, as well as to appeal to international instances.\nPersecution of believers in Birobidzhan came into an active phase on May 17, 2018, when law enforcement officers conducted an operation codenamed \"Judgment Day\" against local Jehovah's Witnesses. Nineteen criminal cases were opened against 23 believers in the region. Seventeen of them, including Irina Lokhvitskaya, her son Arthur and daughter-in-law Anna, received suspended sentences ranging from 2 to 2.5 years; 11 sentences are in effect. Most of the cases against Jehovah's Witnesses were initiated and brought to trial by the investigator Dmitriy Yankin.\nDr. Sergey Ivanenko, Ph.D., a religious scholar, analyzed the situation with Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and drew the following conclusion: \"Having found themselves in the role of defendants, Jehovah's Witnesses do not consider themselves guilty and do not intend to abandon their religious beliefs... While they remain Jehovah's Witnesses, they do not consider themselves criminals.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-11-16T16:05:19+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/11/161605/image_hu_9c51ededd660bb12.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/11/161605/image_hu_b57085d0a5f386d0.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/11/161605/image_hu_291d964f9c6c6cba.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/11/161605/image_hu_e96ce5bc73950486.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/11/161605.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","suspended","families"],"title":"Appeal in Birobidzhan Approved the Verdict for the Faith Against Irina Lokhvitskaya","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator for particularly important cases of the investigation department for the city of Prokopyevsk of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kemerovo Region - Kuzbass, Captain of Justice T. V. Zorina initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a banned organization) against unidentified persons.\nThe resolution states: \"Unidentified persons, acting deliberately, by a group of persons, in agreement with A.V. Vlasov, realizing criminal intent, being in an unidentified place on the territory of the city of Prokopyevsk,\" participated in the activities of a banned legal entity. This is how the investigation characterizes the peaceful worship of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Vlasov in Prokopyevsk","date":"2021-11-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/prokopevsk/index.html#20211105","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"T. V. Zorina, an investigator for internal affairs of the investigative department for the city of Prokopyevsk of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kemerovo Region - Kuzbass, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a banned organization) against unidentified persons.\nAccording to the investigation, some residents of Prokopyevsk, \"acting deliberately, by a group of persons, in agreement with A.V. Vlasov, realizing criminal intent, being in an unidentified place on the territory of the city of Prokopyevsk ... participated in the activities of the liquidated organization.\" This is how the investigation characterizes the peaceful worship of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Chernykh in Prokopyevsk","date":"2021-11-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/prokopevsk2/index.html#20211105","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 20, 2021, in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, searches were carried out at the home of 54-year-old Elena Nesterova, 61-year-old Tatyana Svoboda and her peer Tatyana Bondarenko. A criminal case has been initiated against the women under an extremist article.\nAt about 8 am, representatives of the Investigative Committee, accompanied by armed OMON police in masks and bulletproof vests, as well as attesting witnesses, broke into the apartments of the believers. The security officials who came to Nesterova and Bondarenko were armed with a crowbar. At Tatyana Svoboda’s home, they knocked on the door with their hands and feet so loudly that neighbors began to go out to the noise.\nLaw enforcers claimed they were looking for prohibited items such as weapons and drugs (although Jehovah's Witnesses are known worldwide as those who do not accept the use of either one), as well as \"prohibited literature\" and any material that would confirm the religious affiliation of the women. As a result, the security forces confiscated Bibles in the Synodal translation, electronic devices and personal records. “The representatives of the authorities behaved correctly, allowed us to be put in order and take medicine,” said one of the victims.\nAfter the searches, the believers were taken for interrogation to the Investigative Committee located on the other side of the city. Nesterova was asked questions about her knowing other Jehovah's Witnesses. The investigator said that she had \"only two options: recognizance agreement or a pre-trial detention center.\" Later, all the detainees were released under recognizance agreement. Nesterova, Svoboda and Bondarenko found themselves far from home without money and phones.\nThe unmotivated persecution affected not only the persons involved in the cases, but also their relatives. Yelena Nesterova has a sick mother, and worries about her daughter aggravated her condition. Tatyana Bondarenko's husband was discharged from the hospital on the day of the search. Arriving home, he found an empty apartment with traces of a search. The man was shocked, considering that he could not even contact his wife. During the search, Tatyana Svoboda's blood pressure increased greatly.\nEarlier, criminal cases for their faith were initiated against 20 more Jehovah's Witnesses from the Khabarovsk Territory. In the summer of 2021, Nikolay Aliyev from Komsomolsk-on-Amur was sentenced to 4.5 years of probation.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2021-10-29T13:35:36+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/10/291335/image_hu_ad585a5b234c5166.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/10/291335/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/10/291335/image_hu_9d933fc2dc47c94.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/10/291335/image_hu_76449ab99dcb6285.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/10/291335.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"Searches of 3 Women Carried out in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Criminal Case Opened Against Them for Believing in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Simonova singles out the criminal case against Ignatov in a separate proceeding and incriminates him with participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Ignatov in Oryol","date":"2021-10-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/orel/index.html#20211028","regions":["oryol"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigator of the investigation department for the Sovetsky district of the city of Orel of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation I. Simonova singles out the criminal case against Tatyana Piskareva in a separate proceeding.\nAccording to the investigation, the believer \"took part in the meetings of a banned religious organization.\" This is how Simonova interprets the peaceful communication of believers at worship services held via video conferencing.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Piskareva in Oryol","date":"2021-10-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/orel4/index.html#20211028","regions":["oryol"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigation Department for the Sovetsky District of the City of Orel of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiates criminal case No. 12102540005000070 against Anton Zhurbenko. He is accused of participating in the activities of an extremist community (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). His case was separated from the criminal case against three believers – Vladimir Piskarev, Vladimir Melnik and Artur Putintsev, initiated about a year ago.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Zhurbenko in Oryol","date":"2021-10-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/orel5/index.html#20211028","regions":["oryol"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 28, 2021, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court did not satisfy the appeal of the 58-year-old Master of the International Chess Federation Dmitriy Vinogradov. The verdict of first instance came into force: 2 years of suspended sentence for faith in God.\nAddressing the court of appeal, Vinogradov stressed: \"My service to Jehovah God is not a crime, I am happy and proud of this fact.\" The believer has the right to file a cassation appeal, as well as appeal to international authorities.\nThe search in the home of the Vinogradov family took place in the absence of the owners: the security forces opened the apartment, which was under an alarm system. Law enforcers also searched his workplace — they seized the chess file that Dmitriy had developed over the years. The management of the institution where Dmitriy worked as a mentor for young chess players, having learned about the criminal case, dismissed him.\nDmitriy Vinogradov spent more than 20 months under recognizance agreement. Almost all this time, his accounts were blocked, he and his wife feared that their housing would be confiscated for non-payment: “Our apartment was removed from the utility bills payment system. We couldn't even pay our bills.”\nThe trial lasted more than 1.5 years. After the hearings, each of which was stressful for Dmitriy, he was sick for several days. As a result, his blood pressure began to spike and his eyesight deteriorated.\nThe prosecutor knew that the defendant is raising two minor children and has positive characteristics. The line of accusation in his case was based on the testimony of the agent of the Center for Countering Extremism \"Sergey Makarenko,\" as well as \"Liliya Ruzayeva\" recruited by law enforcement officers to spy on believers. However, according to them, Vinogradov did not incite religious discord, did not undermine the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation, did not encourage the breakdown of family relations and refusal of medical intervention, did not promote the activities of any organizations.\nSpeaking at one of the court hearings, Dmitriy drew attention to the fact that the very concept of 'extremism' contradicts the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses: side from violence and crime. They did not tarnish themselves by participating in such cases, even if they themselves became victims.\" He added: \"My father was a participant in World War II, and maybe I was born only because some German Jehovah's Witness refused to take a Schmeisser in his hands and go kill Russians on the Eastern Front.\"\nNevertheless, on June 7, 2021, the Central District Court of Chelyabinsk found Dmitriy Vinogradov guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization because of peaceful talks about the Bible. Thanks to letters and postcards with words of support in dozens of languages ​​from different parts of the world, Dmitriy tries to remain calm in all his difficulties.\nIn addition to Vinogradov, in Chelyabinsk, 75-year-old Vladimir Suvorov received 6 years of suspended sentence, and his 73-year-old wife Valentina — 2 years.\nDespite their peaceful activities, hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia have already been subjected to repression, although Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that believers can continue to practice their religion freely. The world community and human rights organizations express strong concerns about systematic violations of the freedoms and rights of religious minorities, in particular Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-10-28T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/10/291630/image_hu_7db6c55115a730fa.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/10/291630/image_hu_4a2bd3ea24b1e20.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/10/291630/image_hu_a82c9ff53ac901c2.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/10/291630/image_hu_86d69a129aaddb3a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/10/291630.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"Chelyabinsk Regional Court Upheld the Conviction of Jehovah's Witness Dmitriy Vinogradov for Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigator prosecutes Gizatulin and Mikhailenko as defendants under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code.\nAmong other things, Mikhailenko is accused of attending an international religious congress in South Korea in 2019.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Gizatulin in Chelyabinsk","date":"2021-10-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk5/index.html#20211027","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigator prosecutes Mikhailenko and Gizatulin as defendants under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code.\nAmong other things, Mikhailenko is accused of attending an international religious congress in South Korea in 2019.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Mikhaylenko in Chelyabinsk","date":"2021-10-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk6/index.html#20211027","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 25, 2021, Dmitry Pestov, judge of the Pavlovsk City Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, found believers Aleksey Oreshkov, Aleksandr Rakovsky and Aleksandr Vavilov guilty of participating in extremist activities. In one day, the court went through the stages of the debate of the parties, the last word and the announcement of the verdict.\nThe believers insist on their complete innocence and can appeal the verdict.\nHairdresser Aleksandr Vavilov, 54, lost his job and the ability to visit his children and granddaughters who live in other cities because of the criminal prosecution. Also Vavilov has been unable to take care of his elderly mother for a long time. Similarly, Aleksey Oreshkov, 50, cannot help his mother, a group I invalid. IT specialist Aleksandr Rakovskiy, 41, father of two young children, also fears dismissal because of his criminal record.\nThe persecution of believers, organized by the Russian Federal Security Service in the Nizhny Novgorod region, began with mass searches in July 2019. Then the security forces invaded the homes of 31 families of Jehovah's Witnesses. The court sent Oreshkov and Vavilov behind bars. There they spent 211 and 241 days, respectively, and another 19 months under house arrest. Later Rakovskiy was also required to sign an undertaking not to leave, based on the criminal case.\nAccording to the investigation, it was extremism that \"unidentified persons, in the implementation of a joint criminal intent, acting intentionally, as a group of persons by prior collusion ... took active steps to ... hold religious speeches and services,\" during which, like in hundreds of other countries, they peacefully discussed the Bible and Christian teachings, as well as praying.\nAs in most cases against Jehovah's Witnesses, the prosecution line was built only on proving that law-abiding believers belonged to an \"undesirable\" religion. For example, Lobachevsky NSU experts, having studied the video files attached to the case, confirmed that they depicted actions characteristic of Jehovah's Witnesses. At the same time, the experts concluded that the recordings do not contain any negative statements about persons of other race, nationality, or religion, and there are no encouragements to hostile actions. An FSB officer during the court hearings was also forced to admit that the Jehovah's Witnesses religion is not banned in Russia. Witnesses involved in the trial drew attention to the numerous falsifications of their testimony in the interrogation protocols, as well as to the pressure they were subjected to. The prosecution did not identify any victims of the believers' actions.\nA total criminal cases were initiated against 15 believers in Nizhny Novgorod region. One of them had already been sentenced: Sergey Verkhoturov, 46, received a six-year suspended sentence for his belief in Jehovah.\nLegal scholars and human rights activists in Russia and abroad have repeatedly called on the Russian authorities to stop persecuting Jehovah's Witnesses. In 2019, the problem of the legal conflict between freedom of religion and the application of the \"extremist\" article was mentioned in the report to the President by Russian Human Rights Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-10-25T11:35:33+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/10/271135/image_hu_67a836e532a018d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/10/271135/image_hu_41a70c8c31dc71b.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/10/271135/image_hu_4f59e58f4dfe7f0c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/10/271135/image_hu_c6f67f586fdfbeca.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/10/271135.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"A Court in Nizhny Novgorod Region Sentenced Three Jehovah's Witnesses to Three Years of Suspended Sentence for Their Belief in Jehovah","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 25, 2021, the Trusovsky District Court of Astrakhan sentenced Rustam Diarov, Sergey Klikunov and Yevgeniy Ivanov to 8 years, and Yevgeny's wife, Olga, to 3.5 years in prison. These are the longest sentences that Russian courts have imposed on Jehovah's Witnesses for their religious beliefs in recent years.\n“Eight years - in Russia, a criminal can get even less sentence for murder or rape. Officials called upon to ensure justice put harmless talk about the Bible on a par with horrible crimes,— said Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a spokesman for the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.— Earlier, only one believer, Aleksey Berchuk,, was sentenced to 8 years in prison for his faith. If we talk about sentences to women, then the current verdict against Olga Ivanova is a record one. Before her, only 70-year-old Valentina Baranovskaya, who barely survived these events, was sent to prison under such an article”.\nBelievers in Astrakhan insist on their complete innocence. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed in the appellate instance. If protection cannot be achieved in Russia, lawsuits to international structures are possible.\nYevgeniy Ivanov, a shipbuilder by profession, and his wife Olga, a linguist, were deprived of the opportunity to provide for themselves and take care of their elderly mothers due to criminal prosecution for their faith. Olga's mother recently lost her husband. She underwent two operations and needed medical attention, but her daughter was under house arrest and therefore could not help her receive qualified medical care. The criminal prosecution of the welder Sergey Klikunov deprived his wife and daughter of their only breadwinner. Rustam, a puppet theater actor, also lost his favorite job due to his arrest.\nYevgeniy Ivanov, Rustam Diarov and Sergey Klikunov spent more than 500 days in a pre-trial detention center, while Olga Ivanova was under house arrest. She says: “Your apartment becomes a 'camera' with more comfortable conditions ... without the right to leave the house without the permission of the investigator or the court. To control my movements, an electronic bracelet was put on me. For the first two months, I was generally forbidden to leave my apartment. At the same time, I was not allowed to use the telephone, except for calling emergency services. A ban was imposed on the use of the Internet, as well as receiving and sending letters by mail. For the next 8 months I was allowed two-hour walks, but only in the courtyard of my house and at a strictly defined time. \" With the permission of the investigator, her mother moved to Olga from another city. “It was a huge support for me,” Olga continues. “Friends helped my mother buy groceries. To transfer the necessary things for Yevgeniy to the pre-trial detention center, they arrived early in the morning and stood in line even before it opened. \"\nOn June 9, 2020, mass searches took place in at least 27 families of local believers. More than a hundred of law enforcement officials of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Astrakhan Region and regional FSB and Ministry of Internal Affairs took part in the raid. A day earlier, Nikolay Banko, an investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Astrakhan Region, opened a criminal case against Sergey Klikunov, Rustam Diarov, Yevgeniy and Olga Ivanova. On May 31, 2021, the case was transferred to the Trusovskiy District Court of Astrakhan.\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to appoint the believers from 4 to 8.5 years in prison. In passing the verdict, Judge Aleksey Semin changed these terms slightly.\nJehovah's Witnesses around the world are renowned for their peaceful worship practices. Believers in Astrakhan also gathered to pray and discuss the Bible with fellow believers, but the authorities groundlessly considered this a threat to the security of society and the state.\nHuman rights activists of the Sova Information and Analytical Center state: “We believe that this decision [of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of April 20, 2017], which entailed mass persecution of believers under anti-extremist articles of the Criminal Code, had no legal basis, and we regard it as a manifestation of religious discrimination \".\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-10-25T10:50:34+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/10/261050/image_hu_e956aa4a8314c600.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/10/261050/image_hu_d45096ba71537356.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/10/261050/image_hu_377a74dff7b8b6db.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/10/261050/image_hu_d9262728eed85765.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/10/261050.html","regions":["astrakhan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.3-1","282.2-2","families"],"title":"Unprecedented Verdict in Astrakhan: Three Jehovah's Witnesses Got 8 Years Each, One More Believer - 3.5 years in prison","type":"news"},{"body":"It becomes known that Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (involvement in the activities of an extremist organization) was excluded from the charge against Sergey Oganyan. Now he is charged with a crime under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - organizing the activities of an extremist organization and participating in it. It is noteworthy that Sergey has never been a member of organizations that were banned by the Supreme Court of Russia in April 2017, unreasonably recognizing them as extremist.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ohanyan in Vlasikha","date":"2021-10-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vlasikha/index.html#20211021","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Igor Kletkin and Vladislav Markov are charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nNadezhda Korobochko is being interrogated as a suspect in the case.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kononenko and Others in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur","date":"2021-10-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nikolayevsk_na_amure/index.html#20211012","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["282.2-2","interrogation","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 11, 2021, Olga Marchenko, judge of the Pavlovskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, found Vladimir Skachidub, a 59-year-old Jehovah's Witness, guilty of extremism. For peaceful convictions, he was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in a general regime colony. The believer is taken into custody.\nAddressing the last word before the announcement of the verdict to the court, Vladimir said: “Your honor, no matter what decision you make, my conscience is clear. I did not do any harm either against people or against the state. And in the eyes of God I will come out of here justified. \" The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nOn April 29, 2020, the security forces searched the house of the Skachidub family and 8 other residents of the Krasnodar villages of Pavlovskaya and Kholmskaya. Almost 2 months later, officers of the FSB of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory opened a criminal case against Vladimir Skachidub. He was accused of peaceful talks about the Bible with fellow believers, which the investigation considered \"dangerous for society and the state.\"\nThe investigative department of the FSB of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory investigated the case against the believer for six months. On December 17, 2020, the case was sent to court. During the hearing, the prosecution was unable to present a single evidence of the believer's dangerous acts and not a single victim.\nVladimir Skachidub is a disabled person of the III group, and his wife, Galina, is a disabled person of the II group. The criminal prosecution worsened the health of the spouses. For more than a year, Vladimir Skachidub was under recognizance agreement. After the verdict was announced, the believer was handcuffed. Until the appeal decision, Vladimir will be detained in a pre-trial detention center.\nIn total, 11 criminal cases were initiated in the Krasnodar Territory against 16 believers. Five of them have already been convicted and received real prison terms. The most severe punishment — 7.5 years in a colony — was received by a 63-year-old resident of the village of Kholmskaya, Alexandr Ivshin. “It seems that some judges in the Krasnodar Territory show particular hatred towards Jehovah's Witnesses. In many other Russian regions, believers are given suspended sentences for the same actions — Bible discussions and joint prayers. Although such verdicts are also unjust, at least people are not deprived of their freedom and do not risk losing the remnants of their health in the dungeons, ” — says Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nForeign and Russian jurists are outraged by the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. In a joint statement, Russian human rights activists note: \"If society does not protect Jehovah's Witnesses, if they are not restored to their rights, this will mean that anyone can be declared an extremist.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-10-11T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/10/120818/image_hu_d629482f6c11b286.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/10/120818/image_hu_856f506582695f42.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/10/120818/image_hu_1e9f1ec6b1f16c1b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/10/120818/image_hu_4ca7a35be3813fba.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/10/120818.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.2-2","disability"],"title":"Krasnodar Court Sentenced Vladimir Skachidub, a Believer with a Disability, to Four Years in Prison for Talking About the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 7, 2021, the Judicial Collegium of the Krasnodar Regional Court, chaired by Judge Yevgeny Matyakin, dismissed the appeal of Vasily Meleshko. The court considered conversations with friends on religious topics a \"socially dangerous\" act and approved the punishment in the form of 3 years in prison.\nThe sentence of the lower court came into force. A believer has the right to defend his innocence in cassation and in international courts.\nIn just two sessions, the judge of the Abinsk District Court, Mikhail Ostashevskiy, found Vasily Meleshko guilty of extremism and sentenced him to three years in a general regime colony.\nEarly in the morning of April 7, 2021, the task force searched the homes of the Meleshko spouses. The believer said that the security forces explained their arrival with the words \"all this is happening on the initiative of the Ministry of Justice from Moscow.\" 5 days later, Vasily was officially charged with extremism. According to the investigation, the believer's guilt lies in the fact that he \"conducted and listened to lectures based on religious literature ... entered into conversations and religious discussions with other participants, participated in collective discussions of religious books.\"\nThe criminal case is based, among other things, on the results of a comprehensive psychological and religious examination dated May 31, 2021, which classifies the conversation between Vasily Meleshko and Aleksandr Ivshin , convicted of believing in God, as \"religious topics, and in particular, to serving Jehovah God.\"\nDuring the investigation, Vasiliy spent 127 days under recognizance not to leave, and after the verdict was announced, he ended up in a pre-trial detention center, where he waited 2 months for an appeal decision.\nVasiliy became the 4th Jehovah's Witness from Kholmskaya to be sentenced to a real prison term for his religious beliefs. In the Krasnodar Territory, 17 Jehovah's Witnesses have already been persecuted for their peaceful religious views.\nAs in other cases, the prosecution against Vasiliy Meleshko unjustifiably equates ordinary aspects of communal religious life with extremism. Back in 2018, Russian public figures warned about the dangers of such a substitution of concepts in their joint statement : \"If society does not protect Jehovah's Witnesses, if they are not restored to their rights, this will mean that anyone can be declared an extremist.\"\nHuman rights activists and organizations outside the Russian Federation have expressed similar concerns. In its statement, the OSCE emphasizes: \"We are concerned about the unjustified criminalization of the peaceful activities of members of the Jehovah's Witnesses communities in Russia, the liquidation of this community in the country. This Supreme Court decision poses a threat to the values and principles on which democratic, free, open, pluralistic and tolerant societies are founded.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-10-07T15:25:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/10/071525/image_hu_93ab4e341ab2d795.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/10/071525/image_hu_3b55dc120aa26a49.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/10/071525/image_hu_8fafc6062fb7ef06.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/10/071525/image_hu_db58344761be7ceb.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/10/071525.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"The Appeal Upholds the Verdict of a Pensioner from the Village of Kholmskaya — Vasiliy Meleshko Will Spend 3 Years in a Penal Colony for Believing in Jehovah","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigator for especially important cases of the first department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Tatarstan, A. A. Giniyatullin, attracts Stanislav Klyuchnikov, Denis Filatov and Dmitry Yarchak as defendants.\nThe investigation groundlessly interprets the conversations of believers on religious topics with their fellow believers and friends, including their communication via video link using the Zoom program, as \"violation of the right to freedom and independence of the human person, destruction of the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation by rejecting state power and refusing to fulfill the constitutional duties of citizens of the Russian Federation, destruction of existing family and kinship relations, contributing to the deterioration of physical and mental health.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Klyuchnikov and Others in Nizhnekamsk","date":"2021-10-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhnekamsk/index.html#20211007","regions":["tatarstan"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigators of the 2nd Investigation Department of the 3rd Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Irkutsk Region are initiating criminal cases under Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Yaroslav Kalin, Sergey Kosteev, Nikolai Martynov, Mikhail Moish, Alexei Solnechny, Andrey Tolmachev, and Sergey Vasilyev.\nOn the same day, early in the morning in Irkutsk and the village of Pivovarikha, armed detachments of Rosgvardia officers and soldiers of the Thunder special forces surrounded the houses of Jehovah's Witnesses at 13 addresses.\nThe security forces are cruel towards believers - Anatoly Razdobarov, Nikolay Merinov, as well as their spouses are subjected to beatings and torture. The search lasts more than 8 hours. Then the believers are taken for interrogation, where it turns out that Anatoly Razdobarov and Nikolay Merinov are involved as witnesses in the case of other believers.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Martynov and Others in Irkutsk","date":"2021-10-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/irkutsk/index.html#20211004","regions":["irkutsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","search","siloviks-violence","torture","interrogation"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 30, 2021, the panel of judges of the Rostov Regional Court rejected the appeal of Olga Ganusha from Rostov-on-Don on the conviction for her choice of religion. The believer still insists on her innocence. She has the right to appeal against the sentence that has entered into force in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.\n“My heart is filled with love for God and my neighbor. I encouraged people to read God's Word and learn goodness, love, justice. I have never experienced any hostility or hatred and do not feel it towards any person. If the prosecution insists on my involvement in extremism, it is from ignorance and misunderstanding of the essence of what is happening. Everything has its time. Perhaps these people will someday open their eyes,” Olga Ganusha said in court before the appeal.\nEarlier, on July 13, 2021, the judge of the Voroshilovsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don, Viktor Trofimov, sentenced 60-year-old Olga Ganusha for “participation in the activities of a banned organization.” She was sentenced to 2 years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 1.5 years.\nThe prosecutor asked the court to impose on the believer 3 years of suspended sentence, 3 years of probation and 1 year of restrictions. Ganusha is charged with ordinary religious practice as illegal activity. In particular, the court of first instance reviewed video recordings made in her apartment. The files contained recordings of worship meeting and telephone conversations of the defendant on daily and religious topics with her friends.\nThe criminal prosecution impacted Ganusha’s health, her chronic diseases worsened. “My life was divided into before and after the search,” she says.\nThe criminal prosecution impacted Ganusha’s health, her chronic diseases worsened. “My life was divided into before and after the search,” she says.\nFor almost a year, the pensioner was limited in her movement as she was under recognizance agreement. She says: “There were some difficulties after I was included in the federal list of Rosfinmonitoring. My retirement card has been blocked.”\nShe is now getting help from her fellow believers who provided material and emotional support: they bring food, send encouraging letters and postcards, offer small amounts of money.\nDespite the trials she faced, the believer does not allow the thought of giving up her beliefs: “Regardless of the outcome of the criminal trial, I remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I am determined to remain faithful to God to the end and to speak about my faith, whatever the circumstances.”\nThe criminal prosecution of Olga Ganusha began with mass searches and detentions on May 22, 2019. On that morning, law enforcers raided at least 15 homes of Rostov's Jehovah's Witnesses. “Reading the search warrant in my apartment, I couldn’t believe my eyes that this was happening to me,” recalls Olga Ganusha. “I didn’t understand a lot when I later read the materials of my case. There were 6 volumes, and I had no idea what could be written in them.”\nOn June 6, 2019, the First Investigation Department (headquartered in Rostov-on-Don) of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened criminal cases under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 against three women: Olga Ganusha, Lyudmila Ponomarenko and Galina Parkova. Later, the cases of each of them were separated into separate proceedings. At the end of the trials, 71-year-old Ponomarenko was sentenced to 2 years of probation, and Parkova—to 2 years and 3 months of probation.\nOther believers in Rostov-on-Don were also convicted on charges of extremism: Aleksandr Parkov and Arsen Avanesov were sentenced to 6.5 years of actual imprisonment, and Vilen Avanesov—to 6. They have been in custody since May 22, 2019.\nLawyers and human rights activists in Russia and abroad unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. For example, in May 2021, former prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp (Lagergemeinschaft Dachau) sent an open letter to President Vladimir Putin urging him to stop the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-10-01T14:14:07+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/10/011414/image_hu_b4c4f7e276b570bd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/10/011414/image_hu_ada061c6f3d6ab2b.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/10/011414/image_hu_3749236aa66ea6d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/10/011414/image_hu_a697d5c1467880fa.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/10/011414.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","suspended"],"title":"Appeal in Rostov-on-Don Upheld the Sentence Against 60-Year-Old Believer Olga Ganusha","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigator for especially important cases of the first department for the investigation of especially important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Sverdlovsk Region, N. A. Berg, attracts as defendants in this case five more residents of Berezovsky - Kristina Gruzdeva, Valentina Kugukova, Alexandra Zakharova, as well as spouses Stanislav and Marina Fokins.\nAccording to the investigation, the accused, \"realizing the unlawful nature and public danger of their actions, wishing to exert a psychological impact on society, with the aim of promoting the ideas of superiority of some groups over others, inciting religious discord, promoting the exclusivity, superiority and inferiority of citizens on the basis of their attitude to religion ... that is, acting on the grounds of religious hatred ... committed deliberate actions aimed at achieving the goals of the extremist organization 'Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia'\".\nThe investigation calls \"dangerous actions\" the fact that believers \"together with other members of the local religious cell read [and] prayers to Jehovah God, sang [and] religious songs, studied [and] prohibited religious literature, watching demonstration role-playing games and participating in them.\"\n","caseTitle":"The case of Zotov and others in Berezovsky","date":"2021-09-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/beryozovsky3/index.html#20210924","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Investigator of the Investigation Department for the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region, Captain of Justice V. V. Glyzin initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Tatyana Svoboda. According to the investigation, the believer participated in the activities of a banned organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Tatyana Svoboda and others in Komsomolsk-on-Amur","date":"2021-09-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/komsomolsk-on-amur/index.html#20210921","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 16, 2021, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region did not satisfy the appeal of 37-year-old Tatyana Zagulina. The verdict came into force: the believer was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months of suspended sentence and 2 years of restriction of freedom.\n\"I have never participated in anything that would undermine the constitutional order and threaten the security of the state. I don't understand at all how I could be accused of this. The court convicted me, but did not provide a single piece of evidence of my guilt. There is not a single one of my actions and statements that would prove extremist motives. In the case, I never saw evidence of my guilt. My faith, on the contrary, calls to love people and even enemies,\" said Tatyana Zagulina, speaking with her last word before the appeals board. The believer has the right to appeal the court's decision in cassation and international instances.\nOn April 1, 2021, the Birobidzhan District Court sentenced Tatyana Zagulina to 2.5 years of suspended imprisonment, finding her guilty of participating in the activities of a banned organization, despite the absence of victims and evidence of extremist actions in the case. None of the witnesses questioned in court heard extremist calls from the believer, they all described her as a peaceful and non-confrontational person. According to Tatiana herself, she was convicted only for believing in Jehovah God, so she appealed the verdict.\nIn February 2020, Tatyana Zagulina was included in the federal list of Rosfinmonitoring and her bank accounts and cards were blocked. Due to her recognizance not to leave, the believer has been restricted in her right to move freely for more than 1.5 years. Tatyana's husband, Dmitry, is also facing persecution for his faith, and his bank accounts have been blocked since March 2019. Law enforcement officers actually deprived the couple of the opportunity to fully take care of their school-age child.\nA total of 23 Jehovah's Witnesses are being prosecuted in the Jewish Autonomous Region.\nInternational and Russian human rights activists condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in contemporary Russia. Vladimir Ryakhovskiy, a member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, says: \"In our country, the right to religion, including joint religion, is enshrined in the Constitution. The doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses was not forbidden in our country. It turns out that if the followers of some creed gather at home or online, then we are necessarily talking about participation in the activities of a banned organization? No, I don't.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-09-16T16:17:21+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/09/161617/image_hu_ad566ceea04da2a6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/09/161617/image_hu_e3ce7da3e2fdd709.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/09/161617/image_hu_53672d0a0ddd2658.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/09/161617/image_hu_12ae19cd510d29a1.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/09/161617.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","rosfinmonitoring","families"],"title":"An appeal in Birobidzhan upheld the verdict for Tatyana Zagulina. The Believer Was Given a 2.5-Year Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"Igor Saulin, an investigator for especially important cases of the first investigation department of the Department for Investigation of Especially Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Penza Region, prosecutes Maya Krupnova as a defendant in a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe decision on the involvement states that Yuri Kim \"in an unidentified manner attracted Maya Krupnova to participate in the activities of the LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses.\" The investigation considered it criminal that Maya Krupnova, in the company of friends, discussed religious materials on various topics, including how to remain calm in stressful situations.\n","caseTitle":"The case of the Krupnovs and Others in Nikolsk","date":"2021-09-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nikolsk/index.html#20210915","regions":["penza"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Yulia Tsykina, judge of the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, finds Andrey Gubin guilty and sentences him to 2 years and 6 months of probation, 2 years of probation and 1 year of restriction of freedom for reading the Bible.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Gubin in Birobidzhan","date":"2021-09-09T16:11:24+03:00","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan18/index.html#20210909","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 9, 2021, the judge of the Birobidzhan District Court, Yuliya Tsykina, sentenced 47-year-old Andrey Gubin to 2 years and 6 months of conditional sentence, 2 years of probation and 1 year of restraint of liberty. The believer immediately appealed against this decision.\nThe court found Andrey Gubin guilty of participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor recommended that the court send the believer to a colony for 4 years. Gubin considers the sentence to be canceled. “I am convicted of believing in God,” he wrote in his appeal.\nOn February 12, 2020, senior forensic investigator Dmitriy Yankin opened a criminal case against Gubin under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation only because of his faith. The believer was placed under recognizance agreement. For more than six months, the investigation of the case was carried out by the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region. On August 19, 2020, the case materials were transferred to the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region.\nDuring the court hearings, Andrey Gubin has repeatedly noted that he considers this persecution to be an ideologically motivated order, which is contrary to common sense. He said: \"There is religious discrimination based on someone's personal hostility, prejudice and an illiterate understanding of the law on extremism.\"\nIn his appeal to the court, the believer noted: “It is written in my file that there are no victims. I am only persecuted as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Moreover, at this hearing there was a lot of material proving that I and the rest of Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with extremism. After all, the language of extremism is the language of enmity and hatred, which contradicts my convictions and the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses in general. \"\nIn his youth, Andrey often faced injustice, which is why he became very hot-tempered. He even wanted to drop out of school. According to the believer, what he learned from the Bible allowed him to change, find peace in his heart and the meaning of life.\nIn total, 19 criminal cases were initiated against 23 believers in Birobidzhan. In addition to Andrey Gubin, sixteen believers have already been convicted.\nJehovah's Witnesses in Russia are condemned because of their faith, despite the official position of the country's leadership, voiced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in February 2021: “During the consideration of the case [in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation], neither the legitimacy of the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses, nor the ways of expressing them were assessed. […] Members of a liquidated organization can independently practice a religious cult, including as part of religious groups that do not require registration. \"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-09-09T16:08:52+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/09/091608/image_hu_e0a6cffe2a9f77a2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/09/091608/image_hu_91cb66ce6b13e5d2.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/09/091608/image_hu_704ae75727ee4bb9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/09/091608/image_hu_cde3c70252013165.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/09/091608.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"In Birobidzhan Andrey Gubin, One of Jehovah's Witnesses, is Sentenced to 2 Years and 6 Months Probation for Faith in God","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 7, 2021, the judge of the Porkhovsky District Court of the Pskov Region, Valentina Sirotenko, sentenced Aleksey Khabarov to 3 years of suspended imprisonment with a 2-year probationary period. The court recognized as extremism Aleksey's peaceful meetings with other Jehovah's Witnesses. The believer intends to appeal the verdict.\nAleksey, a teacher by profession, is concerned that his good name has been tarnished by accusations of extremism. Speaking in court with the last word, he said: “I was brought up in a simple village family: my mother is a rural history teacher, and my father is a fish protection inspector. They never instilled anything in me that looked like extremism. They taught me to respect the opinion of others, respect authority, be peaceful and achieve everything with my work. \" After that, he emphasized that it was the Bible that helped him become even better - \"learn to truly love others.\"\nOn March 28, 2019, the investigator for especially important cases Irina Pravdivtseva from the FSB of Russia in the Pskov region opened a criminal case against Aleksey Khabarov. On April 3, 2019, in the city of Porkhov, searches were carried out in the homes of believers, among whom was Khabarov. After interrogation, they took a written undertaking not to leave the place.\nAfter more than a year of investigation, the investigation transferred the criminal case to the prosecutor's office, but the department found violations in the materials and returned them for revision. Among other things, the prosecutor noted that the investigator had not identified the citizens who were declared witnesses to the crime allegedly committed by Khabarov.\nOn September 3, 2020, the case went to court. During the court hearings, not a single victim was presented, as well as evidence that the believer is an extremist. Nevertheless, the prosecutor requested that Aleksey Khabarov be sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in a general regime colony. In sentencing, the judge reduced this period by six months and decided to consider the sentence suspended. Among the additional restrictions imposed on the believer for the duration of the punishment is the prohibition to leave the area in which he lives.\nBack in November 2019, the name of Aleksey Khabarov was added to the Rosfinmonitoring list, which led to the blocking of his bank cards. The recognizance not to leave strongly hindered Aleksey from earning a living, since he constantly had to go to court asking for permission to leave the city. Due to severe stress, the believer's chronic illnesses worsened.\nAleksey Khabarov became the second Jehovah's Witness convicted of his faith in the Pskov region. In June 2020, Gennady Shpakovsky was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison, but the court of appeal replaced his sentence with a suspended sentence.\nRussian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. According to Vladimir Ryakhovsky, Honorary Advocate of Russia, member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, “This (violation of fundamental human rights - ed.) Always began with Jehovah's Witnesses, and then affected everyone. You can say, \"Take good care of Jehovah's Witnesses.\" Because it will all turn against the rest. \"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-09-07T15:15:05+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/09/071515/image_hu_f717f3a57f443201.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/09/071515/image_hu_8c53ce9efb4b99fd.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/09/071515/image_hu_672145df8d29d3fb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/09/071515/image_hu_e54f64bc2144d6d7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/09/071515.html","regions":["pskov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","rosfinmonitoring"],"title":"A Court in Porkhov Sentenced 46-year-old Aleksey Khabarov to 3 Years Suspended for Talking About Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 6, 2021, judge of the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma, Ekaterina Molodova, found 41-year-old Dmitry Terebilov guilty of extremism for talking about the Bible and sentenced him to 3 years in a strict regime colony. Before becoming a believer, Dmitry was already in prison, but thanks to the Bible he changed so much that he was released early.\nDmitriy Terebilov insists on his complete innocence and can appeal the verdict. During one of the court hearings, he explained: “Violence is incompatible with the religious canons by which I live. It was thanks to what was written in the Bible that I began to change my life for the better and get rid of bad habits (smoking, foul language, drug abuse). I have a family, which I value very much, so the accusation of undermining family relations sounds ... ridiculous and unfounded. \" The believer takes care of his uncle, whom he took to him because he was mistreated.\nThe active phase of Dmitriy's criminal prosecution began on July 25, 2018, when the security forces searched his apartment. To get into the house, the police and riot police broke down the entrance door. A year later, the security forces again came to the believer with a search. On June 13, 2019, a criminal case was opened against Dmitriy, and in September of the same year he was added to the List of Terrorists and Extremists of Rosfinmonitoring and his bank account was blocked. While the investigative actions and the trial were going on, Dmitriy was under recognizance not to leave for more than two years.\nDuring the trial, it became obvious that the case was fabricated: at the hearings, prosecution witnesses often could not explain their preliminary testimony, they referred to poor memory, their incompetence, or gave directly opposite testimony. In the linguoculturological examination carried out by Farida Akhunzyanova, associate professor of Kostroma State University, words with negative connotations, such as \"sectarians\" and \"sect\", were repeatedly addressed to Jehovah's Witnesses. Some of her findings coincided with information from Wikipedia, which raises doubts about the independence and objectivity of the study.\nYoung spouses Sergey and Valeriya Rayman, who were sentenced to a suspended sentence, took part in the Terebilov case - but now as witnesses. They described Dmitriy as extremely positive. “[Dmitriy] has changed his life for the better and is trying to be a law-abiding citizen. He is a good family man, [...] helps others when they turn to him, ”said Sergey Rayman.\nNevertheless, the court found Dmitriy guilty, after the hearing he was taken into custody.\n“There is not a single victim in the Terebilov case - this is already a tradition in cases against Jehovah's Witnesses. The prosecutor insisted that due to the “new crime” Dmitriy should be considered a repeat offender. Before becoming a Jehovah's Witness, he served his sentence in a correctional institution. There he first started to read the Bible. What he learned from it made such positive changes in him that the administration of the colony petitioned for the early release of Dmitriy. For many years he is a law-abiding citizen, but he is again sent to prison. Now, not for a real crime, but for the fact that thanks to which he was reformed - for faith in God, ”said Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nSpeaking about Jehovah's Witnesses, Natalya Mayorova, a specialist in the study of world religions, during her speech at the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma, emphasized: \"Religious beliefs are an internal personal choice, and we have freedom of conscience in our country.\"\nIn March 2020, 33 states concerned about the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia demanded that the Russian authorities provide believers with the opportunity to freely practice their religion.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-09-06T19:01:15+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/09/061901/image_hu_b6b10784c076b57.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/09/061901/image_hu_2d362051c053a3d0.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/09/061901/image_hu_5425d233a775708f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/09/061901/image_hu_b09f2b52603f30e0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/09/061901.html","regions":["kostroma"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"The Court in Kostroma Sentenced Dmitriy Terebilov to 3 Years of a Strict-Regime Colony for Bible Discussions","type":"news"},{"body":"The verdict announcement to Aleksey Khabarov from Porkhov was postponed to September 7\n","category":"trial","date":"2021-09-06T16:44:55+03:00","duration":null,"image":false,"permalink":"/en/news/2021/09/061644.html","regions":["pskov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2"],"title":"","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 2, 2021, the Khabarovsk Regional Court upheld the sentence for faith handed down to Nikolay Aliyev — 4.5 years of probation. The verdict entered into force, but it can be appealed in cassation and international instances.\nOn June 4, 2021, the Central District Court of Komsomolsk-on-Amur passed a guilty verdict on Nikolay Aliyev. The believer appealed this decision to the appellate instance. According to Aliyev, his convictions are incomparable with extremism.\n“At first it was hard to believe that this (criminal prosecution — ed.) Is actually happening to me. It seemed that it was some kind of scary movie that never ends,— says Nikolay, adding that God and fellow believers help him not to get angry. — In winter, fellow believers came to the courthouse before the trial to support me. When the hearing was held behind closed doors, many of them stood in the cold for one and a half to two hours and waited for the trial to end and I leave.\"\nAlthough the Supreme Court did not prohibit Jehovah's Witnesses from practicing this religion, already 20 believers from the Khabarovsk Territory have been prosecuted.\nThe joint statement of the OSCE participating States on July 28, 2020 concerning the situation of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation noted: “We have repeatedly heard from the Russian delegation at meetings of the Permanent Council that Jehovah's Witnesses profess and can continue to profess their faith freely. and freedom of religion is guaranteed in the Russian Federation. However, we see numerous reports of searches, detentions and criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses [...] All people, including Jehovah's Witnesses, should be able to peacefully exercise their rights, including the right to freedom of religion, peaceful assembly and expression of their opinion without discrimination, like this guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and Russia's commitments to the OSCE and international law ”.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-09-02T14:20:37+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/09/021420/image_hu_5df0e9d1741a02aa.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/09/021420/image_hu_5a66928b383978fd.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/09/021420/image_hu_b871a7e1667f7ced.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/09/021420/image_hu_784f3138fbbd8291.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/09/021420.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"title":"Appeal in Khabarovsk Upholds the Verdict for Faith to 42-Year-Old Nikolay Aliyev","type":"news"},{"body":"Oleg Konshin is charged with violating Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Malyanov and Others in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2021-08-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod2/index.html#20210826","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigator is prosecuting Svetlana Malyanova as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code. The believer is given a written undertaking not to leave the place.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Malyanov and Others in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2021-08-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod2/index.html#20210825","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 28, 2021 the panel of judges of the Primorsky Krai Court, chaired by Svetlana Gumenchuk, approved the verdict for Lyudmila Shut on appeal. The disabled person from the village of Razdolnoye was sentenced to 4 years of suspended imprisonment with probation for 3 years and restriction of freedom for 1 year for reading and discussing the Bible.\nOn May 19, 2021 Nadezhdinsky district court of Primorskiy region found Lyudmila Shut guilty of \"committing crime according to part 2 Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation\" (participation in activity of prohibited organization). The court sentenced her to four years of suspended imprisonment. The believer received such a verdict because she had participated in peaceful religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses and talked to others about God. The believer appealed the verdict because she considers herself completely innocent.\n\"I will not make excuses, because I never understood what exactly I am being judged for. My conscience is clear before God and before people... In the indictment there are no facts of the crimes of which I am accused. It turns out that I am being accused for the fact that I try to live honestly, respect and observe the laws of the state and do no harm to anyone,\" said Lyudmila in her last speech during the appeal hearing.\nNevertheless, the appeal panel of three judges decided to uphold the conviction. The believer has the right to appeal it in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nThe criminal prosecution of Lyudmila Shut began on July 19, 2018, when searches were conducted in the homes of local Jehovah's Witnesses in the village of Razdolnoye. After that, Lyudmila was summoned for questioning several times over a year and a half. Investigator Denis Shevchenko opened a criminal case against her on 10 February 2020.\nWitnesses in the Shut case, according to their statements, were subjected to pressure from the security forces, the investigative measures were carried out with violations of the rules of jurisdiction, and the court during the hearings considered the conclusions of a specialist who is not an expert in the field of law.\nDuring the entire investigation Liudmila Shut was under house arrest. After 5 months of court proceedings, the state prosecutor called off judge Natalia Derevyagina, and Lyudmila Setrakova was appointed the new judge. The believer, who can move around only with the help of others or on crutches, was forced to go through all stages of the trial anew. The prosecution worsened Lyudmila's health, her eyesight deteriorated and she needed an operation. After the interrogations, she repeatedly had to call an ambulance.\nAlready 36 residents of Primorye are trapped in the grip of the Russian judicial system simply for their belief in their God Jehovah. In March 2021 Lyudmila's fellow villager, 77-year-old Vladimir Filippov, was sentenced to 6 years of suspended imprisonment for participating in peaceful worship services.\nRussian and foreign activists and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Vladimir Ryakhovsky, Honorary Advocate of Russia, Member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights: \"It always started with Jehovah's Witnesses and then reflected on everyone.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-08-25T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/08/251431/image_hu_6270734ac81fbfe0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/08/251431/image_hu_fc6084083d35a8d7.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/08/251431/image_hu_28def80d70d750b7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/08/251431/image_hu_5d5a41683873c5b7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/08/251431.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","elderly","disability"],"title":"Appeal in Vladivostok Approved the Sentence of Four Years of Conditional Imprisonment for a 73-Year-Old Believer","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator E. Skuridina initiates another criminal case against Alexander Vasichkin, this time under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Vasichkin and Others in Teykovo","date":"2021-08-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/teykovo/index.html#20210824","regions":["ivanovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 23, 2021, the Perm Regional Court rejected the appeal of five Jehovah's Witnesses. Boris Burylov, Viktor Kuchkov, Alexandr Inozemtsev and Yuriy Vaag were found guilty of participation, and Igor Turik was found guilty of organizing and financing extremist activities. The sentence imposed by the court of first instance has not changed.\nIn May 2021, the judge of the Industrial District Court of Perm, Viktor Podyniglazov, sentenced Igor Turik to 7 years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 4 years; Boris Burylov, Viktor Kuchkov, Alexandr Inozemtsev and Yuriy Vaag received 2.5 years of probation with a probation period of 3 years. Believers still insist on their innocence. They have the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.\nBoris Burylov is already over 80. He is a respected person who has almost half a century of work experience, he has been repeatedly awarded for conscientious work. 52-year-old Igor Turik is raising two children. Alexandr Inozemtsev is 48 years old, he also has a child who is still a minor. For 45-year-old Yuriy Vaag, the criminal case was a continuation of the tragic history of the family: during the Soviet era, his parents were exiled to Siberia on a national basis.\nOn September 17, 2018, in Perm and other cities of the Perm Territory, searches were carried out in the homes of peaceful believers. FSB officers threatened them with lengthy prison terms. As it turned out, the special services tapped the phones of Turik, Kuchkov and Burylov and conducted covert surveillance behind them.\nIgor Turik and Viktor Kuchkov spent 3 days in the temporary detention facility, 101 days under house arrest, and more than 2 years under recognizance agreement. Alexandr Inozemtsev, Yuriy Vaag and Boris Burylov were under recognizance agreement for more than 2.5 years. According to Alexandr Inozemtsev, due to being included in the federal list of Rosfinmonitoring, at first, their family faced serious financial difficulties: “I had to borrow money, since we live in a rented apartment, and the bank account was blocked.”\nThe believers were helped by the support of relatives, friends and fellow believers from different countries. Igor Turik recalls: “I received a lot of letters and postcards, [friends] gave money and food. There were calls and letters from Poland, Germany, Spain, Austria, USA, Japan... For example, it was very touching to learn that fellow believers in the distant country of Gabon pray for us by name. During this time, we never once needed, although there was no income and we had to pay for a rented apartment.\"\nThis is the third verdict that came into force on believers from the Perm Territory. In September 2019, the court upheld the sentence to Alexandr Solovyev, who was fined 300,000 rubles for his faith in Jehovah God. In April 2021, a court in Chelyabinsk approved a fine of 350 thousand rubles to Alexey Metzger.\nDespite the fact that there is not a single victim in the criminal case against Turik, Inozemtsev, Burylov, Kuchkov and Vaag, and the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is not prohibited, believers have had to defend their innocence in courts for almost three years. The prosecution was able to prove only the fact that the men are Jehovah's Witnesses, although they never hid it.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-08-23T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/08/241019/image_hu_25c2efeef1d6e960.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/08/241019/image_hu_f4fab255d634d9c6.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/08/241019/image_hu_339f5536a1ae690f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/08/241019/image_hu_324aaa08c36b42cf.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/08/241019.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","282.2-1","282.3-1","elderly"],"title":"The Court of Appeal in Perm Upheld the Verdict Against 5 Believers. Conditional Terms From 2.5 to 7 Years Were Approved","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecutor requests a sentence of 4 years in prison and 2 years of restriction of freedom for Andrey Gubin. The prosecution claims that the believer used a prohibited translation of the Holy Scriptures, but the video recordings of the services do not confirm this. The prosecution also does not provide evidence of the existence of victims in the case.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Gubin in Birobidzhan","date":"2021-08-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan18/index.html#20210819","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The case of Viktor Shayapov is separated into a separate proceeding from the case of the Krupnovs. The believer is suspected of participating in extremist activities (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). He is put on the wanted list.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shayapov in Nikolsk","date":"2021-08-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nikolsk2/index.html#20210819","regions":["penza"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 19, 2021, the judge of the Birobidzhan District Court, Vasilina Bezotecheskikh, found the peaceful believer Anastasiya Guzeva guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and sentenced her to 2.5 years of probation, 2 years of probation and 1 year of restriction of freedom.\nThe believer did not admit her guilt. Turning to the court with the last word, she stressed: “Although I have been seriously charged, there are no victims of my actions, as is probably usually the case in criminal cases. There is no direct intent, no active actions, no socially dangerous acts, no humiliation of human dignity, no objective and subjective aspects of the crime, no facts that any of my actions have caused harm, damage, suffering to others. Therefore, I did not hide my eyes from shame and always came and went to court sessions with a clear conscience.” Anastasia Guzeva intends to appeal the verdict in the appellate instance.\nBefore the criminal prosecution, the believer worked at a music school, where she established herself as a responsible and non-conflict employee. Her husband Konstantin also worked there. When the caretaker, a former police officer, learned about the Supreme Court's decision regarding Jehovah's Witnesses, he called the Guzevs into his office and said: \"You are extremists, and extremists have no place in a children's institution.\" First, Konstantin was fired, and later Anastasiya. The believer is perplexed: “According to the labor law, a person cannot be fired from his job just because of his religion. In fact, my husband and I faced religious discrimination. \"\nIt all started with the fact that in May 2018, they came to the Guzevs with a search that lasted 10 hours. The police officer in charge of the task force said his relatives were Jehovah's Witnesses. Obviously, therefore, law enforcement officers behaved politely and carefully. Nevertheless, because of what happened, Anastasiya experienced severe stress and for a long time experienced panic when she heard a knock on the door.\nIn July 2019, a criminal case was opened for faith against Konstantin, and on February 6, 2020, Anastasiya became the accused. For six and a half months, the case against her was investigated by Denis Yankin, a senior investigator-criminalist of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Since February 19, 2020, the believer has been under recognizance not to leave, and on February 27, 2020 she was included in the Rosfinmonitoring List of Terrorists and Extremists.\nOn August 19, 2020, the case went to court. The prosecution was witnessed by police officer Yuliya Zvereva, who also testified in at least 15 other trials against Birobidzhan believers. She admitted that she had not heard any extremist statements from any of them.\nThe court hearings in the Guzeva case lasted about a year. The prosecutor asked the court to sentence 41-year-old Anastasiya to 4 years in prison and 2 years of restraint of liberty. The prosecution did not present any concrete evidence that the believer participated in extremist activities. At the hearing, Guzeva remarked: “Video files were presented as 'evidence', which showed the study of the Bible and religious literature in the circle of fellow believers. The prosecution interprets these lawful actions as unlawful. But at all times, believers expressed their love for God by praying, gathering together to worship, studying and discussing the Holy Scriptures... All participants in the process could see firsthand that the deeds, words, thoughts, goals, motives of Jehovah's Witnesses are including mine, are directed only for good.\"\nThe persecution destroyed the usual way of life of a peaceful family and confused relatives, including Anastasiya's elderly mother. Nevertheless, relatives support the spouses. The Guzevs also appreciate the help that co-religionists provided throughout the persecution — they sent them letters of support, postcards, and helped financially.\nDuring the judicial debate, Anastasiya emphacized that the Russian courts did not prohibit the professing and dissemination of the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses and, in fact, these beliefs are \"the prevention of extremism\".\nA total of 23 Jehovah's Witnesses from the Jewish Autonomous Region have already been prosecuted for their faith. 16 of them, including Anastasiya's husband, Konstantin Guzev, were convicted and sentenced to various suspended sentences.\nApril 1, 2021 at the press conference “70th Anniversary of Operation North”. Lessons of repression \"religious scholar Sergey Ivanenko emphacized:\" The policy of forceful suppression of Jehovah's Witnesses, which has been carried out in the Russian Federation since 2017, is futile. This is evidenced by the lessons of Operation North and the analysis of the current situation, including the steadfastness of Jehovah's Witnesses in upholding their beliefs. It seems expedient, from the point of view of the state interests of Russia, to implement a set of measures for the return of Jehovah's Witnesses to the legal field.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-08-19T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/08/191119/image_hu_adb06358af837a1c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/08/191119/image_hu_22aed4809132c0cd.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/08/191119/image_hu_b2c66a1a09c0c2f0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/08/191119/image_hu_63b20b7468f34efd.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/08/191119.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["suspended","sentence","282.2-2","families"],"title":"Another Conviction for Faith in Birobidzhan. The Court Gave Anastasiya Guzeva 2.5 Years Suspended Sentence for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"The judge of the Abinsky District Court, Mikhail Ostashevskiy, considered the case of Vasiliy Meleshko in just two sessions and on August 11, 2021, sentenced him to 3 years in a general regime colony, considering his peaceful religious activities to be extremist. The believer was arrested and handcuffed to the pre-trial detention center of Novorossiysk.\nSpeaking in court, a resident of the village of Kholmskaya stated that he is Jehovah's Witness, but did not commit any crimes and has nothing to do with extremism. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nEarly in the morning in April 2021, the armed forces came to search the house of the married couple Vasiliy and Zoya Meleshko. Electronic devices, personal savings and letters were seized from the believers, after which Vasiliy was taken for interrogation to Abinsk in a car without a motorcar plate. After the interrogation, the security forces took two staged photographs of the believer: one against the background of the former building for religious services of Jehovah's Witnesses, and the second at home at the table in order to \"film the crime scene.\" Then Vasiliy was placed on recognizance not to leave.\nThe criminal case under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a banned organization) against Vasiliy Meleshko was initiated by the Investigation Department for the Abinsky District of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory on March 31, 2021. After 4 months of investigation, the case went to court. The appointed attorney urged the believer to “confess guilt in the crime,” but the believer continued to insist on his innocence. In just two court sessions, the court considered the whole case and passed a guilty verdict on the believer.\nBasil and his wife Zoya have been Jehovah's Witnesses for 30 years. During this time, up to the ban on legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, there were no complaints from the law enforcement agencies against them.\n“The absurdity of the situation is obvious: for decades Meleshko, being Jehovah's Witnesses, led a law-abiding lifestyle and suddenly 'became' criminals. Not because they committed any real crime or harmed someone. The reason is that they are trying to ban Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia from doing the same thing that believers are perfectly legal in hundreds of countries around the world - reading the Bible together and talking about God, ”explains Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nVasiliy Meleshko became the fourth believer from the small village of Kholmskaya, Krasnodar Territory, sentenced to a real prison term for believing in Jehovah God. Earlier, the court sentenced 63-year-old Aleksandr Ivshin to 7.5 years in prison, he is serving time in Rostov-on-Don. Oleg Danilov, 47, was sent to a penal colony in Khadyzhensk for 3 years. 45-year-old Aleksandr Shcherbina was also imprisoned there for a similar period. Criminal cases against several other believers from the village of Kholmskaya are at the stage of court hearings.\nThe groundlessness of the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses on the basis of religion has been repeatedly emphasized by Russian and foreign experts. In May 2021, the association of former prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp (Lagergemeinschaft Dachau) sent an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin condemning the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-08-11T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/08/131020/image_hu_479abe7278673b38.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/08/131020/image_hu_fd5778188f029491.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/08/131020/image_hu_66cfef005efb8b54.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/08/131020/image_hu_8b09c2d8b2ce47fc.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/08/131020.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"Court in Krasnodar Territory Sentenced 60-year-old Vasiliy Meleshko to 3 Years in Prison for Talking About the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 5, 2021, the Saratov Regional Court, having considered the appeal of Rustam Seidkuliev, slightly softened the sentence: now the believer will have to spend 2 years and 4 months behind bars.\nThe believer has been in jail since the announcement of the verdict by the court of first instance — since May 2021. Seidkuliev asked the appellate court to fully acquit him. He has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nJudge of the Leninskiy District Court of Saratov, Andrey Yefimov, found 44-year-old Rustam Seidkuliev guilty of participation in extremist activities in May 2021. He sentenced him to 2.5 years in prison and 1 year of imprisonment. At the same time, there is not a single victim in the case. The prosecutor asked for a punishment for the believer in the form of 4 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony.\nRustam learned that the Saratov law enforcement officers had opened a criminal case against him for extremism in Adler, where he moved with his wife for family reasons. On February 15, 2020, police officers detained him with his wife in a shopping center, then he spent 5 days in a special detention center, and was escorted to Saratov. The believer was under house arrest for seven months.\nRustam recalls: “In the detention centre, I immediately tried to occupy myself with something: I did crosswords, took a book from the library, started a notebook for planning things in the future. In general, I tried to keep the brain busy with something all the time, because then time flows faster and there is no time to lose heart and worry. The first 2 months I was under house arrest not at home and without a wife, and my mother generally stayed in Adler, where I helped her. To be apart from loved ones, of course, is unpleasant, but being busy with some business and planning the day helped not to lose heart and not get upset, because I understood that some of my fellow believers who are now in prisons and colonies are much worse off than to me\".\nThe criminal prosecution deprived Rustam of the opportunity to provide for his family financially. The believer says: “I quit my official job so as not to let clients down in case of my arrest. There were plans to open a photo studio and equipment was purchased for this, but everything had to be sold for next to nothing, as the situation was unstable. \"\nAll the time while Rustam was under house arrest, he was supported by co-religionists. When he was not allowed to leave the house for walks, they helped the Seidkulievs as much as they could: they repaired the roof, weeded the weeds in the yard, and helped the family financially. During the court hearings, believers who were not allowed into the courtroom cheered Rustam with applause and words of support.\nThe court hearings in the case of Seidkuliev in the Leninskiy District Court began more than a year after his arrest and lasted only a month. Despite the lack of evidence of his guilt, the believer was sentenced to imprisonment, in fact, for talking about the Bible.\n“[During the court hearings] it was not taken into account that the Russian Federation has repeatedly publicly reaffirmed the right of believers of Jehovah's Witnesses to profess and spread their faith after the liquidation of their legal entities... the collection of information about my personal life was caused exclusively by my religious affiliation,” Rustam Seidkuliev noted in his appeal.\nIn September 2019, six peaceful Saratov Jehovah's Witnesses were also sentenced to prison for their faith. Konstantin Bazhenov, Aleksey Budenchuk, Gennadiy German, Roman Gridasov, Feliks Makhammadiyev and Aleksey Miretskiy have already served their sentences. Makhammadiyev and Bazhenov were deported from Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-08-05T17:06:42+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/08/051706/image_hu_cc9dfa224684dc73.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/08/051706/image_hu_d265f02e344afbdd.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/08/051706/image_hu_11f12df92a43e1a0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/08/051706/image_hu_c51910c04b1acd71.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/08/051706.html","regions":["saratov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"The Appeal Reduced by Two Months the Prison Term Assigned to One of Jehovah's Witnesses From Saratov Rustam Seidkuliev","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 30, 2021 a search was conducted in the house of 68-year-old Aleksandr Shutov and his wife in the village of Kotikovo in Vyazemskiy district. During the raid, the believer's blood pressure spiked critically, but he was taken away for questioning 150 km away from his place of residence. Aleksandr was accused of extremism. He signed a not to leave the place.\nThe criminal case was initiated under Part 2 of Article 282.2 (participation in activities of a banned organization). The prosecution was initiated by lieutenant of justice S. V. Nemtsev, investigator of the Investigatory unit of Directorate of FSB of Russia for Khabarovsk territory. Nemtsev was joined in the search of the elderly couple's home by FSB officer Aleksey Svetochev, who organized the criminal persecution of other Jehovah's Witnesses in the town of Vyazemsky. After the search, Aleksandr Shutov was taken to Khabarovsk for questioning.\nEarlier, criminal cases were already filed against 68-year-old En Sen Li, 29-year-old Ilya Degtyarenko, 30-year-old Sergey Kuznetsov and 19-year-old Yegor Baranov, who is the only son of a single mother in the area.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2021-08-04T15:43:58+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_943a8332cba14e42.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_caffff98386a2f9a.jpg","webp":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_10d4e5329eff2378.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_543ff2e213e31665.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/08/041543.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","elderly","new-case","282.2-2","interrogation","health-risk","recognizance-agreement"],"title":"Another Search in Khabarovsk Territory. A Criminal Case Was Brought Against 68-Year-Old Aleksandr Shutov for His Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Obukhov involves Valentina Ermilova as an accused. A measure of restraint is chosen for the believer in the form of a recognizance not to leave and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Golik and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2021-08-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk3/index.html#20210804","regions":["amur"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 2, 2021, the judge of the Leninsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don, Olga Borokhova, found 42-year-old Andrey Okhrimchuk guilty of extremism and sentenced him to 4 years of suspended sentence, as well as 1 year of restriction of freedom - this punishment was requested by the prosecutor.\nThe believer has not pleaded guilty and can appeal the verdict. According to him, crime of any kind is incompatible with his beliefs. \"At the beginning of my Christian journey, I received an offer to earn money. I began to cooperate with an acquaintance. He said that you can earn more if you steal some of the material. I refused, choosing to serve God and have a clear conscience,\" said Andriy Okhrimchuk.\n\"I did not think that I would ever be a defendant and speak before a court, especially those accused of extremism, because I never even thought of harming anyone. I have always treated extreme views negatively, because people suffer from it. At one time, I participated in a counter-terrorist operation in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, ensuring the security of the state and its citizens. I also served in the peacekeeping forces. Later my life changed, I began to study the Bible. Then I was a peacemaker with weapons in my hands, but now I decided to become a peacemaker with the Bible in my hands, \"said the believer, speaking with the last word.\nOn October 29, 2020, the investigator for especially important cases, Major I. A. Kalnitsky, opened a criminal case against Andrey Okhrimchuk. The investigation was conducted by the First Investigation Department (located in Rostov-on-Don) of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.\nAndrey was accused of \"taking part in an illegal religious meeting\", which was also attended by Alexander Parkov. By illegal religious gathering, the investigation refers to the usual worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses, which are legally held in approximately 240 countries and territories. The investigation also established that money transfers were made from Andrey Okhrimchuk's bank card to the cards of Semyon Baibak, who had already been sentenced to 3.5 years of probation, as well as Arsen Avanesov. On July 29, 2021, three believers, Park, Arsen and Vilen Avanesov from Rostov-on-Don, received from 6 to 6.5 years in prison.\nIn May 2019, the security forces searched the believer's home and car, after which he was interrogated at the CPE. Andrey and his wife are raising a school-age daughter. The search in their house had a strong impact on the condition of Andrey's wife, Ekaterina: she had to seek help from a specialist and undergo treatment for several months. Andrey is worried about how what is happening will affect the health of his parents, since his father has a heart condition.\n\"After the searches, I was in shock for several weeks, could not eat normally, lost 5 kilograms. I sat like furniture, I didn't realize what was happening,\" the believer said.\nFor about 9 months, since November 2, 2020, Andriy Okhrimchuk has been under recognizance agreement. And on November 27, 2020, the believer was added to the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring, his bank accounts were blocked.\nAlready 16 Jehovah's Witnesses from the Rostov region have been prosecuted for their faith. Eight of them have already been sentenced by the courts.\nRussian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Among them is Jean-Marie Delarue , a member of the French Council of State. He explains: \"A Russian judge should take into account that if the fact of violation of public order is not proven, then Jehovah's Witnesses are persecuted for completely different reasons - they are persecuted as a religion. In this case, we ignore the fundamental freedom enshrined in the most important international laws.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-08-03T08:20:53+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/08/030820/image_hu_f79ab8b19d634607.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/08/030820/image_hu_8447e7060e73ffe7.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/08/030820/image_hu_ac91195c2211dcf9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/08/030820/image_hu_37f3c51c15dc445e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/08/030820.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","282.3-1","rosfinmonitoring","minors"],"title":"A Court in Rostov-on-Don Sentenced Andrey Okhrimchuk to 4 Years Suspended for Believing in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Obukhov involves Ekaterina Olshevskaya as an accused. A measure of restraint is chosen for the believer in the form of a recognizance not to leave and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Golik and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2021-08-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk3/index.html#20210803","regions":["amur"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 29, 2021 the Amur Regional Court upheld the sentence of Vasiliy Reznichenko, a Jehovah's Witness from Zeya convicted earlier to 2 years of suspended imprisonment for talking on religious topics—the court considered it \"participation in the activity of an extremist organization.”\nThe verdict came into force: 2 years of suspended sentence and 6 months of restriction of freedom. The verdict can be appealed in cassation and international instances.\nIn three weeks after the appeal decision, labor veteran Vasiliy Reznichenko will be 79 years old. Most of them he led a habitual Soviet way of life, and for a long time he worked as a captain of a motor ship. Vasiliy and his wife familiarized themselves with the Bible and became Jehovah's Witnesses in the 1990s. For years, the newfound faith of Vasiliy and his co-religionists did not raise any questions from the authorities.\n\"Around 2005 or 2006, the police detained me and my wife several times while we were talking to people about God. We were taken to the police and interrogated. The attitude of the police was not strict. They even took magazines [on Biblical topics] from us to read,\" Vasiliy says. After identification, the believers were released.\nIn 2016, Vasiliy was widowed. About three years later, in March 2019, criminal proceedings began against him.\n\"On the morning of the day I was searched when I was reading the daily scripture. I heard the knock on my door. I thought it was one of the neighbors in the entryway. I opened the door, and there were people I didn't know. One showed his FSB ID and introduced himself. The second wore a mask and had a gun. The others were witnesses. The FSB officer said that I was about to be searched. He warned me not to resist and that everything would be fine,\" Vasiliy said, adding that he was most worried when he was called in for questioning. When I came out of the FSB building to the street after the interrogation, I felt better.\"\nSince March 21, 2019, Vasiliy Reznichenko has been under house arrest, and in November 2019 he was placed on the state List of Terrorists and Extremists. On this basis, the bank blocked all of his personal savings, a significant amount that the pensioner had been saving for many years for his own needs, as well as to help his loved ones. Moreover, at the request of the investigator, the elderly believer had to travel to Blagoveshchensk (almost 600 km away) in order to undergo forensic psychiatric examination.\n\"I am subjected to criminal prosecution for being a Christian, for being a Jehovah's Witness [...] I do not consider it a crime under the Russia’s law. No one has forbidden the Jehovah's Witnesses religion in Russia,\" the believer said in his final statement before the court of first instance ruling.\n15 believers in the Amur Region have already faced criminal prosecution simply because of their religion.\nRussian and foreign opinion makers unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Among them is Richard Clayton, Queen's Counsel, UK Representative to the Venice Commission. He notes: \"Recognizing Jehovah's Witnesses as extremists will do nothing to help Russia consolidate its reputation as a civilized country. Any decision against Jehovah's Witnesses will affect others [...] This application of laws forms the image of religious freedom in Russia as extremely negative: ‘You can believe in anything, as long as you believe in what I tell you.’ In my opinion, this is a shocking example of how a bad law is being used for an even worse purpose.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-07-30T18:35:24+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/07/301142/image_hu_88c7938f7292808.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/07/301142/image_hu_dfb45e677c90b683.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/07/301142/image_hu_872cb81de0b54ef5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/07/301142/image_hu_349ec05476267e5f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/07/301142.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","appeal","suspended","282.2-2","rosfinmonitoring"],"title":"Appeal Court in Blagoveshchensk Left Unchanged the Verdict for Faith Against 78-year-old Vasiliy Reznichenko","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 30, 2021, the judge of the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, Vasilina Bezotecheskikh, sentenced 43-year-old Nataliya Kriger to two and a half years in prison for participation in the activities of a banned community—this is how the investigation interprets reading and discussing the Bible with friends.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on her complete innocence.\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to impose a sentence of 4 years in prison and 2 years of restriction of freedom on the believer, with the obligation to report twice a month at the FSIN supervisory institution.\nWhen Nataliya was only a year old, her mother died, and the girl ended up in an orphanage. At the age of 6, her grandmother took little Nataliya to live with her. Many years later, due to a hip fracture, Nataliya's elderly grandmother stopped walking. The believer took care of her grandmother until her death in February 2020.\nSpeaking in court with her last word, Nataliya Kriger recalled how her grandmother was able to instill in her the biblical norms of morality, thanks to which she completely changed: “I was a very naughty child even in my teens and caused considerable difficulties. But from the very childhood, noticing any injustice or humiliation, I reacted sharply. During my school years, I went to the karate section in order to protect myself. Like most teenagers, I was influenced by peers: I began to smoke, get drunk and swear heavily. Even my relatives and friends did not trust me.”\n“I have learned to express tender feelings for my grandmother, to hug her, and not to shout at her and be insolent to her,” Nataliya continues. “The Bible taught me to treat her with great love, kindness, trembling ... I think she would be very surprised now that I'm on trial for extremism.\"\nIn May 2018, the house of the Kriger family was searched. Then a criminal case was opened against Nataliya's husband, Valeriy Kriger. Two years after these events, in February 2020, Denis Yankin, an investigator of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, opened a criminal case against Nataliya. Then the believer was placed on recognizance agreement.\nThe investigation lasted 6 months, and on August 19, 2020, the case was referred to the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region. At the time of admission to the court, the case consisted of more than 30 volumes.\nOne of the prosecution witnesses was police officer Yuliya Zvereva, who also testified in a number of other cases against Jehovah's Witnesses from Birobidzhan: Svetlana Monis, Anastasiya Sycheva, Tatyana Zagulina and Konstantin Guzev, whom the court sentenced to suspended sentences.\nA total of 23 Jehovah's Witnesses from the Jewish Autonomous Region have been prosecuted. Many of them have already been convicted, others are still awaiting a court decision on their cases.\nThe groundlessness of the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses on the basis of religion has been repeatedly emphasized by Russian and foreign experts. In May 2021, the association of former prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp (Lagergemeinschaft Dachau) sent an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin condemning the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-07-30T14:33:34+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/07/301433/image_hu_6a8553675120f5a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/07/301433/image_hu_9a845fad1bace0ba.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/07/301433/image_hu_8d5a2c44179769e7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/07/301433/image_hu_a76ff108d03c8367.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/07/301433.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"In Birobidzhan, Nataliya Kriger Received 2.5 Years of Suspended Term for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Obukhov brings Kristina Golik and Maria Portnyagina as accused. He argues that believers, \"wishing for the onset of socially dangerous consequences and acting from extremist motives ... committed actions related to the continuation of the illegal activities of the CRO and LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses in Blagoveshchensk.\"\nGolik and Portnyagina are chosen a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Golik and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2021-07-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk3/index.html#20210727","regions":["amur"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. S. Pozdnyakov, senior investigator-criminalist of the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia in the Khabarovsk Territory, makes a decision to initiate a criminal case against 68-year-old Alexander Shutov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\n","caseTitle":"The case of Shutov in Vyazemsky","date":"2021-07-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyazemskiy4/index.html#20210726","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 23, 2021, the Novosibirsk Regional Court upheld the verdict of the first instance court. Vitaliy Popov, 54, was found guilty of participation in the activities of an extremist organization and its financing.\nThe verdict entered into force. The believer still insists on his innocence. He has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.\nOn May 21, 2021, Nataliya Devyatko, a judge of the Lenin District Court of Novosibirsk, found Vitaliy Popov guilty of a crime under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 and part 1 of Art. 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization and its financing). He was sentenced to 3 years of suspended sentence. In the court of the first instance, the prosecutor requested 6 years of actual imprisonment in a general regime colony.\nProsecution witnesses at the hearings emphasized that they know Vitaliy as \"a peaceful, hardworking person who is always ready to help.\" One of the witnesses said: “Good person with a capital letter ‘Good’. There are simply no such ones, in fact. Without any falsity. A kind man.\"\nVitaliy himself drew attention to the fact that he had always been a simple, peaceful, and hard-working person. “Many in the school [his last workplace] knew that I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses and had deep respect for my views, because I am a conflict-free person and I try to see positive qualities in people without any prejudice.”\n“For many years I tried to be an exemplary citizen of my country, I have always been a law-abiding citizen, I paid taxes honestly, always did my job in good faith, my employers always spoke positively about me, and suddenly the prosecution proposes to declare me an extremist. For what?—he asked in the court debate and himself offered the answer:—For the fact that I discussed biblical thoughts in the circle of my family and friends that encourage love and good deeds.”\nDue to criminal prosecution, Vitaliy lost his job, and his recognizance agreement restricted his right to move freely for more than a year.\nIn passing the verdict, the court of the first instance took into account the opinion of “specialist” Oleg Zayev, who has no religious education and who did not hide his hostility towards Jehovah's Witnesses. Equally surprising is the fact that Popov did not even attend the religious meetings presented to the court as evidence of his guilt.\nVitaliy Popov became the second resident of Novosibirsk convicted for his faith. Earlier, 67-year-old Yuri Savelyev was sentenced to 6 years in a general regime colony.\nRussian and foreign organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. For example, the association of former prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp sent an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin calling for an end to the persecution.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-07-23T14:47:08+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/07/231447/image_hu_ceb6108071a97f9b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/07/231447/image_hu_f188e21179d817ee.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/07/231447/image_hu_b1d726af24ea7e41.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/07/231447/image_hu_f3adcf16f6d8afa8.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/07/231447.html","regions":["novosibirsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","282.3-1","suspended"],"title":"The Appeal in Novosibirsk Upheld the Verdict Against Vitaliy Popov for Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Senior investigator of the Khabarovsk Territory Directorate of the FSB of Russia, Captain of Justice D. Pozdnyakov attracts Sergey Kuznetsov as a defendant in \"participation in the activities of a religious organization, in respect of which the court decided to liquidate and ban activities in connection with the implementation of extremist activities.\"\nKuznetsov is accused of \"participating in video conferences, choosing material for study ... took an active part in commenting and discussion, summed up the lessons, as well as ... He created a positive motivation for this, initiated ritual communication - reading prayers, singing songs (psalms), showed videos to students.\nThe investigation also believes that \"the activities of the meeting of the religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Vyazemsky are characterized by stability, expressed in the regularity of meetings of its members ... in the realization of common goals - serving Jehovah, following and putting into practice the doctrine.\"\n","caseTitle":"The case of Kuznetsov in Vyazemsky","date":"2021-07-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyazemskiy3/index.html#20210723","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"From the materials of the criminal case against believers Anton Olshevskiy and Sergey Yermilov, materials against their wives, Ekaterina Olshevskaya and Valentina Ermilova, as well as against Kristina Golik, whose husband was sentenced to 7 years in prison for his faith, are separated into separate proceedings.\nAnother charge is brought against 27-year-old believer Maria Portnyagina. This criminal case is initiated by the investigator of the SO of the FSB in the Amur Region, Senior Lieutenant of Justice V. S. Obukhov. The women are charged with a crime under Part 2 of Article 282. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigation claims that they \"being in the city of Blagoveshchensk ... were directly involved in... religious events.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Golik and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2021-07-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk3/index.html#20210722","regions":["amur"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 20, 2021, Judge Vasilina Bezotecheskikh of the Birobidzhan District Court of the EAD sentenced Anna Lokhvitskaya to 2.5 years' probation for participating in the activities of a banned organization. The verdict can be appealed. The believer insists that she wasn't involved in any extremism.\nSpeaking in the debate she stressed that she had no criminal intent: \"What is the intent? That I read the Bible? That I sang songs of praise to God? There is not a single person who has been harmed by my contrived accusation of \"willful\" criminal acts. My life in general, as well as the actions I am charged with, are solely peaceful in nature. If there is no hate or animosity in the motives, there is no corpus delicti. Although there were no victims in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence the believer to four years in a penal colony with further restrictions for another two years.\nJust the day before her mother-in-law, Irina Lokhvitskaya, was sentenced in exactly the same way, and in February 2021 her husband, Artur Lokhvitsky, was sentenced. In April 2021, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region confirmed Arthur's verdict on appeal - the believer received a 2.5 year suspended sentence.\nThe case against Anna was initiated by D. Yankin, an investigator of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the EAD, on February 6, 2020. About 7 months later, on August 19, 2020, it was transferred to court. According to the judge's decision, the case was heard behind closed doors, without the presence of the audience, the media, or even relatives. Since the start of the criminal case in February 2020, the believer was under house arrest.\nThe case of Anna Lokhvitskaya is among 19 criminal cases against 23 Jehovah's Witnesses from the Jewish Autonomous Region.\nOn April 20, 2021, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responding to a request from a believer, stated: \"The step taken [the Supreme Court decision of April 20, 2017] has not restricted the right of citizens to freedom of religion... Participants of a liquidated organization may independently worship, including as part of religious groups that do not require registration, on the understanding that this is not related to the conduct of extremist activity. Nevertheless, Russian courts continue to convict Jehovah's Witnesses.\nForeign figures have also repeatedly stated that religious discrimination against Jehovah's Witnesses is inappropriate and that persecution must cease.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-07-20T20:20:56+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/07/201520/image_hu_755d5312cbae88e4.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/07/201520/image_hu_6ad1dc47b5dfaf42.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/07/201520/image_hu_181f8b4a23be2bf5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/07/201520/image_hu_82fc8b3b79cf0883.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/07/201520.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"In Birobidzhan the Court Gave Anna Lokhvitskaya a 2.5 Year Suspended Sentence for Her Belief in Jehovah. Such a Sentence Had Already Been Imposed on Her Husband and Mother-in-Law","type":"news"},{"body":"On 20 July 2021, the Moscow regional court did not satisfy the appeal against the criminal case against Vitaliy Nikiforov, Konstantin Zherebtsov, Yuriy and Zinaida Krutyakov from the town of Chekhov. The court equated their peaceful discussion of the Bible with friends with extremism. The final punishment: to Yuriy Krutyakov - 6 years suspended with probation for 5 years; to Zinaida Krutyakova - 2 years and 3 months suspended with probation for 2 years, to Konstantin Zherebtsov - 2 years and 2 months suspended with probation for 2 years, to Vitaliy Nikiforov - 2 years suspended with the same probation period.\nThe verdict came into force. Believers still insist on their innocence. They have the right to appeal the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nThe first instance sentence was handed down on May 24, 2021. On that day, Judge Irina Pantela of the Chekhov City Court in Moscow Region sentenced the four local Jehovah's Witnesses to a suspended sentence as requested by the prosecutor.\nYuriy Krutyakov, a 69-year-old former civil engineer, came voluntarily to the Investigative Committee with no intention of hiding from the investigation. However, he was placed in a special unit for especially dangerous criminals. As his serious diseases began to progress, Yury repeatedly applied for proper medical examination and treatment, but the management of SIZO-7 ignored his requests. As a result, his eyesight sharply deteriorated.\nYuriy's wife, 63-year-old Zinaida, gave more than 30 years to the construction industry. Criminal prosecution for her faith also undermined her health and deprived the spouses of their livelihood. In addition, Aleksandr Serebryakov, Zinaida's son-in-law, has been under criminal prosecution since February 2021 and is in jail for his peaceful religious beliefs.\nVitaliy Nikiforov, a 53-year old combat veteran, served as an aircraft technician in the Russian Air Force and took part in an anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. Now he has been convicted for his faith in God, thanks to which he got rid of his alcohol addiction.\nKonstantin Zherebtsov, 47, worked hard for many years at various NPPs and other enterprises of the energy complex, has numerous certificates and letters of appreciation. Due to criminal prosecution, he lost the opportunity to financially support his wife and young daughter. He had heart problems which worsened against the background of stress.\nYuriy Krutyakov spent about a year and three months in jail. Konstantin Zherebtsov, Viktor Nikiforov, and Zinaida Krutyakov were sent to the temporary detention center after detention and then were under house arrest for a year and 8 months until sentencing.\nOn October 3, 2019, night searches took place in the houses of believers, which ended by 4-5 a.m. They were followed by many hours of interrogations in the Main Investigative Department of the Moscow region. After detention, believers were not fed for 36 hours.\nThe basis of the criminal case was the testimony of an FSB officer who portrayed interest in the Bible, a certain Stanislav Kuznetsky. Yuri Krutyakov met him at the train station. Kuznetsov often went to Krutyakov for biblical advice for the solution of family problems and asked about fellow believers. Later, Zherebtsov, Nikiforov, and Krutyakov noticed that they were being watched and their phones were tapped.\nThere were no victims in the case against the believers. Harmless actions such as reading and discussing the Bible and praying to Jehovah God were interpreted as evidence of the believers' guilt.\nDuring the court hearings, the defense repeatedly emphasized: \"All three are adherents of a peaceful religion ... They live by the principle 'love thy neighbor as thyself.\nRussian and foreign figures and organizations, including the UN, OSCE, PACE, diplomatic missions, and heads of various states, unanimously condemn the the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. Even the President of the Russian Federation has publicly expressed his bewilderment at their prosecution.\nThe essence of erroneous accusations of extremism against Jehovah's Witnesses comes down to the fact that they believe their religion is the only right one in the eyes of God.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-07-20T17:29:10+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/07/201729/image_hu_44068496647cbfb7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/07/201729/image_hu_226368987481d2cf.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/07/201729/image_hu_a213d0b776d78920.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/07/201729/image_hu_73ac6eede835af18.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/07/201729.html","regions":["moscow_obl","moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","suspended"],"title":"The Court of Appeal Left Unchanged the Verdict Against Four Believers From the City of Chekhov","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 19, 2021, the judge of the Solombala District Court, Nikolai Bakov, convicted 41-year-old Yevgeniy Yakku, recognizing peaceful conversations about the Bible as extremism. The believer is obliged to pay 780,000 rubles. During the criminal prosecution, his mother suffered a stroke, and his elderly father died in Yevgeny's arms.\nThe believer insists on his complete innocence and can appeal the sentence. Speaking in court with the last word shortly before the verdict, Yevgeniy Yakku said: \"I adhere to biblical principles, which are based on love for God and neighbor ... Jehovah's Witnesses and extremism are incompatible concepts, like black and white!\"\nThe prosecutor asked the court to sentence the believer to 7.5 years in prison and 2.5 years of restriction of freedom.\nThe criminal case against Evgeniy Yakku was initiated on February 13, 2019. He was accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and of involving other persons in extremist activities. Later, investigator Roman Shagarov expanded the accusation by adding another part of the same article about the organization of extremist activity.\nOn the morning of February 18, 2019, the security forces invaded Yevgeny's home. After the search, he was taken away in an unknown direction, he returned only 2 days later. As it turned out later, the believer was in a temporary detention center. After that, Eugene Yakku spent 2 years and 5 months under the ban on certain actions. A special device was put on his leg - an electronic tracking bracelet. The believer recalls: \"It felt like I was constantly on a leash, and it was emotionally overwhelming.\"\nAfter the Yakku family was searched, Eugene lost his new job, which he was supposed to take that day. He got a job as a janitor, but after a while he was also suddenly fired from there without explanation. In April 2019, the believer was included in the state list of extremists. For the last 4 months, Yevgeniy has been working as a janitor for a small salary, and his wife Irina has been working as a cleaner to help her husband support and provide for the family financially.\nYevgeniy also noted: \"Thanks to the persecution of the Investigative Committee, I was left without a job, all accounts were blocked, cars were arrested.\" When the court decided to arrest 2 cars, the owner of the property was not even invited. According to the investigator, the cars should have been arrested in order to ensure the execution of a possible sentence involving a fine.\nAgainst the background of stress in connection with the criminal prosecution, Yevgeny's chronic illness worsened. Doctors also noted a sharp deterioration in the health of Irina, who has been suffering from an autoimmune disease for many years.\nDuring the investigation, in April 2020, Yevgeny's mother suffered a stroke. His father did not leave the house for about 10 years due to illness. He needed constant care, so in November of the same year, the believer decided to move his parents to his place, but on the way, Eugene's father died in the car right in his arms.\nDuring the trial, violations were revealed. One of the prosecution witnesses reported pressure from the investigator to fabricate testimony, but the investigator denied this.\nAnother prosecution witness, Theodosius Nesterov, a priest of one of the local churches, never met the defendant, but claimed that the magazines published by Jehovah's Witnesses \"clearly contain a motive for inciting intolerance ... Although it's not on all pages and it's encrypted.\"\nReligious scholar Sergey Ivanenko, in turn, drew the court's attention to the fact that the religious activities of Jehovah's Witnesses are not related to extremism and the decision of the Supreme Court of 2017 does not imply that believers do not have the right to continue to practice their religion together with others.\nThe Yakku family received letters of support from many caring people, including from the diplomatic departments of a number of countries. In February 2021, the believer's family received a response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation to a letter in which the wife of the accused, Irina, informed the minister about the criminal prosecution of their family and about the contradiction of what was happening with international law. The response states, among other things: \"Members of a liquidated organization can independently practice a religious cult, including as part of religious groups that do not require registration.\"\nIn addition to Yevgeny Yakku, another resident of Arkhangelsk, 78-year-old Kaleria Mamykina , faced persecution for her faith in the region. In November 2019, the investigation closed the criminal case against her for lack of corpus delicti. The believer died of complications after the coronavirus in June 2021, without waiting for the results of her rehabilitation.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-07-19T20:22:45+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/07/192022/image_hu_e348c1f6c4ea3ecd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/07/192022/image_hu_7a01d2a0db555423.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/07/192022/image_hu_cab0a8536b417116.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/07/192022/image_hu_3017d579588c584.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/07/192022.html","regions":["arkhangelsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"An Arkhangelsk Court Ordered Yevgeniy Yakku to Pay 780,000 Rubles for Bible Talks","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 19, 2021, the judge of the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, Vasilina Bezotecheskikh, found 59-year-old Irina Lokhvitskaya guilty of participating in the activities of a banned religious community. She was sentenced to 2.5 years of probation and 1 year of restriction of freedom. The prosecutor asked for 4 years in prison for Irina.\n“The accusations [of extremism] against me are unsubstantiated and unfounded. I have been one of Jehovah's Witness for 28 years. The acquaintances I meet are shocked, they are outraged that I am being persecuted for my faith, they understand that I am far from extremism. Therefore, I am not ashamed to look people into eyes, I have not done anything illegal, ”said Irina Lokhvitskaya in her last plea on July 16. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nThe case against Irina Lokhvitskaya was initiated on February 6, 2020. She became the accused after her son, Arthur, who was convicted on similar charges, and his wife Anna, whose case is handled by the same judge as the Irina's.\nThe investigation was conducted by Denis Yankin, senior forensic investigator of the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region. He also organized criminal prosecution against seven more believers from Birobidzhan. There are five women among them. The investigation lasted six months, and on August 21, 2020, 26 volumes of the case against Irina Lokhvitskaya were transferred to the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region. By the decision of the judge, the hearings were held behind closed doors, the believer was deprived of the support of relatives and the right to publicity of the trial. The trial lasted over 9 months. During the trial, no evidence was presented that Irina incited religious hatred or spoke out against the state. There were no victims in the case either.\nThe persecution of believers in Birobidzhan intensified on May 17, 2018, when the security forces conducted an operation codenamed \"Doomsday\" against local Jehovah's Witnesses. In the region, 19 criminal cases were initiated against 23 believers. 13 of them, including Irina Lokhvitskaya, have already received suspended sentences ranging from 2 to 2.5 years.\nReligious service is an integral part of the legitimate religious activity of any denomination. The Federal Law of the Russian Federation \"On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations\" guarantees all citizens the right to \"perform services ... and ceremonies, teach religion and religious education ... have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and act in accordance with them.\"\nLegal scholars and human rights activists both in Russia and abroad unanimously condemn the actions of the authorities against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation. Back in June 2018, speaking in defense of believers, Russian human rights activists emphasized: \"If society does not protect Jehovah's Witnesses, if they are not restored to their rights, this will mean that anyone can be declared an extremist.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-07-19T13:47:07+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/07/191347/image_hu_46a667e076d55f07.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/07/191347/image_hu_525dbef30f0847b7.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/07/191347/image_hu_b3161a38380b08f7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/07/191347/image_hu_716b9f9a2df09719.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/07/191347.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","families","282.2-2"],"title":"The Court in Birobidzhan Gave Irina Lokhvitskaya 2.5 years Suspended for Confessing the Faith of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 15, 2021, the judge of the Karpinsk City Court of the Sverdlovsk Region Vera Bazuyeva found Aleksandr Prianikov, as well as Venera and Darya Dulova guilty of participating in the activities of a banned organization. Their case was re-tried in the same court after the previous verdict was overturned.\nThe court sentenced Aleksandr Prianikov to 2 years and 6 months suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of two years, Venera Dulova—2 years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 2 years, Darya Dulova—1 year of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 1 year.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believers insist on their complete innocence.\nAt the first consideration of the case in 2020, the prosecutor asked the court to appoint suspended sentences for all three believers. And although there is still not a single victim in the case, this time the state prosecutor insisted on a more severe punishment for Aleksandr and Venera—3 years in prison, and for Darya— 2 years of suspended term.\nVenera Dulova is hearing impaired, caring mother of three, and a loving wife. Her youngest daughter Darya was only 18 years old when a criminal case was opened against her.\nVenera Dulova has been under recognizance agreement since August 2018, and Aleksandr Prianikov since September 2018. The same preventive measure was chosen for Darya on July 24, 2019. This limited the movement of the three until the end of the preliminary investigation in April 2021. In addition, they were included in the list of extremists of Rosfinmonitoring, which means the blocking of all their bank accounts.\nRepeated searches and the need to constantly attend court hearings negatively affected their ability to work and provide for themselves and their families financially. “Every time after the search it felt like we were robbed. I had to buy laptops and telephones twice, because I need these devices for my self-employment,” said Aleksandr.\nOn June 14, 2018, the police detained Aleksandr Prianikov and Venera Dulova during a conversation on biblical topics. Their telephones, storage media, personal records were seized in order to check for extremist materials. Copies of passports and other documents were made, and fingerprints were taken.\nSoon, the security forces conducted a series of searches at the Dulovs' house, at the dacha of their relatives, as well as at the Prianikovs' apartment in their absence. During the subsequent interrogation, Venera and Darya were subjected to psychological pressure in order to find out the whereabouts of Prianikov.\nThe case was initiated on July 30, 2018. It was investigated by the Investigation Department in Krasnoturyinsk of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Sverdlovsk Region. The investigation lasted just over a year, after which the case went to court, where for 5 months it was considered by judge Svetlana Gabbasova. In January 2020, Judge Gabbasova found them guilty. All received suspended sentences of up to 2.5 years.\nHowever, on August 6, 2020, the sentence was overturned by the Sverdlovsk Regional Court on appeal. As a result, on August 20, the case was returned to the Karpinsk City Court for reconsideration in a new composition, chaired by Vera Bazuyeva. The new sentences were almost identical to the previous ones.\n“The indictment says a lot about my motives, that I was allegedly driven by hatred, I realized that my actions would be harmful. In fact, this is slander. It is impossible to ascribe such motives to me without having an ounce of evidence of this. On the contrary, my sincere desire to help people prompts me to talk about God and the Bible,” said Aleksandr Prianikov in his last plea.\nIn her appeal to the court, Darya Dulova noted: “I think you will agree, Your Honor, that this is the dream of any law enforcement agency: people who are ready at any time to come to the aid of their neighbors, non-conflict and non-aggressive. And these people are being persecuted now.”\n“I am worried that huge funds and efforts are directed not against real extremists, but against young students, pensioners, mothers of many children, fathers of families,” Venera Dulova emphasized in her last word.\nIn court testimony, believers have repeatedly emphasized how Bible teachings have positively influenced their lives. Faith helped them to become responsible and peaceful citizens, to break off with bad association, to become more patient and kind. However, the prosecution continues to insist that the peaceful confession of Aleksandr Prianikov, Venera and Darya Dulova of their faith is a dangerous crime for society and the state.\nMeanwhile, in 2020, the Dulovs and Aleksandr Prianikov became involved in another criminal case for faith. More serious charges were brought against them: Venera and Darya were charged with recruiting into an extremist organization, and Aleksandr with organizing extremist activities and involving minors into it. Aleksandr's wife Anastasia was also among the accused, as were Svetlana Zalyaeva and her husband. The second case went to the same court on April 29, 2021.\n“All people, including members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, must be able to peacefully enjoy their human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of association and peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, without discrimination. […] We therefore call on the Russian Federation to conduct prompt, effective and thorough investigations into all reports of such acts,” the European Union statement said.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-07-15T23:48:18+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/07/161427/image_hu_cffe7038204a22e3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/07/161427/image_hu_c91fe60e3c25f842.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/07/161427/image_hu_aa76e47c1d896326.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/07/161427/image_hu_375cf2364ce78376.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/07/161427.html","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["retrial","suspended","sentence","282.2-2","families","disability"],"title":"The Re-Examination of the Criminal Case for Faith in Karpinsk is Over. Defendants Received Suspended Sentences from 1 to 2.5 Years","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 13, 2021, the judge of the Voroshilovsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don, Viktor Trofimov, convicted 60-year-old Olga Ganusha for “participating in the activities of a banned organization”. She was given 2 years suspended with a probationary period of 1.5 years.\nThe believer insists on her complete innocence. Speaking with her last word in court, she said: \"As far west is from the east, so far I am from extremism.\" The verdict can be appealed.\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to impose a sentence of 3 years of suspended imprisonment, 3 years of probation and 1 year of restrictions on the believer. The accusation was based on information that, while remaining Jehovah's Witness, the woman invited fellow believers to her home, and also, talking with her friends on the phone, raised religious topics. But none of these actions are prohibited by Russian law. Moreover, the 28th article of the Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees every citizen the right to freely profess his religion together with others or to spread his religious beliefs. Nevertheless, the court found Olga guilty of extremism.\nThe criminal prosecution affected the health of the believer. “My life was divided into before and after the search,” she says. “I got fear when I suddenly heard a knock on the door, my sleep is disrupted.” For almost a year Olga was restricted in her movements, as she was under recognizance not to leave, and was forced to come to court several times a month to defend her legal right to freedom of religion.\nThe criminal prosecution of the believer began with mass searches and detentions on May 22, 2019. On that morning, law enforcement officials raided at least 15 homes of local Jehovah's Witnesses. Vilen and Arsen Avanesovs , as well as Aleksandr Parkov, were arrested. About two weeks later, criminal cases were opened against Aleksandr's wife, Galina , and two more women - Lyudmila Ponomarenko and Olga Ganusha.\nThe investigation into the case of Olga Ganusha lasted more than a year and a half. The prosecution provided the court with data obtained from a hidden video camera, which the investigators installed in the believer's apartment.\nOlga Ganusha became the fifth resident of the Rostov region, in respect of whom the courts have already passed sentences for believing in Jehovah. All believers received various suspended sentences.\nThe international community, as well as human rights activists in Russia itself, have an extremely negative attitude towards the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. In particular, Vladimir Ryakhovskiy , a member of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, makes a disappointing prediction: “[The infringement of freedoms] always began with Jehovah's Witnesses, and then affected everyone.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-07-13T19:39:05+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/07/131939/image_hu_de00ddff7494809b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/07/131939/image_hu_877849790966cbc3.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/07/131939/image_hu_9e0d5ca193637de7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/07/131939/image_hu_742881504765ce59.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/07/131939.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"The Court in Rostov-on-Don Gave Olga Ganusha a 2-Year Suspended Sentence for the Bible Discussions","type":"news"},{"body":"Nikolay Astapov, an investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kurgan Region, initiates a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against 56-year-old Anatoly Isakov, as well as under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against 49-year-old Valery Minsafin only because believers profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, that is, they read and discuss the Bible with friends. The case is assigned No. 12102370012000107.\nAccording to the investigation, Anatoly Isakov committed a criminal offense because he \"carried out ... religious meetings... including through video conferencing using the Zoom platform.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Isakov and Minsafin in Kurgan","date":"2021-07-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan2/index.html#20210713","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Nikolay Astapov, investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kurgan Region, initiates a criminal case under part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against 56-year-old Anatoly Isakov, as well as under part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against 49-year-old Valery Minsafin.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Minsafin in Kurgan","date":"2021-07-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan6/index.html#20210713","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Nikolay Astapov, an investigator for particularly important cases of the First Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kurgan Region, initiates a criminal case against Alexander Lubin and unidentified persons under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigation interprets peaceful meetings of believers as \"actions of an organizational nature aimed at the continuation and resumption of the activities of a banned organization.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Lubin in Shadrinsk","date":"2021-07-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk/index.html#20210713","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","disability","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Nikolay Astapov, an investigator for especially important cases of the First Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kurgan Region, initiates a criminal case against Aleksandr Lubin and unidentified persons under parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yershov in Shadrinsk","date":"2021-07-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk2/index.html#20210713","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 8, 2021, new criminal cases were filed against Jehovah's Witnesses living in the Vladimir region. Aleksey Kupriyanov, 48, from Kovrov, and Roman Adestov, 45, from the village of Ivanovo were interrogated and detained. The next day, the Oktyabrskiy district court of Vladimir put them in custody.\nIn the early morning of 8 July, law enforcement officers came with searches simultaneously to Kupriyanov and Adestov. Aleksey and Raman were taken for interrogation to the head criminal investigator D.A. Tyumenev. Then the search continued in the presence of the wives of the believers. Law enforcement officers seized electronic devices. A few days before the searches, the Kupriyanovs and Adestovs noticed interruptions in the work of the home Internet and TV receivers.\nThe search in Kovrov was led by Captain Velichko, a senior FSB operative, and in the village of Ivanovo by junior FSB operative Polyakov.\nOn June 28, 2021, investigator Tyumenev opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Kupriyanov. According to the investigation, the believer \"took part in religious meetings ... actively participated in the collection of information on the amount of work done... on the implementation of... the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses ... to the civilian masses.\" This is how the investigation interprets peaceful discussions of the Bible among friends. Despite the fact that Aleksey has elderly parents who are dependent on him, the court ruled to detain the believer until August 26, 2021.\nAbout five months ago, a criminal case was opened in Kovrov against 66-year-old Boris Simonenko, who is still in jail for his faith in Jehovah God.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2021-07-12T17:39:44+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/07/121739/image_hu_3dd4f75521370e17.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/07/121739/image_hu_ec41d7a35805223.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/07/121739/image_hu_43f35cb9a10562c2.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/07/121739/image_hu_862f2f0ef78dc89f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/07/121739.html","regions":["vladimir"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","sizo","new-case","interrogation","282.2-2"],"title":"New Prisoners of Conscience in the Vladimir Region of Russia: Two More Jehovah's Witnesses Sent to Detention Centers","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 24, 2021, the Abakan City Court convicted 70-year-old Valentina Baranovskaya and her son, Roman. Both are Jehovah’s Witnesses. Following the verdict, they were immediately taken into custody from the courtroom. Sadly, three months later the appeal court upheld the unjust verdict. They were cruelly and inhumanely sentenced to two and six years in prison, respectively.\nYegiazar Chernikov, attorney: “There is no way that it can be said that they committed any crime. They were just practicing their religion.”\nFriends of the family say what happened is beyond their comprehension: “Why did they imprison such an old and sick woman, and for that long?” A friend of Valentina: “When the ruling was announced, someone was crying quietly because it was impossible to accept this without tears.” A friend of Roman: “It lies outside the realm of human reason that they could possibly be “extremists.””\nHer sentence is the first one in modern-day Russia where a court has convicted and imprisoned a female Witness for her faith, and a 70-year-old at that. She is also the first Witness to be imprisoned for participating in, not organizing, a banned organization. Prior to this, Jehovah’s Witnesses who were accused of violating this article were fined or given a suspended prison sentence.\nAbout the reasons and prerequisites for the absurd verdict says lawyer Yegiazar Chernikov: “The main grounds for prosecuting Valentina and her son are once again the [Supreme Court] decision, which I would call egregious, that was handed down on April 20, 2017. On page 32 of the decision, the Supreme Court specifically noted that the ruling did not interfere with or violate the rights of citizens to meet together or worship freely. Nevertheless, the courts of the Russian Federation who are using this decision are totally ignoring the language in that section.” There is a curious detail in the case. “The charges were based on the evidence of one woman, who, pretending to want to study the Bible, recorded everything on camera; all their discussions, and handed it over to the FSB,” says Valentina's friend, who followed the trial.\nThe criminal case against Valentina and Roman was initiated in April 2019. Their home was subsequently searched. Then in July 2020, due to being under constant stress, Valentina suffered a stroke. Yegiazar Chernikov, attorney: “She was hospitalized, and then they discovered that she had heart problems as well. But despite those circumstances, the court still decided that she needed to be imprisoned, isolated from society.” A friend of Valentina: “Sometimes they had to call an ambulance five or six times a week because her blood pressure would skyrocket, and she would have problems with her heart.”\nDespite Valentina’s health problems and advanced age, the detention authorities forced her to wash the floor of her cell. According to their friends, Valentina and Roman are managing to stay positive despite being imprisoned and separated. In letters, Valentina relates that she eagerly awaits the time when they will be released and reunited. A friend of Roman: “Roman is very worried about his mother. I know that for now, while they’re still in the pretrial detention facility, they’re allowed to write to each other.”\nHow did the Baranovskys meet the hardships that befell them? A friend of Valentina: “The Baranovskiys handled this persecution in a praiseworthy manner. They never panicked. They remained calm and viewed it as something to be expected, and what every Christian should be ready for.” The lawyer who visited Valentina in the detention center said: “Every time I met Valentina, I never heard her express any negative sentiments with regard to her persecutors. She understands what is happening and why it is happening. But she will not renounce her faith just to make life easier, although she was given the opportunity to do so in the course of the investigation.”\nEven this shameful and inhuman verdict did not frighten Valentina and Roman. They remain loyal to their faith. Their friends hope that justice will soon be restored and that this elderly mother and her son will once again enjoy freedom.\n","category":"eyewitnesses","date":"2021-07-06T15:54:15+03:00","duration":"4:14","image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/07/061554/image_hu_7150e9bccbff1efc.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/07/061554/image_hu_c8c3630c287eabd4.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/07/061554/image_hu_b8313f06bd855f38.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/07/061554/image_hu_8c981d4885c36228.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/07/061554.html","regions":["khakassia"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","families","liberty-deprivation","elderly","sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"What Happened in Abakan? Details Around the Sentence that Sent a 70-Year-Old Woman and Her Son to Prison for Believing in Jehovah","type":"video"},{"body":"D. A. Tyumenev, senior investigator-criminalist of the FSB Directorate for the Vladimir Region, opens a criminal case against 48-year-old Alexei Kupriyanov for \"participation in religious meetings\" (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kupriyanov in Kovrov","date":"2021-06-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kovrov2/index.html#20210628","regions":["vladimir"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior FSB forensic investigator D. A. Tyumenev initiates a criminal case against 45-year-old Roman Adestov. The believer is suspected of violating Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Adestov in Kovrov","date":"2021-06-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kovrov3/index.html#20210628","regions":["vladimir"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 25, 2021, the judge of the Birobidzhan District Court, Yulia Tsykina, sentenced 27-year-old Tatyana Sholner to 2 years and 6 months of suspended imprisonment under the article \"participation in the activities of a banned organization.\"\nThe believer was assigned 2 years of probation and another year of restriction of freedom. She cannot leave the city without the permission of the Federal Penitentiary Service and must be registered in it once a month. The prosecutor requested 4 years of imprisonment for her, despite the absence of victims in the case.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on her complete innocence.\nIn her final statement in court, Scholner stated: \"Jehovah's Witnesses are known for their kindness and willingness to help others absolutely free of charge. Are these really calls for extremism? My life changed significantly only for the better when I learned how to act according to the Bible. I have real sincere friends who are ready to help, whom I myself am ready to help, without hoping to get something in return, who can rejoice in my successes and sympathize when I need it. I have felt their help more than once in my life, and I still feel it now, when they support me in this difficult period.\"\nTatyana works in a pharmacy, by profession she is a technician-technologist of sewing production. The case against the believer was initiated on February 6, 2020. For six months, it was led by the investigator of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, D. Yankin. In his opinion, the girl \"resumed the activities of the local religious organization liquidated in 2016 ... as well as the \"Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia\" simply because she did not renounce her faith.\nOn August 19, 2020, the case materials were received by the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region.\nThe case of Tatiana Sholner is one of 19 cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Jewish Autonomous Region. The wave of religious repression in the region began with Operation Doomsday, accompanied by mass searches in the homes of civilians in Birobidzhan.\nRussian and foreign human rights activists unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The country's government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\" In February 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the groundlessness of the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-06-25T17:05:51+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/06/251705/image_hu_b0406ed814f4b3ad.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/06/251705/image_hu_f9076fefd0c46647.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/06/251705/image_hu_e500df590d3ef3c2.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/06/251705/image_hu_22838b0f0e2073a5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/06/251705.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"In Birobidzhan, 27-year-old Tatyana Sholner was given a suspended sentence for reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 24, 2021, the judge of the Krasnodar Regional Court, Vadim Kuksa, did not satisfy the appeal of Aleksandr Shcherbina, but softened the sentence: the believer will spend not 3, but 2 years in a general regime colony. Aleksandr insists on his innocence and has the right to appeal the verdict on appeal.\nOn April 29, 2020, a search was carried out in Aleksandr's house, after which he was interrogated as a witness in the Ivshin case. And in November of the same year, O. I. Komissarov, an investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Krasnodar Territory, opened a criminal case against Shcherbina himself, accusing him of extremism for meeting with fellow believers and discussing the Bible. On December 2, 2020, a preventive measure was chosen for the believer in the form of a recognizance not to leave, and on April 6, 2021, the judge of the Abinsk District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, Sergey Mikhin, sentenced him to 3 years in a general regime colony. Immediately after the announcement of the verdict, Aleksandr was taken into custody and later sent to colony No. 9 in the city of Khadyzhensk.\nAleksandr Shcherbina was actually accused of using the right guaranteed to every citizen of the Russian Federation — Article 28 of the Constitution. All his activities were exclusively religious in nature, but the court equated Aleksandr with dangerous criminals — extremists.\nA few months earlier, 2 more civilians of the village of Kholmskaya were sentenced for \"extremism\": 63-year-old Aleksandr Ivshin — for 7.5 years, and 47-year-old Oleg Danilov — for 3 years in prison. In total, 16 believers are being prosecuted in the region.\nRussian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Among them is Heiner Bielefeldt, professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. In his interview, he said the following: “If we talk about legislation on extremism, everyone agrees that it is important to fight extremist tendencies, but the concept of 'extremism' remains completely blurred, which creates a kind of access for the authorities, a loophole, an excuse to do what they do. want. And Jehovah's Witnesses are the perfect scapegoat. \"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-06-24T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/06/250940/image_hu_6f0c73795c4b049f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/06/250940/image_hu_532d5b7b5d6af8ba.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/06/250940/image_hu_380362a9ed103499.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/06/250940/image_hu_58b8ec087e7b4fc9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/06/250940.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","mitigation","282.2-2"],"title":"Аppeal in Krasnodar Mitigated the Sentence for Faith to Aleksandr Shcherbina, but He Will Still Go to Jail for 2 Years","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 22, 2021, Vera Ulyanyuk, the judge of the Zavodskiy District Court of Kemerovo, sentenced the believers. 60-year-old Sergey Yavushkin and 46-year-old Aleksandr Bondarchuk were sentenced to 4 years suspended.\nBefore the verdict was pronounced, Sergey Yavushkin addressed the court with the last word: “I did not incite hatred or enmity and, of course, did not humiliate the dignity of anyone. Even the prosecution witnesses spoke about this ... What is my crime? After all, following the guidance from the Bible, I quit smoking, although before that I had smoked for more than 20 years, stopped using foul language, became more restrained and calm. As I continue to work honestly and lead a peaceful, balanced life, I have also changed the way I respond to insults or grudges. All these years I did not violate the law of the Russian Federation, and for 25 years I professed the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, but for some reason now suddenly, in an instant, I turned into a criminal and an extremist. \"\nNevertheless, the judge issued a conviction, which turned out to be milder than the prosecutor demanded, requesting 5 years of imprisonment in a colony for each defendant. The court decision has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nActive criminal prosecution of believers began after the search on June 23, 2018. A year later, the security forces came to them again. A few days earlier, on July 19, 2019, a criminal case was opened against Sergey and Aleksandr. After their arrest, Sergey Yavushkin and Aleksandr Bondarchuk spent 2 days in the pretrial detention facility, and then were placed under house arrest. They have not been able to leave their home for over a year and a half. Their property was seized despite the fact that the appellate instance overturned this judgment.\nThe case of the believers was investigated by the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Kemerovo Region for over 8 months. The accusation is mainly based on the testimony of a witness who for a long time conducted secret filming of religious meetings. According to the expert V. V. Shiller, who was involved in the trial, the witness also passed distorted information to the investigation, \"having no precise knowledge of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\nRecently, Aleksandr Bondarchuk worked as a refractory worker at a coke-chemical plant, where he was considered an indispensable specialist in the repair of coke ovens. Sergey Yavushkin worked for 40 years at state enterprises, until recently - as a high-grade electric and gas welder. The criminal prosecution seriously affected the physical and emotional health of Sergey and his wife. Soon after the search and arrest, the believer suffered a stroke, the consequences of which he still feels - due to a lack of coordination of movement, he can hardly perform short housework, needs outside help and medical supervision.\nBack in May 2020, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention claimed that 18 believers, including Aleksandr Bondarchuk and Sergey Yavushkin, were arbitrarily detained and detained “just for the fact that they peacefully professed their religion, including themselves religious texts and Bibles, gathered together for services with fellow believers. \" But despite the fact that the court attached this document to the case, it was not taken into account.\nApril 1, 2021 at the press conference “70th Anniversary of Operation North”. Lessons of repression \"religious scholar Sergey Ivanenko emphacized:\" The policy of forceful suppression of Jehovah's Witnesses, which has been carried out in the Russian Federation since 2017, is futile. This is evidenced by the lessons of Operation North and the analysis of the current situation, including the steadfastness of Jehovah's Witnesses in upholding their beliefs. It seems expedient, from the point of view of the state interests of Russia, to implement a set of measures for the return of Jehovah's Witnesses to the legal field.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-06-22T17:04:13+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/06/221704/image_hu_94c95a59db04be16.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/06/221704/image_hu_28ef4dcc4bb66c4.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/06/221704/image_hu_b2dab55d3c1f9cb1.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/06/221704/image_hu_9f51257593e3a786.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/06/221704.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"title":"A Verdict for Religion Was Announced in Kemerovo. Sergey Yavushkin and Aleksandr Bondarchuk Got 4 Years Suspended","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 21, 2021, the judge of the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, Aleksey Ivashchenko, sentenced 30-year-old Jehovah's Witness Yevgeniy Yegorov to 2.5 years of probation and 1 year of restriction of freedom for meeting with fellow believers, considering it \"participation in the activities of a banned organization.\"\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on his complete innocence. “In this trial, I have heard more than once that I am being tried for extremism, I am not being tried for my religious beliefs,” Yevgeny said in his last word. “But there is no evidence of my «extremism». I’m under the trial for participation [in an extremist organization], but participation was expressed in Bible study, which is part of my faith. But in the same time I’m under the trial not for my faith. So who will explain to me, a legally uneducated person, what is my crime? \"\nYevgeniy Yegorov is an aspiring writer. In May 2018, his apartment was searched and he lost his manuscripts. The persecution for the faith deprived a young family man of the opportunity to take proper care of a young child.\nThe persecution of Yevgeniy Yegorov and other peaceful believers in Birobidzhan began in May 2018 after a large-scale operation codenamed “Doomsday”. A criminal case against Yegorov was initiated on July 29, 2019. It was investigated by the Investigative Department of the Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region. On December 23, 2019, the case file went to court. The prosecutor asked to impose a punishment on the believer in the form of 4 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony plus 1 year of restraint of freedom.\nYevgeniy's mother, Larisa Artamonova, was convicted under the same criminal article. In April 2021, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region toughened the decision of the lower court and replaced her with a fine of 10,000 rubles for 2.5 years of probation and 1 year of restraint of liberty. In total, 10 Jehovah's Witnesses have already been convicted for their faith with varying degrees of punishment in the Jewish Autonomous Region. For another 4 believers, the trials are nearing completion.\nAll cases were initiated only because the believers peacefully confessed their religious beliefs and gathered for services. The world community unequivocally classifies this as a violation of fundamental human rights.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-06-21T14:02:32+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/06/211402/image_hu_a4d79acf90509d54.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/06/211402/image_hu_5e1eba430f47b928.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/06/211402/image_hu_fb219f0707640f56.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/06/211402/image_hu_1eabe41088078349.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/06/211402.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"The Court in Birobidzhan Sentenced Yevgeny Yegorov to 2.5 Years Suspended for Discussing the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"Lieutenant of Justice G. Y. Tarasenko, senior investigator of the Investigative Directorate for the Pervorechensky District of Vladivostok of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory, within the framework of criminal case No. 11902050005000051, involves Yuri Redozubov as a suspect in committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization) and interrogates him. Tarasenko is trying to find out whether Yuri believes in God, what religion he professes, whether he attends church, whether he knows Dmitry and Elena Barmakin, and whether he participated in the services of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nThe believer refuses to testify, using Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Redozubov and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2021-06-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok/index.html#20210609","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["interrogation","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 7, 2021, the judge of the Central District Court of the city of Chelyabinsk, Aleksandr Tabakov, sentenced Dmitriy Vinogradov, accused of extremism for his peaceful Christian faith, to two years suspended. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nAlthough there are no victims in the case, and the defendant has two minor children, the prosecutor asked the court to impose a sentence of 3 years of suspended sentence with a probation period of 4 years.\nThe persecution of Dmitry Vinogradov, master of the International Chess Federation, began on March 19, 2019 with a search in his apartment and at his workplace - in the chess club. As a result, he lost his own chess file, on which he worked for many years, as well as several students - after the incident, they stopped visiting his courses.\nThe case against Dmitriy Vinogradov was initiated on January 20, 2020. It was separated from the case of Valentina Suvorova, and it was investigated by the same investigator of the Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Chelyabinsk Region, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Aleksandr Chepenko. For almost a year and a half, the believer has been under recognizance not to leave, although the investigation of the case took only a month and a half. On March 4, 2020, the case was submitted to the Central District Court of Chelyabinsk.\n“As a result of a scrupulous trial, no one left in doubt that I was being persecuted solely for my Christian faith in Jehovah God,” Dmitriy said in his last speech.\nIn one of his appearances in court, the believer stated: “I have been studying the Bible for a long time and this does not make me any worse. On the contrary, this sacred book helped me at one time to break with bad habits. \" Dmitriy drew attention to the fact that for his professional achievements he was repeatedly awarded with diplomas and certificates of honor of state bodies, including from the governor of the Chelyabinsk region, the mayor of Chelyabinsk and the minister of sports of the Russian Federation.\nAnother Chelyabinsk court, the Metallurgichesky District court, has already sentenced Valentina Suvorova, a labor veteran who has worked as a teacher for 30 years, to a suspended sentence for her faith. The same court is hearing a case against her husband, 75-year-old Vladimir Suvorov.\nRussian security forces mistakenly interpret citizens' exercise of their constitutional rights as extremist activity. Numerous human rights organizations in Russia and beyond have repeatedly called for a halt to the wave of religious repression.\n\"All people, including Jehovah's Witnesses, should be able to peacefully exercise their rights, including the right to freedom of religion, peaceful assembly, and expression without discrimination, as guaranteed by the Russian Constitution and Russia's commitments to OSCE and international law,\" the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on July 23, 2020.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-06-07T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/06/080810/image_hu_9f90b06d99859b1e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/06/080810/image_hu_96c58eda83caf9ba.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/06/080810/image_hu_768d33269f1552fb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/06/080810/image_hu_f8aaa940403e695f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/06/080810.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"Dmitriy Vinogradov, one of Jehovah's Witnesses From Chelyabinsk, Got 2 Years Suspended for his faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 4, 2021, the judge of the Central District Court of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Natalya Gurkova, found Nikolay Aliyev, 42, guilty of involvement and participation in the activities of an extremist organization. He received a suspended sentence of 4 years and 6 months with restriction of freedom for 1 year and 2 months.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on his complete innocence. Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor requested 6 years in prison and 2 years and 11 months of restriction of liberty for him.\nNikolay Aliyev worked as an electrician at the city's enterprises. In his younger years, due to his peaceful convictions, he had to defend his right to alternative civilian service for several years.\nThe criminal prosecution caused great stress for Nikolay and his wife Alesya. For several nights they could not sleep. “There was a fear that we were being watched and listened to,” Nikolay recalls. “We were afraid to tell my parents about all these events, as it could negatively affect their poor health.” (His mother has a heart problem)\nAddressing the court with his last word, the believer emphasized: “For my relatives, friends and even employees who do not share my views and beliefs, for everyone who knows me and talked to me a little, it is quite obvious that I am not an extremist. ... And this is an axiom for them.”\nHe continued: “However, it seems that the law enforcement authorities consider everything connected with the name Jehovah to be extremist. Perhaps they think that the name was invented by Jehovah's Witnesses, since they speak of it everywhere. But is this true? As I mentioned earlier, the name Jehovah is written in the Bible itself. It occurs about ten times only in the Synodal Translation, and the translation of the Bible by Archimandrite Macarius has it hundreds of times. In addition, this name is known all over the world and was widely used in the works of world literature. […] Are these writers, as well as people who read the Bible and use the name of God, are they extremists? Of course not. This statement applies to me as well. I am not an extremist. Moreover, I have every right to use the name of God in worshiping him.”\nOn May 22, 2020, at about 7 a.m., armed riot policemen burst into the door of the Aliyevs' apartment and knocked Nikolay to the floor. The security forces were looking for any information confirming the believers' belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses.\nAfter a 5-hour search, the spouses were taken for interrogation, where emotional pressure was exerted on them. For example, FSB Major Aleksey Ivanov advised Nikolay Aliyev to change his faith to a “more traditional” one. The believer was threatened with arrest for using the 51st article of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The operative of the CPE K. Rubantsov suggested that Nikolay's wife cooperate with the investigation so that “something didn’t happen to her husband.”\nOn April 30, 2020, the Investigation Department for the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region opened a criminal case. The investigation lasted more than 5 months.\nAs it turned out later, Nikolay's peaceful conversations with “Vladimir Tyomniy,” who imitated interest in the Bible, were recorded on video in 2018 and later formed the basis of the accusation.\nIn court, the conclusions of the linguistic expert E. A. Rozhdestvina were read out, who noted that there were no calls for specific actions in the videos for 2018, and the verbal constructions used “did not have the character of direct motivation and did not have a categorical form.”\nAlthough, according to the expert, religious texts contain motives for action (“Your children need you. Tell them about Jehovah”), there are no direct calls in the statements of the participants in the communication. In conclusion, the expert notes: “Through the use of constructions with the meaning of advice, the desirability, possibility, and not the need for a specific action are emphasized.”\nThe criminal case was transferred to the Central District Court of Komsomolsk-on-Amur on October 7, 2020. The hearings lasted about 8 months.\nIn court, Nikolay Aliyev said: “I have never encouraged anyone to hatred or overthrow the government, I did not incite anyone against people of another nationality or religion, I said and did only what my God commanded. I want all people to live in wonderful conditions, in peace and unity with each other. Thus, the accusation of extremism is unfounded.”\nNikolay becomes the 105th Jehovah's Witness convicted of his faith in Russia after the decision of the Supreme Court to liquidate 396 religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in 2017. The youngest defendant in the Khabarovsk Territory, Yegor Baranov, is 20 years old.\nIn 2018, 60 prominent Russian human rights defenders issued a statement saying: “What is happening to them [Jehovah's Witnesses] is, in fact, happening to us. This is a test of the immune forces of the society. The persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses shows the groundlessness of anti-extremist legislation in general. If society does not protect Jehovah's Witnesses, if they are not restored to their rights, this will mean that anyone can be declared an extremist.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-06-04T13:26:39+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/06/041326/image_hu_ead117a174c9db0a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/06/041326/image_hu_56203b39211aa61d.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/06/041326/image_hu_f32ed2eb8c5b1469.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/06/041326/image_hu_e4b2ca8c70614add.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/06/041326.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"title":"In Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Nikolay Aliyev Received 4.5 Years of Suspended Sentence for His Faith in God","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 3, 2021, the Kursk Industrial District Court sentenced 5 Jehovah's Witnesses for their religion. Andrey Andreev was sentenced to 4.5 years in a colony, Andrey Ryshkov in the form of 3 years in a colony, Artem Bagratyan in the form of 2.5 years in a colony, his wife, Alevtina, in the form of 2 years in a colony. Their co-religionist Alexandr Vospitanyuk was given a 2-year suspended sentence.\nThe decision was made by judge Oksana Ivanova. Andrey Andreev was found guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the others were found guilty of participation in it (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Andreev, Ryshkov and Artem Bagratyan remain in jail, and Alevtina Bagratyan, who has actually served her sentence in jail and under house arrest, will continue to wait for the verdict to come into force at home with a tracking bracelet on her leg.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. Believers insist on their complete innocence. There is not a single victim in the case. The prosecutor asked the court to impose even harsher punishment on them: for Andrey Andreev - 7.5 years in prison, for Andrey Ryshkov - 4.5 years, for Alevtina Bagratyan - 4 years, for Artem Bagratyan - 3.5 years and the same was for Aleksandr Vospitaniuk.\nArtem Bagratyan suffers from diabetes mellitus and other chronic diseases, his condition requires inpatient treatment. In 2019, an ambulance was called for him right during one of the meetings. In the Kursk pre-trial detention centre, his condition worsened to critical, but the management and doctors of the isolation ward for a long time denied him proper treatment and the necessary diet, after which he was hospitalized. Alevtina Bagratyan has an elderly mother who needs her help.\nAll five believers were imprisoned immediately after being detained in 2019 and 2020. Aleksandr Vospitanyuk, a father of 3 children, left the IVS 2 days after the arrest, Alevtina Bagratyan was transferred from the detention centre to house arrest a year and 2 months later. Andrey Ryshkov has already spent more than a year in a pre-trial detention centre, and Andrey Andreev and Artem Bagratyan have spent more than a year and a half.\nThe case against five Kursk believers was initiated on September 12, 2019, and was investigated by the FSB of Russia in the Kursk region for 11 months. On August 11, 2020, the case materials were transferred for consideration to the Industrial District Court of Kursk. The case was heard for about 10 months.\nDuring the court proceedings, it became known that a certain A. Grisko, pretending to be interested in the Bible, kept a record of conversations with Alevtina and transmitted information to the FSB officers. Several witnesses in court retracted their earlier testimonies, explaining that the investigation put pressure on them, and information appeared in the protocols that they did not report. The defence also drew attention to the falsifications in the case materials.\nThroughout the trial, the prosecution argued that all the defendants profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, and their faith in God is \"a continuation of the activities of an extremist organization.\" However, believers have never hidden their religion, and no religion is banned in Russia.\nThe groundlessness of the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses based on religion has been repeatedly emphasized by Russian and foreign experts. Historian Alexandr Guryanov, during a recent round table dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Jehovah's Witnesses to Siberia, noted: \"There is some particular bitterness on the part of the government towards this particular confession.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-06-03T15:27:45+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/06/031523/image_hu_446e248fdfc03969.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/06/031523/image_hu_bd6ef993ae303064.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/06/031523/image_hu_76b6f5dc922f39ab.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/06/031523/image_hu_d4ca470a30e0f9ae.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/06/031523.html","regions":["kursk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.2-2","families","suspended"],"title":"In Kursk, a Court Sentenced Five Believers. Four of Them, Including a Woman, Were Assigned From 2 to 4.5 Years in Prison","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 2, 2021 judge of Zeya district court of Amur region Oksana Brylyova sentenced Vasiliy Reznichenko to 2-year imprisonment conditionally with an 8-month probationary period for \"participation in the activity of extremist association\" - this is how the court interpreted the religious belonging of the resident of Zeya.\nThe court imposed exactly the punishment recommended by the state prosecutor. The verdict has not come into force and can be appealed. The believer insisted on his complete innocence.\nVasiliy Reznichenko worked for a long time as a captain of a motor ship, for which he received the title \"veteran of labour of the USSR\". In 2016 he lost his wife, and for the last two years, a criminal case for extremism has been under investigation against him. The elderly man has been searched and interrogated, and his movement is restricted by his recognizance not to leave. All of this has weakened his health. In November 2019, he was put on the Rosfinmonitoring's list of terrorists and extremists, which caused all of his bank accounts to be blocked.\nIt all started on March 21, 2019, when law enforcement officers came to the pensioner's home with a search. They seized his laptop, phone, personal records and photos. The criminal case was initiated on March 11, 2019.\nThe case of Vasiliy Reznichenko was investigated for a year and a half by V. S. Obukhov, investigator of the Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Amur region. On September 11, 2020, the case went to the Zeya District Court of the Amur region. By the beginning of the debate, the case contained nine volumes.\nThe court heard transcripts of worship meetings held in 2018. The believer's accusation was based on two prayers and several thoughts on a biblical topic expressed in a circle of fellow believers. This is interpreted by law enforcement officials as a security threat to Russian society and the state.\nAddressing the court with his last word, Vasiliy Reznichenko expressed bewilderment: \"The FSB officers consider me a dangerous criminal, while I am trying to understand what is so dangerous and terrible against the state or people I have committed? Why am I being treated this way? I asked this question to the FSB officers, but I did not receive a comprehensible answer. In the court hearing, listening to the testimony of witnesses and experts, I also tried to understand what my guilt was, what I had to do or not to do so that I wasn't considered a criminal. But I never got an answer to my question. [...]\nA total of 5 criminal cases were opened in the Amur region, 4 of which are being investigated by V. S. Obukhov. Another Jehovah's Witness, Konstantin Moiseenko, is on trial in Zeya.\nBack in 2018, the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights of the Russian Federation gave an unambiguous description of the repression of Jehovah's Witnesses: \"The charges brought against believers in all cases are based on the allegation that a group of believers held a worship service. Accusations of citizens reading the Bible together and praying to God are interpreted as \"continuing the activities of an extremist organization. The Council believes that such an interpretation is inconsistent with the legal position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. There is a contradiction between the stated position of the Government of the Russian Federation and law enforcement practice. This cannot but cause concern, since criminal prosecutions and arrests have become systemic in nature.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-06-02T16:42:31+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/06/021418/image_hu_137eae31c08073e0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/06/021418/image_hu_ca7f85de1593f8ac.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/06/021418/image_hu_64f3ad37c0bb7e25.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/06/021418/image_hu_cb12ab5a6acb21ad.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/06/021418.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"In Amur Region, 78-Year-Old Vasiliy Reznichenko Was Given a Two-Year Suspended Sentence for Meetings with Fellow Believers","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Obukhov issues a decision to bring the 42-year-old father of a minor child, Yevgeny Bitusov, and 52-year-old Leonid Druzhinin as defendants under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a banned association). Since 2019, the same investigator has been conducting several similar cases against a number of believers from Zeya, Tynda, Blagoveshchensk and Belogorsk.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Druzhinin and Bitusov in Zeya","date":"2021-06-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/zeya3/index.html#20210601","regions":["amur"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"N. P. Banko, Investigator for Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Astrakhan Region, initiates a criminal case against 55-year-old Anna Safronova under Part 2 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3. Among other things, she is charged with participating in divine services together with Yevgeny Ivanov and other believers.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Ivanov and Others in Astrakhan","date":"2021-05-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/astrakhan/index.html#20210528","regions":["astrakhan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Nikolay Banko, an investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Astrakhan Region, initiates a criminal case against 55-year-old Anna Safronova under Part 2 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. She is suspected of financing extremist activities and participating in worship services together with other believers, the case against whom was initiated a year earlier.\nAccording to investigators, the woman, \"realizing her criminal intent,\" participated in online religious meetings held with the performance of songs and prayers to Jehovah God. The investigator also believes that the believer \"controlled the receipt of funds in the form of donations from participants and parishioners of the congregation.\"\nAnna Safronova is included in the list of extremists of Rosfinmonitoring, which means blocking all her bank accounts.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Safronova in Astrakhan","date":"2021-05-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/astrakhan2/index.html#20210528","regions":["astrakhan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","282.3-1","rosfinmonitoring"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"An appeal hearing is being held in the Omsk Regional Court. The judicial collegium upholds the verdict of the lower court. In their final statement, the believers again explain that they are not being judged for a crime, but for their faith in Jehovah God.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2021-05-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20210528","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","suspended","282.2-2","282.2-1","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 28, 2021, the Omsk Regional Court upheld the verdict of Sergey and Anastasia Polyakov, Gaukhar Bektemirova and Dinara Dyusekeyeva. The court found it extremist that they were meeting to discuss the Bible.\nOn November 30, 2020, the judge of the Pervomaisky District Court Denis Pershukevich found Sergey Polyakov guilty under Art. 282.2 (1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and sentenced to 3 years in a general regime colony. Three more women were sentenced by the court under Art. 282.2 (2) in the form of imprisonment conditionally: Anastasiya Polyakova for a term of 2 years and 6 months, Gaukhar Bektemirova - 2 years and 3 months, Dinara Dyusekeyeva - 2 years.\nThe prosecutor requested 6 and a half years of real imprisonment for Sergey Polyakov. The state prosecutor asked Anastasiya Polyakova, Dinara Dyusekeyeva and Gaukhar Bektemirova to be sentenced to 2 years of suspended imprisonment.\nThe couple spent 5 months in solitary confinement and 3 months under house arrest. Dinara and Gaukhar have been under recognizance not to leave for more than a year and a half.\nAnastasiya Polyakova became the first woman - Jehovah's Witness in the history of modern Russia, who found herself behind bars for her faith.\nSergey and Anastasiya Polyakovs were detained during searches on July 4, 2018. During the arrest, Sergey was beaten and then forced to wipe the blood off the floor. Over the next two days, the couple did not get in touch, the door to their apartment was found broken open. Simultaneous searches were carried out in at least 4 homes of believers. During the search, the attesting witnesses actively helped law enforcement officers, prompted and even tried to interrogate believers. Veterinarian Dinara Dyusekeyeva and her friend Gaukhar Bektemirova came under investigation about a year after the Polyakovs. In the summer of 2019, a criminal case was also initiated against them, which was connected with the case of Anastasiya and Sergey.\nIn the summer of 2018, the Investigative Committee opened a similar criminal case against Igor Zhukov in Omsk.\nThe court found the believers guilty only because they participated with their fellow believers in peaceful worship and talked with other people about the Bible. In reality, these actions are not prohibited by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. On the contrary, they are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation as fundamental human rights and freedoms.\nThe entire logic of the accusation is based on the speculative thesis that faith in God is \"a continuation of the activities of an extremist organization.\" Among the proofs of the \"guilt\" of the Polyakovs, Bektemirova and Dyusekeyeva - 20 biblical cartoons, which were reproduced at court hearings, and the Bible in different languages.\nThe defendants themselves explained in their testimony that they were exercising their constitutional right to disseminate their religious beliefs, since \"Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation applies to all believers.\" They categorically denied their involvement in extremism and during the appeal hearings tried to explain the essence of their faith to the court. The chairman of the board of the court, Aleksandr Bondarenko, repeatedly interrupted the defendants' speeches with the last word. Without allowing Sergey Polyakov to finish, the panel of judges retired to the deliberation room, after which they announced the decision: in terms of punishment, to leave the sentence in force. Thus, the court equated peaceful believers with dangerous criminals. Convicted persons have the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nThe European Union is deeply concerned about the situation surrounding Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia: “As we have already stated many times, all people, including Jehovah's Witnesses, should be able to peacefully enjoy their human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of association and peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, without discrimination, which is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Russia's commitments within the OSCE and international commitments”.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-05-28T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/05/311337/image_hu_1e87c853a57ea5a2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/05/311337/image_hu_9a84e29e1c81fba0.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/05/311337/image_hu_bc61f13464eb69c0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/05/311337/image_hu_d5fd05ee2b85aed3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/311337.html","regions":["omsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","suspended","282.2-2","282.2-1","282.3-1"],"title":"The Court of Appeal in Omsk Upheld the Convictions of Four Jehovah's Witnesses. One of Them Will Go to Prison","type":"news"},{"body":"Since the morning of May 27, 2021, security guards have been searching the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in Barnaul, the capital of Altai Territory, and Rubtsovsk, about 300 km away. At least eight people are being detained for interrogation. According to preliminary data, a criminal case has been opened against a 24-year-old believer.\nUpdate. It has become known that mass searches and detentions took place in the cities of Barnaul, Zarinsk and Rubtsovsk, the settlement of Telmenka and the villages of Troitskoye and Shakhi during a police special operation codenamed \"Armageddon\". Believers reported the use of physical force by security forces. At least 17 people were taken for interrogation to the UVS and the Extremism Combating Center. Ekaterina Popova, a judge of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Barnaul, issued a warrant for searches in Barnaul and four other locations. Police Major Yaroslav Medvedev was among the leaders of the operation.\nAt 6 a. m. the law enforcers burst into the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses. Electronic devices, data carriers, biblical literature, books and personal records were seized from them. In some cases, law enforcement officers broke down the doors and forced believers to lie on the floor. During the interrogations there was psychological pressure. Investigators asked questions: \"How long have you been reading the Bible? What is written there? Is Jesus the son of God? How long have you been a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses \"sect\"? Have you participated in Zoom conferences? How do you preach? How do you attend meetings?\" The believers used Article 51 of the Russian Constitution.\nThe special operation was carried out within the criminal case that was initiated on May 11, 2021 against 24-year-old Pavel Kazadaev, a resident of Novokuznetsk. Senior investigator Evgeny Kozuchenko saw in the actions of the young man signs of a crime under part 2 of clause 282.2 of Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in activities of extremist organization). Pavel and his wife were detained and brought to Barnaul, 350 kilometers away from home. The believer was sent to custody. The next day, an investigator petitioned the court for a measure of restraint to be chosen for Pavel in the form of house arrest. As a result, he was released on his own recognizance not to leave.\nLaw enforcement officers also searched the place of registration of Pavel Kazadaev in the village of Lugovoi, where his relatives live. Presenting themselves as the police, the operation officers and OMON riot police entered the house. They also searched the garage, car, bathhouse, and yard. Due to the stress, the elderly woman had to call an ambulance.\nFour other families of Jehovah's Witnesses were searched and questioned in Rubtsovsk. One of the worshippers had his notebook and cell phone hacked and then confiscated in his presence. According to him, the operatives also took his personal savings of 100,000 rubles.\nAltai Krai has become the 66th region of Russia in which law enforcement agencies prosecute Jehovah's Witnesses. Security officials perceive joint meetings of believers to read and discuss the Bible, as well as conversations about God, as the activities of an extremist organization, although no Russian court has banned the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, and the authorities have emphasized that believers are allowed to gather for collective worship.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2021-05-27T14:16:11+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/police_hu_c2b408d29a0866a9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/police_hu_77177c4f3bb7b17b.jpg","webp":"/news/common/police_hu_38a613f39b8476.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/police_hu_7739329aeb3bcc37.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/271415.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","interrogation","new-case","siloviks-violence","ivs","recognizance-agreement","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"In Altai, in two cities, Jehovah's Witnesses are being searched, there are detainees","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigator of the department for the Abinsk district of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory, L. G. Galustyants, officially attracts Alexander Nikolaev as a defendant in a criminal case. The investigation regards the discussion of the Bible with family and friends as \"committing a crime against the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Nikolayev in Kholmskaya","date":"2021-05-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya5/index.html#20210526","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 25, 2021, the Krasnodar Regional Court upheld the conviction against 47-year-old Jehovah's Witness Oleg Danilov from the village of Kholmskaya. For discussing the Bible, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison with restriction of freedom for a period of 1 year.\nThe verdict entered into force. The believer insists on his innocence and has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.\nOn March 30, 2021, Olga Khomchenkova, judge of the Abinsky District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, convicted Oleg Danilov, considering peaceful discussions of the Bible to be participation in the activities of a banned organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The investigation was initiated by the investigator of the FSB of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory, O. I. Komissarov. He also handled the cases of Aleksandr Ivshin and Aleksandr Shcherbina, who were sentenced for their faith to 7.5 and 3 years in prison, respectively.\nIn court in the case of Oleg Danilov, witnesses for the prosecution spoke, including the ataman of the village of Kholmskaya, in which the believer lives, and a district inspector. Both could not say anything bad about the defendant. FSB officer Bochin was able to provide only a poster with biblical quotes and homemade postcards as proof of \"extremism\".\nOleg Danilov\u0026rsquo;s wife Natalia and sons on the day of the appeal Oleg Danilov and his wife are raising two sons, students, one of whom has not yet reached the age of majority. In April 2020, Oleg Danilov and his family were searched for the first time, but the security forces did not find anything prohibited on them. After 7 months, they were searched again. The representatives of law-enforcement agencies seized a sketchbook and diaries from the children's room. The investigator threatened the minor child with problems in the educational institution because of the refusal to unlock the phone.\nWhile the investigation lasted and the trial was underway, the head of the family was under recognizance not to leave for about 3 months. It was difficult for him to provide for his wife and children financially. After the verdict of the court of first instance was announced, the believer was placed in custody in a pre-trial detention center in Novorossiysk, and the family lost their breadwinner.\nLaw enforcement officers have equated Jehovah's Witnesses with dangerous criminals, although this religion is not prohibited in Russia.. Their peaceful meetings and conversations on spiritual topics about the Bible are perceived by the authorities as a threat to security for society and the state. Oleg Danilov emphasized: “It was the Bible that taught me to be peaceful, attentive towards people of all kinds. The very concept of “extremism” fundamentally contradicts my Christian nature. \"\nIn Russia and abroad, legal scholars condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. Religious scholar Sergei Ivanenko wrote: “The absolute majority of Jehovah's Witnesses are law-abiding, strive to live in accordance with the moral standards set forth in the Bible. They reject violence, pay taxes in good faith, value peace in the family, society and state, and recognize the right of other people to have their own convictions. \"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-05-25T09:31:21+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/05/260931/image_hu_f8c79da621721bbb.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/05/260931/image_hu_5d2aa41cf8c313b5.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/05/260931/image_hu_b0ebc860f55db8ae.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/05/260931/image_hu_3c29b2bb16ed38f8.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/260931.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"An Appeal in Krasnodar Upheld the Sentence to Oleg Danilov - 3 Years in Prison for Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Vladimir Strigunenko, an investigator of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia in the Altai Territory, opens a criminal case against 71-year-old Mikhail Reshetnikov. The pensioner is accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This is how the investigator interprets conversations about the Bible.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Reshetnikov and Others in Barnaul","date":"2021-05-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/barnaul2/index.html#20210525","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"S. A. Zavorin, senior investigator for internal affairs of the Altai Territory Directorate of the Federal Security Service of Russia, initiates a criminal case against 52-year-old Andrey Danielyan for participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This is how the investigation interprets the peaceful worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses and conversations with people on spiritual topics.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Danielyan in Rubtsovsk","date":"2021-05-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rubtsovsk/index.html#20210525","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 24, 2021, the judge of the Chekhov City Court of the Moscow Region, Irina Pantela, found four local Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of extremism and assigned them a suspended sentence: Yuriy Krutyakov - 6 years with a probation period of 5 years; Zinaida Krutyakova - 2 years and 3 months with a probationary period of 2 years, Konstantin Zherebtsov - 2 years and 2 months with a probationary period of 2 years, Vitaliy Nikiforov - 2 years with the same probationary period.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believers insist on their complete innocence.\n69-year-old pensioner Yuriy Krutyakov has worked all his life in the construction industry and has gone from a foreman to the head of the production and technical department. Yuriy's wife Zinaida has also devoted more than 30 years to the construction industry. Criminal prosecutions for their faith damaged their health and robbed them of their livelihood.\nYuriy Krutyakov spent 445 days in the pre-trial detention center, despite the fact that he voluntarily came to the Investigative Committee, which means that he had no intention of hiding from the investigation. He was placed in a special unit for especially dangerous criminals. The believer suffers from a number of serious diseases, has undergone several operations, including on the eyes, as a result of which his vision has deteriorated sharply. Numerous appeals about proper medical examination and treatment, which Yuri sent to the management of the Moscow SIZO-7, where he was held until his transfer to a new place, remained unanswered.\nVitaliy Nikiforov served as an aircraft technician in the Russian Air Force in various regions, including the Arctic Circle. He took part in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, has a war veteran's certificate. He was convicted of faith in God, thanks to which he got rid of alcohol addiction.\n1 2 3 4 5 6 Konstantin Zherebtsov worked hard for many years at various nuclear power plants and other enterprises of the energy complex, he has numerous certificates and letters of thanks on his account. In connection with the criminal prosecution, Konstantin cannot financially support his family. In October 2019, due to stress, his heart problems worsened.\nAfter night searches in October 2019, Zinaida Krutyakova, Konstantin Zherebtsov and Viktor Nikiforov were detained and sent to a temporary detention facility. Then they spent almost 600 days under house arrest.\nA criminal case against Chekhov's believers was initiated on September 30, 2019 and was investigated by the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Moscow Region. The investigation lasted 445 days. On December 18, 2020, the case materials were transferred to the court.\nThe investigation regards the peaceful conversations of believers as extremist activity. The criminal case is based on the testimony of Stanislav Kuznetsky, with whom Yuriy Krutyakov met at the station and later discussed the Bible. As it turned out later, Kuznetsky worked for the FSB and, on instructions from the special services, portrayed an interest in biblical teachings. He called Krutyakov, complained about family troubles, asked for Bible advice and asked about like-minded people. The Zherebtsov, Nikiforov and Krutyakovs were under surveillance, their phones were tapped.\nOne of the investigators, Golovanov, who conducted operational-search measures against believers, admitted at a hearing in the Chekhov City Court that, according to the laws of the Russian Federation, the Bible cannot be recognized as extremist material, so Jehovah's Witnesses can read and discuss it together with others.\nLawyers and human rights activists both in Russia and abroad unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Government of the Russian Federation emphasized that \"Acts of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation [of 20.04.2017 and 17.07.2017] do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\" According to a statement by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, \"members of the liquidated organization [of Jehovah's Witnesses] can independently practice a religious cult, including as part of religious groups that do not require registration.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-05-24T19:38:58+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/05/241938/image_hu_66a4798bf4a99ab3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/05/241938/image_hu_3d4ff4c79aa0a460.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/05/241938/image_hu_49e8520b220ccc5e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/05/241938/image_hu_400b79e6b6a0f79b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/241938.html","regions":["moscow_obl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"In Chekhov, the Court Gave Four Believers From Two to Six Years Probation for Discussing the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 21, 2021, Natalya Devyatko, a judge of the Lenin District Court of Novosibirsk, found Vitaliy Popov guilty under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 and part 1 of Art. 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation and financing of the activities of an extremist organization). He was sentenced to 3 years of suspended sentence.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on his complete innocence.\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor recommended to the court that Vitaliy Popov be sentenced to 6 years in prison in a general regime colony.\nOn June 27, 2019, a criminal case was initiated against him, which was investigated by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Novosibirsk Region. Vitaliy Popov spent 2 days in the temporary detention facility, then was under recognizance agreement.\nDue to criminal prosecution, the believer lost his job in an educational institution. According to Vitaliy's wife, former colleagues took his dismissal painfully. The believer says: “They set up an economic blockade for me, blocking my account on the card and adding me to the list of extremists. Then, two months later, they called at my workplace and forced my employer to fire me of my own free will, although the director clearly did not want to let me go. As a result, I lost my job and cannot get a job because of a criminal case. At first I tried to earn extra money, but when the trials began about twice a week, I could no longer take care of the material needs of my family.”\nVitaliy Popov in the courtroom on the day of the verdict Vitaliy Popov with his wife near the courthouse Leninsky District Court of Novosibirsk It took almost a year to collect evidence of the believer's “guilt”. During this time, he faced psychological pressure: during a four-hour interrogation, the investigator for especially important cases A. Bryuzgin tried to force him to incriminate himself. “The investigator constantly pressed on me, rushed me so that I could read 22 volumes in a week [about 5000 pages], provoked me to self-incrimination,” Vitaliy recalls. Through the efforts of the same investigator, another resident of Novosibirsk, 67-year-old Yuriy Savelyev, was sentenced to six years in prison for his faith.\nOn June 18, 2020, the case against Vitaliy Popov was transferred to the court for consideration by judge Irina Tsygankova. On August 13, the state prosecutor challenged her on the grounds that earlier, under her chairmanship, court decisions had been taken in the criminal case of Yuriy Savelyev. The court agreed with the arguments of the prosecution and granted the motion to challenge Tsygankova. The case was referred to Judge Natalya Devyatko.\nVitaliy Popov, even during the investigation, stated that he did not plead guilty and considered the criminal case against him as repressions for his faith, since his religion was the only reason for the persecution.\n“Your Honor, I cannot understand what is my fault?” said the believer in his last word. “The fact that I love to read the Bible together with my fellow believers and live according to it, share with others what I learned from it—this is my constitutional right, and I just practiced this right. Someone may agree or disagree with Jehovah's Witnesses’ beliefs, but that is another matter. The Russian Federation is a multi-confessional country, and many religions are taught in different ways and May contradict each other, but this is not a reason to consider them extremists.”\nThe same opinion was expressed by Russian and foreign human rights activists. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses “do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-05-21T13:36:58+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/05/211336/image_hu_2c1036b80d837275.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/05/211336/image_hu_6300d4228d71e917.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/05/211336/image_hu_76f600f621c2fcde.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/05/211336/image_hu_796aee5a9b21de58.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/211336.html","regions":["novosibirsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"title":"54-year-old Vitaliy Popov Received 3 Years of Suspended Sentence. The Second Resident of Novosibirsk Suffered for Faith in Jehovah","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 20, 2021 judge of Leninskiy District Court of Saratov Andrey Efimov found Rustam Seidkuliev guilty under part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in activity of extremist organization). The believer was taken into custody in the courtroom.\nSeidkuliev was sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony and 1 year of restricted freedom after his release. The court took into account the 7 months that Rustam spent under house arrest: 217 days corresponding to 108 and a half days of imprisonment. Thus, the believer has to spend over two years in prison.\nThe verdict did not come into force, and can be appealed. The believer insists on his complete innocence. The state prosecutor requested that he be sentenced to four years' imprisonment in a general regime penal colony.\nAfter getting acquainted with biblical doctrines, Seidkuliev decided to lead a peaceful life, not to take up arms and not to learn how to fight. For his refusal to join the army, he was convicted twice (in 1995 and 1996) and spent 1 year and 8 months in a minimum-security penal colony in Turkmenistan. Twenty-five years later, Rustam found himself in court again only because of his faith in the God Jehovah.\nRustam Seidkuliev at the entrance to the courthouse Rustam Seidkuliev with his wife Yulia Rustam and Yulia Seidkuliev with friends near the courthouse Leninsky District Court of Saratov A criminal case against Rustam Seidkuliev was initiated on January 29, 2020. The believer learned about it on February 15, 2020, when police officers detained him along with his wife in a shopping center. It was announced to Rustam that he was wanted, and later he was placed in a special detention center for 5 days.\nOn February 20, 2020. On February 20, 2020, Seidkuliev was taken for a search, after which he was transported by car to Saratov. On the morning of February 22, 2020, the court ordered that he be placed under house arrest for two months. This preventive measure was later extended to 7 months and 8 days, and in September 2020 it was changed to a ban on certain actions. One month later, the investigator confined himself to a written pledge not to leave.\nThe case of Seidkuliev was investigated by the bodies of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Saratov region for a year and two months. On 30 March 2021, the case went to court. The case was considered for more than a year.\nAs stated in the indictment, Seidkuliev, \"acting from extremist motives, realizing that by his actions he undermines the foundations of the constitutional order and state security\", continued to participate in worship services and talk to others about God. This accusation was made against Rustam in court, despite the fact that Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees every citizen \"the right to practice...any religion or not to practice any religion. Neither the Supreme Court nor any other court has ever restricted this right as applied to Jehovah's Witnesses.\nThe OSCE, the European Union, Russian human rights activists and many others condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-05-20T17:39:24+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/05/201739/image_hu_34617e637b3670bc.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/05/201739/image_hu_373b8b624d622c49.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/05/201739/image_hu_7e81a540a14f883e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/05/201739/image_hu_3b2c3d238623859e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/201739.html","regions":["saratov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"The Court Sent One More of Jehovah's Witnesses Behind Bars. Rustam Seidkuliev Was Sentenced to 2.5 Years in Prison for Talking About the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 19, 2021 the judge of Nadezhdinskiy District Court of Primorye Territory Lyudmila Setrakova found the disabled woman Lyudmila Shut guilty of participation in activities of extremist organization. A pensioner from the village of Razdolnoe was sentenced to four years of suspended imprisonment.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on her complete innocence.\nThough there were no victims in the case, the court fully satisfied the prosecutor's recommendation: the state prosecutor asked the court to sentence the believer to four years of suspended imprisonment with a probation period of three years and one year of restricted freedom. The state prosecutor also asked to deprive the believer of the right to engage in activities related to participation in public organizations for 4 years. She has been kept on her own recognizance for over a year.\nLyudmila could hardly move on crutches. Since she was a little girl she did a lot of hard physical labor, helping her mother with household chores. During her life she worked as a turner, milkmaid, headed a warehouse and was manager of a state farm. She was widowed 18 years ago. She has three children and three grandchildren. Criminal prosecution further undermined her health, her eyesight deteriorated and she needed an operation. After the interrogations she repeatedly had to call an ambulance.\nIn her final statement, Lyudmila Shut said: \"I have the right to be a religious person! I do not agree with the charges. I am not a criminal and not an extremist. I do not know such a scary word at all, it is alien to me and completely contradicts my religious views.\"\nOn July 19, 2018, searches were conducted in the homes of believers from the village of Razdolnoye, after which Lyudmila Shut was summoned for interrogations several times over the course of a year and a half. On February 10, 2020, investigator Denis Shevchenko opened a criminal case against her. The investigation lasted about 3 months, it was led by the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia in Primorye Territory.\nSince November 2017 there was hidden video recording of worship services in the settlement of Razdolnoye. Later, based on the materials of operational investigative activities, law enforcement officers concluded that some believers were allegedly the leaders of the banned organization, and others were participants, including Lyudmila Shut. However, while watching these recordings in court, the participants of the trial were convinced that the believers did not speak about their superiority over members of other faiths at the services, as the prosecutor claimed.\nOn April 28, 2020, Lyudmila Shut's case was brought to the Nadezhdinskiy District Court for consideration by judge Natalia Derevyagina. After 5 months of hearings, the state prosecutor challenged the judge, pointing out that she had previously assessed Shut's actions as a witness in another believer's case. The new judge, Lyudmila Setrakova, actually started the trial all over again, and the elderly believer on crutches had to go through all stages of the trial again.\nIn their testimony in court, witnesses in Shut's case confirmed that the Supreme Court decision did not ban Jehovah's Witnesses from holding meetings. They also gave a positive characteristic of Lyudmila and said that they had never heard extremist statements from her.\nA total of 36 people from Primorye were taken to the millstone of the judicial system just for believing in Jehovah's God. Lyudmila's fellow villager, 77-year-old Vladimir Filippov, has already received a 6-year suspended sentence for participating in peaceful worship services.\nThe OSCE, the European Union, Russian human rights activists and many others condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-05-19T13:40:32+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/05/191340/image_hu_810ad76c4df4c7df.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/05/191340/image_hu_762a68027e2be73.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/05/191340/image_hu_f20b94bb7a6ac5bd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/05/191340/image_hu_7c76a9f5eda03c1a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/191340.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","elderly","282.2-2","disability"],"title":"In Razdolnoe Village a 73-Year-Old Believer Lyudmila Shut Received a 4-Year Suspended Sentence for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 18, 2021 the judge of Leninsky district court of Rostov-on-Don Alexander Osipov found Lyudmila Ponomarenko guilty of participation in extremist activity - this is how the court interpreted her religious beliefs. The believer was sentenced to 2 years of suspended imprisonment—the exact amount the prosecutor asked.\nThe verdict has not come into force and can be appealed. The pensioner insists on her complete innocence. There are no victims in the case.\nOn June 6, 2019, the First Investigation Department (based in Rostov-on-Don) of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case against Lyudmila Ponomarenko under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for participation in divine services and preaching. Earlier, in the spring of the same year, law enforcement officers came to her apartment with a search. They confiscated a phone, a tablet, Bibles in various editions, a Bible dictionary, a reference book and a religious studies monograph from a pensioner who was caring for her sick husband. On August 18, 2020, she found herself under recognizance not to leave. On September 30, the case went to court.\nSpeaking in court with the last word, Lyudmila Ponomarenko noted: “The indictment does not indicate with what words, when, under what circumstances I advocated the advantage of some people over others. Also, it is not indicated in what way, on what date, at what time and who exactly I encouraged to refuse medical care, to reject state bodies or to break off family relations. I did nothing of the kind and no evidence to the contrary was presented in court. It turns out that I am being judged for being an honest person who respects and observes the laws of the country in which I live; as a believer, I love people and is not able to harm them; I abide by the laws of the country and exercise my right to profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in accordance with Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. \"\n9 criminal cases against believers from the Rostov region are at different stages of production. Three of Jehovah's Witnesses have already received convictions and have entered into force. Earlier, in 2016, under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, 16 believers from Taganrog were found guilty.\nIn 2018, 60 prominent Russian human rights defenders issued a statement saying: “What is happening to them is, in fact, happening to us. This is a test of the immune forces of society. The persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses shows the groundlessness of anti-extremist legislation in general. If society does not protect Jehovah's Witnesses, if they are not restored to their rights, this will mean that anyone can be declared an extremist. […] In the story of how a person found answers from Jehovah's Witnesses to questions that a Catholic priest could not resolve, the courts saw propaganda of religious superiority — that is all extremism. Such \"extremism\", and much more brutal, can be found in doctrinal, liturgical and other texts of most confessions. If one approaches religious scriptures with the same yardstick, all religions will have to be banned. \"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-05-18T17:32:37+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/05/181732/image_hu_cd5a9c3629660140.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/05/181732/image_hu_2edf4e88b437d27.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/05/181732/image_hu_9ffa1cc7216750c9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/05/181732/image_hu_2841918ae78c5650.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/181732.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","elderly","282.2-2"],"title":"A Court in Rostov-on-Don Sentenced a 71-Year-Old Woman to Two Years of Suspended Imprisonment for Believing in Jehovah's God","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator of the Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Tyva O. O. Okhemchik initiates a criminal case against 28-year-old Alexander Kazakov. According to the investigation, the believer \"using the service for conducting video conferences ... took part in the activities of a religious association of persons from among the followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses\", in connection with which he is charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Kazakov's case in Kyzyl","date":"2021-05-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kyzyl2/index.html#20210517","regions":["tyva"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Alexander Meshalkin, investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates a criminal case against Boris Yagovitov under Part 1.1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe investigation interprets peaceful conversations on biblical topics as \"deliberate, in compliance with conspiracy measures, the involvement of new members in the composition ... extremist organization, as well as participation in ongoing events - a meeting of its members, which is a rite associated with the religious doctrine of the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\n","caseTitle":"The case of Yagovitov in the village of Solnechnoye","date":"2021-05-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/solnechny/index.html#20210514","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 13, 2021, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region toughened the verdict handed down to Yuliya Kaganovich by the court of first instance for participating in the activities of a banned organization. Judges replaced the previously appointed monetary fine for 2.5 years of imprisonment with a suspended sentence of 1 year.\nThe verdict entered into force. The believer still insists on her innocence. She has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nOn February 16, 2021, the judge of the Birobidzhan District Court, Vladimir Mikhalev, found Yuliya Kaganovich guilty under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. She was fined 10,000 rubles with a 5-month payment plan. The verdict was appealed against by the prosecutor Anton Vyalkov. He requested a punishment for the believer in the form of imprisonment for a term of 4 years plus 2 years of restrictions. An appeal against the verdict was also filed by the convicted woman, who, despite the mild punishment, did not agree with her conviction.\nThe health of 55-year-old Yuliya Kaganovich has seriously deteriorated in connection with the criminal prosecution and court proceedings. Her husband was also diagnosed with serious illnesses. In addition, the believer is caring for an elderly mother who suffered a heart attack and stroke during the criminal prosecution of her daughter.\nIn her last word, Yuliya Kaganovich noted: “The confession of me guilty does not correspond to either the letter or the spirit of the criminal law. I have always led a quiet and peaceful life. Even in the conclusion of the psychological and psychiatric examination it is said that I have “the most pronounced features - empathy with other people, responsiveness, kindness, sympathy with other people's successes.” With such personal qualities, it was unthinkable for me to do something extremist or something that could harm a person, society or state. \"\nDue to her recognizance not to leave, the woman has been restricted in her right to move freely since October 2019. The persecution of Yuliya Kaganovich began almost a year and a half after a large-scale operation codenamed \"Judgment Day\" with the participation of 150 security officials.\nThe charges are based on audio recordings of the believers' telephone conversations. However, in these records, Yuliya Kaganovich's phone number does not appear, and she is not mentioned in the conversations.\nYuliya Kaganovich, using the right guaranteed to her by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, professed her religion among her fellow believers. The authorities considered the talks about the Bible to be a threat to the security of the state and added the woman to the list of extremists and terrorists of Rosfinmonitoring.\nIn the Jewish Autonomous Region, 18 similar criminal cases were initiated against 23 believers. In addition to Yuliya Kaganovich, five more women were convicted, and the court of appeal has already toughened the sentences for some of them.\nRussian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Among them is Richard Clayton, QC, British Representative to the Venice Commission. “Recognition of Jehovah's Witnesses as extremists will in no way help Russia to consolidate its reputation as a civilized country,” he notes. “This application of laws forms the image of religious freedom in Russia as extremely negative: what am I telling you. \" In my opinion, this is a shocking example of how a bad law is being used for an even worse purpose. \"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-05-13T15:16:12+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/05/131516/image_hu_a1b73e42cdadb4c8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/05/131516/image_hu_30f502c9e0627c3.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/05/131516/image_hu_1071fc2e0571846e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/05/131516/image_hu_8b0e141e5ec17de.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/131516.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"An Appeal in Birobidzhan Toughens the Sentence Against Yuliya Kaganovich—the Believer Was Given a 2.5-Year Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 13, 2021, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region upheld the sentence to Konstantin Guzev from Birobidzhan - 2.5 years of suspended imprisonment with restriction of liberty for 1 year.\nThe verdict entered into force. The believer still insists on his innocence. He has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.\nOn February 18, 2021, the judge of the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, Aleksey Ivashchenko, sentenced law-abiding builder Konstantin Guzev to 2.5 years of suspended imprisonment under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with restriction of liberty for 1 year. He was assigned a probationary period of 2 years with the obligation to report to the supervisory authority once a month.\nThe prosecutor asked for a punishment for the believer in the form of 4 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony.\nKonstantin's wife, Anastasiya Guzeva, is also persecuted for her faith in God. Due to discrimination on religious grounds, the spouses were forced to resign from the music school where they worked. The leadership motivated this by the fact that there is no place for “extremists” in a children's institution. Guzev spent the last year and a half under recognizance not to leave.\nIn his appeal to the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, the believer stated: “Singing religious songs based on the Bible, praying to God, reading and discussing the Bible together is a way for a believer to practice his religion, guaranteed by both national and international law. . . . The decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in 2017 did not oblige me to give up my faith in God and stop worshiping based on my religious beliefs. . . . Thus, the actual purpose of the sentence is to violate my fundamental rights and force me, on pain of criminal prosecution, to change my religion or leave the Russian Federation. ”\nOn May 17, 2018, a large-scale operation codenamed “Judjement Day” took place in Birobidzhan with the participation of 150 security officials, which resulted in a series of searches and arrests. The security forces tried to get to the Guzevs, claiming that their neighbors had a burglary. The owners did not believe them, but were forced to let the operatives in after the threat of breaking the doors.\nDescribing his feelings in connection with the criminal prosecution, Konstantin shared: “The interrogations and constant humiliation by the investigators hurt me a lot. For twenty years I have completely lost the habit of rudeness, humiliation, insults and constant lies. This was perhaps the most difficult for me. \"\nIn the Jewish Autonomous Region, one of the regions with the largest number of criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses, 19 cases were initiated against 23 believers.\nThe charge against Konstantin Guzev was based on video recordings secretly filmed during the services, and on the testimony of police officer Yulia Zvereva, who could not tell anything about the events imputed to the believer.\nKonstantin Guzev, like many of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, was convicted under a criminal article only for the peaceful confession of faith in God.\nThe delegation of the Russian Federation has repeatedly assured the OSCE that \"individual Jehovah's Witnesses can practice their religion at home, since permission is not required to pray in Russia.\" However, representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe note that \"they have repeatedly witnessed that in the case of Jehovah's Witnesses, any manifestation of faith can lead to a search, lengthy detention, criminal prosecution and imprisonment.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-05-13T13:12:19+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/05/131312/image_hu_342440632467088a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/05/131312/image_hu_dd88573228477365.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/05/131312/image_hu_78d02f81b21fdec5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/05/131312/image_hu_b454ee1707b92099.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/131312.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"An Appeal in Birobidzhan Upheld the Conditional Sentence of 56-Year-Old Believer Konstantin Guzev","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 12, 2021, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region increased the sentence of Svetlana Monis, who was previously found guilty of extremism because of her belief in the Jehovah God. She was sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment conditionally with a probation period of 2 years.\nThe believer was also sentenced to 1 year of restriction of freedom. She is not allowed to change her place of residence, must report to the Federal Penitentiary Service on a monthly basis and not to leave the boundaries established by the Service.\nThe verdict entered into force. The believer still insists on her innocence. She has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nOn February 15, 2021 Vladimir Mikhalev, Judge of the Birobidzhan District Court of the EAO, found the believer guilty of participating in the activities of a banned organization and sentenced her to a fine of 10 thousand rubles. Despite the mildness of the first instance court verdict, Svetlana Monis appealed it.\nThe prosecution of 44-year-old Svetlana Monis, a foreign-language teacher, began a year and four months after the opening of a criminal case against her husband, Alam Aliyev, who is accused of Part 1 of the same article. In parallel with the court hearings, Svetlana has to take care of her elderly grandmother, who lives separately.\nSpeaking in court, Svetlana Monis said: \"I did not commit a crime against the state or against its constitutional order. I was not involved in any extremist organization. I would like to draw the court's attention once again to the fact that I am standing before you not because I committed any crime, but precisely for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Father, Jehovah God.\"\nSvetlana had been under house arrest for more than 16 months, and in October 2019 the court seized her car.\nThe criminal prosecution of the believer was the result of a large-scale operation codenamed \"Judgment Day,\" which took place in Birobidzhan on May 17, 2018. About 150 law enforcement officers took part in it.\nAs a result, 23 people, including Svetlana Monis and her husband, became the subjects of 19 criminal cases. Ten believers have already been sentenced to fines or suspended sentences. On appeal, Elena Reino-Chernyshova and Larisa Artamonova, whose cases were similar to those of Svetlana Monis, received harsher sentences and received suspended sentences instead of a fine.\nOne of the witnesses for the prosecution in the Svetlana Monis case was police officer Yulia Zvereva, who allegedly identified Monis on the videos. However, during the preliminary investigation witness Zvereva did not identify Svetlana Monis, so the information she gave in court was unreliable.\nYulia Zvereva herself, who acted as a witness for the prosecution in several trials against believers from Birobidzhan, admitted that she had not heard any extremist appeals from any of them. According to her, the services were peaceful, and the topics of family and child-rearing were discussed.\nThe Memorial Human Rights Center considers Jehovah's Witnesses in pre-trial detention and under house arrest to be political prisoners. \"They are persecuted solely and directly for their faith and beliefs, for the exercise of their rights to freedom of conscience and association, guaranteed both by the Constitution and international norms,\" said Sergei Davidis, a member of the Council and head of the \"Support for Political Prisoners\" program.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-05-12T19:09:34+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/05/121909/image_hu_8b3a0767f2e9cbf4.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/05/121909/image_hu_b455e3c6ad46df34.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/05/121909/image_hu_cd0bdeb13f90304a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/05/121909/image_hu_2bda4d085e142cf4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/121909.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"The Appeal in Birobidzhan Toughened the Sentence Against Svetlana Monis: She Was Sentenced to 2.5 Years of Suspended Imprisonment","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 12, 2021 the Industrial District Court of Perm found Igor Turik, Boris Burylov, Aleksandr Inozemtsev, Viktor Kuchkov and Yuriy Vaag guilty of extremist activity. Igor Turik was sentenced to seven years of suspended imprisonment; the other four received 2.5 years of suspended imprisonment each.\nAlthough there were no victims in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence them to 4 to 9 years in a penal colony. They were accused of crimes under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of extremist activity), Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in an extremist community) and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code (financing of extremist activities). Judge Viktor Podyniglazov reclassified the charges against Boris Burylov and Viktor Kuchkov to a milder article, Article 282.2 part 2 of the Criminal Code.\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believers insist on their complete innocence.\nIgor Turik and Viktor Kuchkov spent 3 days in the temporary detention facility in Perm, 101 days under house arrest, and also more than 2 years under recognizance not to leave. Alexandr Inozemtsev, Yuriy Vaag and Boris Burylov were under recognizance not to leave for more than two and a half years. The case of Turik and others in Perm was investigated by the Investigative Department of the Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Perm Territory. On December 4, 2020, it was transferred to the Industrial District Court of Perm.\nBefore the criminal prosecution, a native of the Tver region, 52-year-old Igor Turik successfully worked as a photographer and architectural designer. He is a loving husband and father of two minor children. He notes: “The Perm news TV channels were reporting on the FSB special operation from the courtroom as well. This news had a negative impact on my employers. I lost my main customers, and, accordingly, my earnings ... I could not get insurance for a car, I could not use bank cards. To get a package for my family from Germany, I had to call the FSB, Rosfinmonitoring, customs. \"\nIn his last word, Igor said: “My children, whom I have always taught to be good, to be honest, to respect the views of other people who are growing up as wonderful citizens, treat their parents and society with deep respect, wonder why now they want to be separated from their father. You would know what I was 25 years ago, before I became Jehovah's Witness. That's when I needed to be held accountable. I have completely changed because of my relationship with God. Previously, in my hometown, neighbors were shocked only when they saw me. Until recently, they were shocked that the truth can change a person for the better. And now they are shocked that I am facing such a monstrous term. \"\nThe total length of service of the oldest of the 5 defendants in the case - 80-year-old Boris Burylov - is 45 years, during which he was repeatedly awarded certificates of honor and gratitude. In his last speech, the believer noted: “I did not bring about any destabilization in society. I did not undermine the foundations of the constitutional system and state security by any actions. All this magnificent bouquet of unreliable and unconfirmed accusations was collected in different years from unknown sources, and not only the city of Perm, but also other cities of Russia, in which I have never been. […] Jehovah's Witnesses, including myself, are benevolent, hardworking, God-fearing, peace-loving people. We treat all state authorities with respect. \"\n48-year-old Aleksandr Inozemtsev, together with his wife, is raising a minor daughter. Speaking with the last word, he drew the court's attention to how important the divine services were for him, the attendance of which was imputed to him: “This is my need. Communication with fellow believers helps me become even better and show such qualities as love, kindness, compassion, the ability to show self-control, tact towards others. Therefore, they speak of me as a polite and tactful person, which is confirmed by the characteristics provided to the court and attached to the case materials. \"\nThe wife and daughter of 53-year-old Viktor Kuchkov do not share his religious views, but they fully support the head of the family, shocked by the absurdity of the charges against him. In his last word to the court, the believer emphasized: “Reading the Bible and praying to strengthen your relationship with God is not bad. Meeting with fellow believers to discuss the wonderful qualities of our Creator and further imitate him is not extremism. Sharing knowledge of our heavenly Father with others is not a crime, but a realization of the constitutional right to freedom of religion. ”\nThe son of parents exiled on ethnic grounds - a 45-year-old husband and father of 2 adult children, Yuriy Vaag - met in Siberia with Jehovah's Witnesses, who were also sent into exile for their faith and later rehabilitated. “These are people who have kept the faith despite the persecution they faced,” the believer noted in his last speech. “I was struck by their faith, despite the harsh conditions, they helped others to survive. […] I am glad that I have become a believer, because it benefits both me and others. \"\nIn total, 10 Jehovah's Witnesses are persecuted for their faith in the Perm Territory. All of them did not stop practicing their religion after the decision of the Supreme Court of April 20, 2017, for which they faced severe persecution and religious discrimination. Meanwhile, Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation allows one to freely choose and practice any religion, both independently and jointly with others.\nThe Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\" In February 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the groundlessness of the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-05-12T15:52:09+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/05/121552/image_hu_9053b470be62e4a3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/05/121552/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/05/121552/image_hu_5ffd24a0805d3da8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/05/121552/image_hu_49413a51dbc4b8f4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/121552.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","elderly"],"title":"A Sentence Was Announced for Five Jehovah's Witnesses in Perm. Believers Received From 2.5 to 7 Years of Suspended Imprisonment for Believing in God","type":"news"},{"body":"Evgeny Kozyuchenko, senior investigator of the first department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Altai Territory, is initiating a criminal case against 24-year-old Pavel Kazadaev. The investigation interprets the discussion of the Bible among friends as participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kazadaev in Barnaul","date":"2021-05-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/barnaul/index.html#20210511","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"O. M. Ermakova, an investigator for the Department of Internal Affairs of the Investigative Committee for the city of Abakan of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, includes Matryona Spiriadi as a defendant in committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\nThe investigation considers it a crime that the elderly woman, \"being a follower of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses,\" attended services and discussed the Bible.\nInvestigator Yermakov prosecutes Aleksandr Vergunov as a defendant in committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). The believer is also charged with talking about the Bible.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Vergunov and Others in Abakan","date":"2021-05-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/abakan2/index.html#20210507","regions":["khakassia"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On the morning of May 2, 2021, searches were carried out in the small town of Kaltan, Kemerovo Region. Two men, 49-year-old Vitaliy Syrykh and 53-year-old Aleksandr Tsikunov, were detained and sent to a temporary detention center.\nThe security forces searched the homes of at least four local residents. The believers themselves were taken for interrogation, two of them were later released. Law enforcers took Aleksandr Tsikunov to the neighboring town of Osinniki, and Vitaliy Syrykh was taken to the regional center, Kemerovo, more than 250 km from his home. In the near future, the court will determine a preventive measure for them.\nUpdate. On May 4, 2021, the judge of the Kaltan District Court, Yevgeniy Vanyushin, sent Vitaliy Syrykh under house arrest until June 22, 2021. He is charged under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in extremist activities). On the same day, Judge Vanyushin placed Alexandr Tsikunov under house arrest until June 27, 2021. The believer is in the status of an accused under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of extremist activities).\nSome details of the incident have become known. For example, the security forces burst into the houses of believers shouting: \"On the floor, hands behind your back!\" The searches were attended by the investigators of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Stepan Tyshchenko and Maksim Somik, the operative of the Center for Combating Extremism A. V. Dydenko and representatives of the FSB, accompanied by armed riot police. After 4 hours of searches in the homes of civilians, electronic devices, bank cards, personal records and photographs were seized. Law enforcers were looking for forbidden literature, namely \"Holy Scripture - New World Translation.\" During the search at the Tsikunovs' house, a young grandson was present, who burst into tears from fear. Another family had three children at home, aged 4 to 8, who were very frightened by what was happening. As a result, due to stress, the family could not spend the night in their home, because they were afraid to stay at home.\nKaltan is already the sixth settlement in the region where peaceful believers are subjected to religious repression. Earlier, criminal cases for their faith were initiated against eight men from Kemerovo, Belovo, Berezovsky, Prokopyevsk and Taiga. Two, Sergey Britvin and Vadim Levchuk, have already been convicted and are serving their sentences in a colony.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2021-05-04T08:23:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/search3_hu_7ea1ce3a27574811.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/search3_hu_5d81dd4e85a32543.jpg","webp":"/news/common/search3_hu_66d4ea9dba81578c.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/search3_hu_38f81ff3fa3ee2a0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/05/1.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","interrogation","282.2-2","282.2-1","house-arrest","minors"],"title":"New Searches in Kuzbass: Two Believers From Kaltan Town Were Detained","type":"news"},{"body":"Vitaliy Syrykh is charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Syrykhs in Kaltan","date":"2021-05-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kaltan/index.html#20210503","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Andriy Kolesnichenko receives an indictment stating that he \"took part in a closed secret meeting in the form of a collective religious service, consisting of the playback of audio and video recordings ... sequential singing of songs from a special collection of religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and prayers to Jehovah God.\"\nThe accusation is based on the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 20.04.2017, the testimony of the witness Klisheva, as well as on the secret operational-search activities \"Observation\".\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kolesnichenko in Seversk","date":"2021-05-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/seversk4/index.html#20210501","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 29, 2021, the Jewish Autonomous Region Court upheld Birobidzhan-based Igor Tsarev's two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence with a year of the restriction of freedom and a probationary period of two years. The court determined that peaceful practicing of the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses to be participation in the activities of a banned organization.\nA criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against the 46-year-old father of a minor child was initiated on July 30, 2019. The trial lasted almost 14 months, and on February 12, 2021, the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region sentenced Igor Tsarev to suspended imprisonment for continuing to read and discuss the Bible with others. The believer considered the verdict unfair and appealed against it.\nDuring the appeal hearing, Igor Tsarev noted that neither the investigation nor the state prosecutor distinguished between the meetings of ordinary believers and the activities of prohibited associations, but focused on proving the believer's belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses, which no one hid. “So it turned out: if I profess the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses, then I am an extremist, albeit without extremism, a criminal without a real crime. What other conclusion can be drawn when only one conclusion suggests itself? I am on trial for my faith in God, ”said the believer to the panel of judges.\nNevertheless, the appellate instance upheld the decision of the lower court unchanged. The verdict entered into force, but the believer can appeal against it in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.\nThe Jewish Autonomous Region holds the record for the number of cases filed against Jehovah's Witnesses. Igor Tsarev is one of 23 residents of Birobidzhan persecuted for their faith.\nRussian human rights activists and the world community consider it unauthorized to prosecute Jehovah's Witnesses for the faith. Jean-Marie Delarue, member of the French Council of State and former director of civil liberties at the French Ministry of the Interior, says: “I believe that a democratic society should clearly define what it means to violate public order, to harm the common interest. A democratic country can blame and condemn someone in clear terms. Extremism is an obscure concept. Each of us will always be an 'extremist' for someone.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-04-29T16:15:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/04/25/image_hu_8d34351620d44e7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/04/25/image_hu_feaf870fc5ae7982.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/04/25/image_hu_35d9364713618248.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/04/25/image_hu_6378d07f31e0d95d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/04/25.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","minors"],"title":"An appeal in Birobidzhan upheld the suspended sentence for Igor Tsarev, one of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator A. Yakhtanigov officially prosecutes Kirill Gushchin as a defendant in a crime under Part 1 and Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nA new criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against his wife, Svetlana Gushchina, as well as Zareta Ortanova, Svetlana Dubovkina, Olga Shulgina and Aksana Dominova is separated from the criminal case against Kirill Gushchin. The accusation is based on the testimony of the same \"Filatova\".\nThe investigator also singles out materials under Article 308 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the fact of refusing to testify and attracts 7 women and 2 men from Mayskoye under it - this is how he interprets the fact that they used Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Gushchin in Mayskiy","date":"2021-04-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mayskiy2/index.html#20210428","regions":["kabardino-balkar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator A. Yakhtanigov separates from the criminal case against Kirill Gushchin a new criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against his wife, Svetlana Gushchina, as well as Zareta Ortanova, Svetlana Dubovkina, Olga Shulgina and Aksana Dominova. The accusation is based on the testimony of a secret witness \"Filatova\", who secretly made an audio recording of the services.\nThe investigator also singles out materials under Article 308 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the fact of refusing to testify and attracts 7 women and 2 men from Mayskoye under it - this is how he interprets the fact that they used Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Ortanova and others in Mayskoye","date":"2021-04-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/mayskiy3/index.html#20210428","regions":["kabardino-balkar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 22, 2021, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region dismissed the appeal of Yelena Reyno-Chernyshova and satisfied the appeal of the prosecutor by toughening her sentence to 2.5 years of probation and 1 year of restraint.\nThe verdict for allegedly participating in the activities of an extremist organization came into force. The believer still insists on her innocence. She has the right to appeal the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nTwo months earlier, Yelena was convicted by the judge of the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region Vladimir Mikhalev. The prosecutor asked for a real term of imprisonment of 4 years, but the court sentenced the believer to a fine of 10,000 rubles. After that, Reyno-Chernyshova appealed against the verdict in a higher court. The deputy prosecutor of Birobidzhan A.A. Vyalkov also submitted an appeal, considering the verdict, on the contrary, too lenient.\nDuring the debate in the court of appeal, the believer noted: “After the verdict was passed, my relatives, acquaintances and colleagues immediately asked me if I would appeal or plead guilty, and I would agree with such a punishment because it was small. But the point here is not how much was awarded, but that I am innocent. How can I agree with the verdict if I have not done anything illegal?”\nAt the appeal stage, the prosecution continued to insist on the need to deprive Yelena Reyno-Chernyshova of her freedom for 4 years, arguing that the woman “needs to be corrected”. However, no evidence of her illegal activities was provided.\n“What do I need to correct !?” Yelena wondered at the hearing. “I try to live in harmony with the principle ‘to love God and your neighbor, not in words, but in deeds.’ How can you be an extremist by living up to these commandments?”\nYelena Reyno-Chernyshova has been under recognizance agreement for over a year and a half. Due to criminal prosecution, she was fired from her job and her accounts were blocked. The hardships experienced undermined the health of the whole family: Yelena's husband was recently diagnosed with a serious illness, and her mother's heart problems worsened.\nYelena is one of 23 defendants in criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan. The persecution of these peaceful civilians began after “Operation Doomsday.” To date, the courts of the Jewish Autonomous Region have already approved four convictions.\nThe groundlessness of the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia has been repeatedly emphasized by Russian and foreign scholars and human rights activists. Historian Aleksandr Guryanov, during a recent roundtable dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Jehovah's Witnesses to Siberia, noted: “There is some particular bitterness on the part of the government towards this particular confession.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-04-22T15:41:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/04/22/image_hu_d8f91daafccfb8b2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/04/22/image_hu_abebe8598fb55580.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/04/22/image_hu_a4125409e977c791.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/04/22/image_hu_dc46e73790ed5c60.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/04/22.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","complaints","fine","282.2-2","recognizance-agreement","work-restrictions","health-risk"],"title":"Appeal Court in Birobidzhan Toughens the Sentence for YYelena Reyno-Chernyshova for Her Faith. The Fine was Replaced with a Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"The investigator for the Department of Internal Affairs of the Investigative Department for the city of Osinniki of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kemerovo Region Kilin V.N. initiates a criminal case against Vitaly Syrykh, bringing charges against him of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, \"Vitaliy Yurykh committed a deliberate crime against the foundations of the constitutional order and state security, namely ... organized the activities of a religious organization and took part in its activities.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Syrykhs in Kaltan","date":"2021-04-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kaltan/index.html#20210422","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Liya Maltseva is charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in extremist activities). She was re-elected as a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Maltseva in Partizansk","date":"2021-04-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/partizansk2/index.html#20210415","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"L. G. Galustyants, investigator of the Investigative Directorate for the Abinsk District of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory, officially prosecutes Vasily Meleshko as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. He is charged with participating in \"religiously teaching and preaching\" and of \"conducting and listening to lectures based on religious literature ... entered into conversations and religious discussions with other participants, participated in collective discussions of religious books.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Meleshko in Kholmskaya","date":"2021-04-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya6/index.html#20210412","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 8, 2021, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region did not satisfy the appeal of a resident of Birobidzhan, 35-year-old Artur Lokhvitskiy, who had previously been sentenced to 2.5 years of probation for his faith. During the hearing, the judge forbade the believer to quote the Bible, threatening additional punishment.\nOn February 2, 2021, the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region sentenced Artur Lokhvitskiy to 2 years and 6 months of suspended imprisonment with a 3-year probationary period and the obligation to report to the police once a month. The prosecution requested 4 years in prison. The verdict was passed under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). The believer appealed against this decision in the appellate instance - the regional court.\nThe appeal hearing on April 8 began with Judge Vladimir Shibanov emphatically forbidding a believer to talk about God and his faith, despite the fact that the right to profess religion is enshrined in the Russian Constitution; the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses is also not forbidden. During the believer's speech, the judge repeatedly interrupted him, threatening to \"call him to justice.\"\nArtur himself said that he had not committed anything criminal: “The court [of the first instance] followed the lead of the state prosecutor, who proceeded from the erroneous assumption: everything that is somehow connected with the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, everything is extremist and everything that is prohibited, and therefore, it is only necessary to prove that a person professes the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, then the crime is proven. \"\nIn the last word in the court of appeal, Artur reasoned: “From the Bible I learn that it is necessary to love neighbors, to love enemies and not to repay evil for evil. Agree, would an extremist do this? This is some kind of strange extremist! [...] The case does not contain victims and other data on the nature and amount of harm. In this whole case, my family and I were the victims. [...] Hours of video, which were examined in court, captured the usual religious activities: believers pray, perform religious chants, read and discuss the Bible and spiritual topics, talk about their faith in God. There are no extremist appeals, no mass distribution of extremist materials. There is not even a single offensive or obscene word. \"\nThe court did not heed the arguments and upheld the conviction, which took effect immediately. Nevertheless, a believer has the right to appeal against it in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.\nArtur Lokhvitskiy is an electrician by profession, works in the fire department. He spent about one and a half years under recognizance not to leave. Artur's family was also affected by the criminal prosecution. Following him, his wife, Anna, and his mother, Irina, became accused under a similar article. As a result of the criminal prosecution, Anna suffered serious emotional trauma and had to undergo expensive treatment.\nSecurity officials have been monitoring believers in Birobidzhan, wiretapping their telephone conversations and conducting covert video filming since the spring of 2017. In May 2018, a special operation of the FSB took place in the city, codenamed \"Judgment Day\", in which 150 law enforcement officers took part. As a result, 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers, among whom was Artur Lokhvitskiy.\nThe investigation into the Lokhvitskiy case lasted 5 months. On December 24, 2019, the case went to court. During the trial, there was no evidence that the believer had committed at least one real criminal act. The entire logic of the accusation was based solely on the fact that Artur is one of Jehovah's Witnesses and he discusses the Bible with others. Even the prosecutor's office admitted that there are no extremist actions of the defendant in the videos of the services with the participation of Artur Lokhvitskiy.\nIn the Jewish Autonomous Region, 10 believers have already received various sentences. With regard to 10 more believers, court decisions are on the way.\nBoth in Russia and abroad, there are regular calls to stop mass religious repression that violates Russian law and the Constitution. Even the Russian government stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-04-08T21:27:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/04/12/image_hu_7db50eb8523616ef.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/04/12/image_hu_cc9a0a060c24914.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/04/12/image_hu_eaa0134f6e5fccf5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/04/12/image_hu_8428ab5fce438c8f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/04/12.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"An appeal filed in Birobidzhan upheld Artur Lokhvitskiy's conviction for practicing his faith - a two-and-a-half year probation","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 6, 2021, the judge of the Abinsky District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, Sergey Mikhin, sentenced Aleksandr Shcherbina to 3 years in a general regime colony, considering prayers and reading the Bible \"the activities of an extremist organization.\" The verdict can be appealed, the believer insists on his innocence.\nAfter the sentencing, Aleksandr was taken into custody in the courtroom. He was sent to a pre-trial detention center in Novorossiysk. On the eve he made his last word and, referring to his experience of participation in war, said: “I know firsthand what hatred and violence are,” and then added: “The Bible helps to get rid of such qualities. I study this book and try to follow the two main commandments that are given in it: to love God and to love your neighbor. I try to do good, respect the authorities, lead a calm and peaceful life. \"\nAleksandr Shcherbina came to the village of Kholmskaya to take care of his mother who is ill. Soon after, in November 2020, a criminal case was opened against him for his faith - for discussing the Bible, praying and chanting with fellow believers. The law enforcement officers considered these actions to be a continuation of the activities of the banned organization, although the believer was not a member of the legal entity liquidated by the court. Within three months, the case was investigated by the Directorate of the FSB Directorate for the Krasnodar Territory, and on March 1, 2021, it was transferred to the court.\nPrior to the initiation of the criminal case, Aleksandr Shcherbina was a witness in the case against another believer from Kholmskaya, Aleksandr Ivshin, who had already received 7.5 years in prison on similar charges. On March 30, 2021, another Jehovah's Witness from the village of Kholmskaya, Oleg Danilov, was sentenced to 3 years in prison. All of them faced religious persecution after a raid carried out by the Krasnodar FSB together with representatives of the local Cossacks.\nTime and again, Russian courts have interpreted believers' exercise of their constitutional right to freedom of religion as extremist activity in violation of Article 28 of the Russian Constitution. According to the well-known religious scholar, Doctor of Philosophy, State Counselor of the Russian Federation Sergey Ivanenko: \"I do not know of any court decisions or legislative acts that would say that the internal structure of Jehovah's Witnesses contradicts the legislation of the Russian Federation, and would contain any prohibitions related to the doctrine or cult practice of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-04-06T10:56:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/04/8/image_hu_6a8b973c42c0fd53.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/04/8/image_hu_b2e435e369d65f07.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/04/8/image_hu_40d8896468deb4d7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/04/8/image_hu_3baa32910a0a68d8.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/04/8.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2","sizo"],"title":"A third Jehovah's Witness from the village of Kholmskaya has been sentenced to imprisonment for practicing his faith. Aleksandr Shcherbina received a three-year prison sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"Oksana Belyakova, head of the Lesozavodsk District Department, is re-indicting Yevgeny Grinenko under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nShe also involves 70-year-old Svetlana Efremova as an accused. The woman is accused of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). Sergey Kobelev is officially charged under Part 1.1. and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Grinenko and Others in Lesozavodsk","date":"2021-04-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lesozavodsk/index.html#20210406","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 5, 2021, during a debate in the Abinsk City Court, the prosecutor requested for 45-year-old Aleksandr Shcherbina from the village of Kholmskaya 3 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony for not renouncing the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses. The court is preparing to deliver its verdict on April 6.\n“There can be no variant of being at least somehow connected with hatred and violence. I am a peaceful Jehovah's Witness and will remain so in the future,” said Aleksandr Shcherbina, speaking in court with the last word.\nA criminal case against a former combatant during the Chechen military conflict, and now a deeply religious civilian, was initiated in November 2020. The investigator considered Aleksandr's participation in reading and discussing the Bible together with fellow believers as a continuation of the activities of the extremist organization, calling these acts a threat to public safety and the constitutional order of the state.\nThe court has set the sentencing on April 6, 9:00 local time.\nThe Russian authorities have repeatedly stressed that the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited in the country. The international community considers the criminal prosecution of believers to be religious repression.\n","category":"trial","date":"2021-04-05T12:42:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/04/5/image_hu_7461c1c76b7346e0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/04/5/image_hu_8508862af301e08a.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/04/5/image_hu_ad85bde911c51ef4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/04/5/image_hu_74c07c30619663e3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/04/5.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["prosecutor-request","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"The prosecutor requested to transfer Aleksandr Shcherbina, a believer from the village of Kholmskaya, to a correctional colony for three years","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 1, 2021, Yuliya Tsykina, judge of the Birobidzhan District Court, found Tatyana Zagulina guilty of participating in the activities of a banned organization. She was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months of suspended imprisonment and 2 years of restriction of freedom.\nTatyana's religious convictions as a Jehovah's Witness were the only grounds for the verdict. It has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on her complete innocence.\nDespite the absence of victims in Tatyana Zagulina's case, the prosecutor asked the court to send her to a general regime colony for 4 years.\nA criminal case was opened against the 36-year-old mother of a minor child a year after her husband Dmitriy Zagulin was charged in another criminal case, also under an “extremist” article.\n“I personally have never allowed not only statements, but even hints of the possibility of ethnic and religious hatred or the need to commit any illegal actions,” Tatyana said in her last plea. “It turns out that I am in the dock for the wrong reason, not because I committed some real crime and therefore dangerous to society, but for being a Christian, for being Jehovah's Witness. When FSB officers came to raid our home, I asked them what they were looking for. They answered: ‘Everything related to the Bible.’ It turns out they were looking not for something that could be really connected with extremism, but for something that is connected with faith in God.\"\nThe case against Tatyana Zagulina was initiated on February 6, 2020. It was investigated by the investigative department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region. The accused was under recognizance agreement for 400 days. After 6 months of investigation, on August 19, 2020, the case was brought to court.\nThe prosecution witness, an employee of the cafe where Tatyana and her friends held weddings and get-togethers with their children, confirmed in court that they only partied in the cafe, behaved “decorously and nobly, ate, drank tea, danced, no problems arose \". However, the prosecution tries to portray such get-togethers as meetings of a banned organization.\nAnother witness, a police officer Zvereva, noted in court that she had not heard any extremist calls from either Zagulina or any other Jehovah's Witness. According to her, Tatyana was a simple listener at worship sessions, and the meetings themselves were held peacefully, the topics of family and raising children were discussed.\nIn total, 19 criminal cases were initiated in the Jewish Autonomous Region against 23 Jehovah's Witnesses. Currently, 12 believers from Birobidzhan are forced to prove their innocence in court and defend their peaceful convictions.\nIn Russia, as in other countries, calls are regularly heard to stop the massive repression of Jehovah's Witnesses. Sociologist Massimo Introvigne, director of the International Center for the Study of New Religions (Italy), wrote about the members of this religion: “They are peaceful people who reject violence and have never used violence themselves. The only connection between Jehovah's Witnesses and violence is that they are victims of violence.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-04-02T10:06:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/04/2/image_hu_82e871d33fe06f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/04/2/image_hu_42d1d7dbe052ea8f.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/04/2/image_hu_353e2155b588ddaf.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/04/2/image_hu_dce0fac0a6ace1e6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/04/2.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","families","minors","282.2-2"],"title":"Birobidzhan-based Tatyana Zagulina was handed a two-and-a-half year probation for reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"Yekaterina Nikulina is officially charged under Part 1.1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (recruitment and participation in the activities of an extremist organization). The believer is accused of talking about God and the Bible. The resolution says: \"Acting intentionally and illegally together with Nikulin G.N., in compliance with conspiracy measures, pursuing the goal of involving new participants in the banned organization, during repeated meetings with Sidorov G.V. (Yevgeny) and Petrov P.P. (Sergey), whose personal data are kept secret.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shevchuk and Others in Saransk","date":"2021-04-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saransk/index.html#20210402","regions":["mordovia"],"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 30, 2021, Olga Khomchenkova, Krasnodar Territory Abinsky District Court judge, announced Oleg Danilov's, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, verdict: a three-year imprisonment in a general regime colony for practicing his faith. He was found guilty of participating in the activities of an \"extremist\" organization.\n“I am accused of a terrible crime that I did not commit,” said Oleg Danilov in his last word. “My honest name is mixed with filth, I’m appointed an extremist. Exactly appointed, Your Honor, because my conscience is absolutely clear both before God and before men. My house was searched twice, and nothing significant was found to prove my connection with extremism. My calm, happy life is upside down, my family is forced to take sedatives when they hear knocking on the gate— is that right? \" He added: \"I would prefer to remain faithful and free in my beliefs, even if not at large.\"\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to impose a sentence on the believer in the form of 3 years in a general regime colony. The court agreed with this. The defendant was taken into custody immediately after the announcement of the verdict. Now he is in SIZO-3 of Novorossiysk.\nIn April 2020, Oleg Danilov and his family were searched, but the security forces did not find anything prohibited. Subsequently, the search was repeated. On November 12, 2020, a criminal case was initiated against the believer under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a prohibited organization). The initiator of the investigation was the investigator of the FSB of Russia in the Krasnodar Territory, O. I. Komissarov, the same person who investigated the case of Aleksandr Ivshin, who was subsequently sentenced to 7.5 years in prison, and two other believers from Kholmskaya.\nOleg Danilov was accused of participating “in religious teaching and sermons ... through information and telecommunication networks, ... entered into discussions in a collective discussion of the Bible, ... read aloud to other participants the religious books Jehovah's Witnesses, with an emphasis on the fact that that these books contain the correct knowledge about God ... ”.\nIt took about 3.5 months from the date of the initiation of the criminal case until the end of the investigation and the transfer of the case to the court on March 1, 2021. All this time, the believer was under recognizance agreement, it was difficult for him to provide for his family financially—Oleg and his wife are raising two teenage sons.\nLaw enforcers perceive peaceful meetings of believers, conversations on spiritual topics and reading the Bible as a threat to security for society and the state. They have equated Jehovah's Witnesses with dangerous criminals, although this religion is not prohibited in Russia.\nReligious scholar Sergey Ivanenko wrote: “Jehovah's Witnesses are our fellow citizens who have the right to believe as they believe and preach the values that they believe are true. As life shows, the absolute majority of Jehovah's Witnesses are law-abiding, strive to live in accordance with the moral standards set forth in the Bible. They reject violence, pay taxes in good faith, value peace in the family, society and state, and recognize the right of other people to have their own convictions.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-03-31T08:09:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/03/22/image_hu_8e589b1ad53d056.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/03/22/image_hu_591423952321d5bf.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/03/22/image_hu_e96a397b6b25c6b8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/03/22/image_hu_515bdcdaef4c7045.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/03/22.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"A Krasnodar Territory-based peaceful believer Oleg Danilov is sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a correctional colony for practicing his religion","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the Abinsk District is initiating a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Alexander Nikolaev from the village of Kholmskaya. The case is assigned No. 12102030017000016\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Nikolayev in Kholmskaya","date":"2021-03-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya5/index.html#20210331","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lyudmila Shchekoldina is charged with committing a crime under Part 1.1. and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Shchekoldina in Pavlovskaya","date":"2021-03-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovskaya/index.html#20210331","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 29, 2021, during a debate in the Abinsk District Court, the prosecutor asked to sentence 46-year-old Oleg Danilov to 3 years in prison. On March 30, the believer will deliver the last word. On the same day - only 2 sessions after the start of the trial - the court may issue a verdict.\nIn November 2020, O. I. Komissarov, an investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Krasnodar Territory, opened a criminal case against Oleg Danilov from the village of Kholmskaya, imputing him participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Such a serious accusation is based only on the fact that the believer by video link discussed the Bible with his friends and prayed. According to Oleg Danilov, his religious views are exclusively peaceful and \"directly opposite to what is called extremism.\" It was not proven otherwise during the trial.\nTo date, 8 civilians in the region have been prosecuted for their faith. Two of them have already served their sentences, and Aleksandr Ivshin is at the stage of being sent to a colony, where the court sent him for 7 and a half years.\n","category":"trial","date":"2021-03-30T10:08:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/03/21/image_hu_4a392eed11ff9bac.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/03/21/image_hu_c05d71b8ce5abae1.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/03/21/image_hu_f881a9a330ffa965.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/03/21/image_hu_6d8e93646332ef4a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/03/21.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["prosecutor-request","282.2-2"],"title":"The Prosecutor Asked 3 Years of Imprisonment for Oleg Danilov From Kholmskaya. The Verdict for Reading the Bible Can Be Pronounced as Early as March 30th","type":"news"},{"body":"Andrey Ledyaykin is charged with participation in extremist activities. It is based on video recordings of worship services made by Agent Klisheva.\nLedyaykin does not admit guilt in committing the incriminated crime. According to him, he has never taken part in the activities of extremist organizations and in his life is guided by principles that do not allow violence. \"I consider the criminal prosecution to be repressions that violate national and international law,\" the believer declares.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ledyaykin in Seversk","date":"2021-03-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/seversk/index.html#20210330","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The believer is formally charged on the basis of video recordings of worship services made by K. E. Klisheva from her home computer. The woman pretended to be interested in the Bible for about a year, collaborating with the FSB.\nSergey Belousov is accused of taking part in ... religious worship\", as well as in \"singing songs\" and \"prayers to Jehovah God\" (from the indictment).\n","caseTitle":"Belousov's case in Seversk","date":"2021-03-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/seversk2/index.html#20210330","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 29, 2021, the Rostov Regional Court confirmed the sentence to Semyon Baybak in the form of 3.5 years of suspended sentence. The Rostov resident was found guilty of extremism for peaceful religious beliefs. The verdict entered into force, but it can be appealed in cassation and in international instances.\nSemyon Baybak, who since childhood has professed the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, was detained in June 2019. After a day in a temporary detention center, the court sent him to house arrest for more than a year and a half.\nSemyon was accused of collecting funds to rent premises for religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses. In this, the investigator Kalnitsky saw \"financing of an extremist organization.\" The prosecution witness, who has known the believer for more than 13 years, explained to the court that the donated funds were used not to finance a prohibited legal entity, but to help fellow believers. According to him, the investigator falsified the materials of the case, adding wording at his own discretion into the testimony.\nOn December 21, 2020, Vladimir Barvin, judge of the Leninsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don, found Semyon Baybak guilty under Articles 282.2 (2) and 282.3 (1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The court assigned him a conditional imprisonment with a probationary period of 4.5 years and 1 year of restriction of liberty. The prosecutor demanded 4 years of suspended imprisonment for the believer with a probationary period of 5 years. Semyon Baybak pleaded not guilty and appealed the sentence, since his beliefs are incompatible with violence, incitement to hatred and other forms of extremism. As a teenager, he even refused to take up arms and, instead of serving in the army, did alternative civilian service in the children's clinical hospital.\nAt the moment, 16 peaceful believers have been prosecuted in the region. Sentences have already been passed against three of them.\nRussian and foreign public figures and organizations condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. In January 2021, at a meeting with the Human Rights Council, President Putin re-ordered the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to deal with violations of the legislation on freedom of conscience.\nThe conflict between law and law enforcement practice in Russia, according to the European Court of Human Rights, occurs due to a number of myths around Jehovah's Witnesses. The ECHR gave this a legal interpretation.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-03-29T15:57:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/03/19/image_hu_d467e92519c2220c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/03/19/image_hu_8dcd982b815a1cbb.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/03/19/image_hu_550112ac95c21741.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/03/19/image_hu_77ad59d4a6289475.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/03/19.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","282.3-1","suspended"],"title":"Appeal in Rostov-on-Don Upheld the Verdict of Semyon Baybak, Convicted of Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"FSB investigator Antonov officially prosecutes 40-year-old believer Inna Kardakova as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Puyda and Others in Magadan","date":"2021-03-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/magadan/index.html#20210329","regions":["magadan"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"FSB investigator Antonov officially prosecutes 70-year-old believer Lyubov Asatryan as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Puyda and Others in Magadan","date":"2021-03-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/magadan/index.html#20210325","regions":["magadan"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A. G. Kolpakov, an investigator of the Investigation Department for the Closed Administrative Territory of Seversk, initiates a criminal case against Andrey Ledyaykin under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ledyaykin in Seversk","date":"2021-03-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/seversk/index.html#20210325","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigation Department for Seversk of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Tomsk Region is initiating a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against 43-year-old Sergey Belousov. The criminal case was separated from the case against Yevgeny Korotun.\n","caseTitle":"Belousov's case in Seversk","date":"2021-03-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/seversk2/index.html#20210325","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigation Department for the Closed Administrative District of Seversk of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Tomsk Region is initiating a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against 68-year-old Aleksey Ershov. The criminal case is separated from the case against Yevgeny Korotun.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ershov in Seversk","date":"2021-03-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/seversk3/index.html#20210325","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["new-case","elderly","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigation Department for the Closed Administrative Territory of Seversk of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Tomsk Region is initiating a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against 51-year-old Andrey Kolesnichenko. The case was separated into a separate proceeding from the materials of the case of Yevgeny Korotun. The believer is suspected of \"committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kolesnichenko in Seversk","date":"2021-03-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/seversk4/index.html#20210325","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator Major L. N. Retunskaya summons Sergey Belousov and Andrey Kolesnichenko for interrogation to the investigative department as suspects in a criminal case.\nSenior investigator E. A. Yolokhova summons Alexei Ershov and Andrey Ledyaikin for interrogation to the investigation department as a suspect in a criminal case.\nA. G. Kolpakov, Investigator for Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee, notifies believers Aleksey Ershov, Andrey Kolesnichenko, Andrey Ledyaykin and Sergey Belousov that a criminal case has been opened against them on the grounds of a crime in accordance with Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Korotun case in Seversk","date":"2021-03-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tomsk2/index.html#20210325","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["interrogation","new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. S. Pozdnyakov, senior investigator-criminalist of the Khabarovsk Territory Directorate of the FSB, initiates a criminal case against Sergey Kuznetsov. It is separated from the case of Ilya Degtyarenko.\nSergey is charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, he is charged with participating in meetings with fellow believers, during which he read and quoted texts from the Holy Scriptures.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Kuznetsov in Vyazemsky","date":"2021-03-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyazemskiy3/index.html#20210325","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 23, 2021, during a debate in the Central District Court of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the prosecutor asked the court to send 42-year-old Nikolai Aliyev to a general regime colony for 6 years, followed by restriction of freedom for 2 years. His \"guilt\" lies only in the fact that he professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nInvestigator Aleksey Evsyugov opened a criminal case against Nikolay Aliyev in April 2020. The formal reason for this was video recordings of a conversation between a believer and a person depicting an interest in the Bible. The investigator considered the peaceful conversations to be \"the organization of extremist activities.\" Soon Nikolay's apartment was searched, followed by interrogation, during which the security forces strongly advised Nikolay and his wife to change their religion, as well as to help fabricate criminal cases against other Jehovah's Witnesses.\nTo date, in the Khabarovsk Territory, 17 people have already become victims of criminal prosecution for their faith. Four were convicted, and one of them, Valery Moskalenko, has already served his sentence.\n","category":"trial","date":"2021-03-24T15:44:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/03/16/image_hu_794c1e6c332f503a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/03/16/image_hu_1fe161263ec88ab9.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/03/16/image_hu_808ef3f9e0f64b16.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/03/16/image_hu_b12aaef0cd6373e7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/03/16.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["prosecutor-request","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"title":"A  Komsomolsk-on-Amur prosecutor requested a six-years penal colony for believer Nikolay Aliyev","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 22, 2021, the Rostov Regional Court considered Galina Parkova's complaint against the verdict of the lower court. She asked to be found not guilty of committing a crime under the article \"participation in the activities of a banned organization.\" But the appellate panel upheld the verdict.\nThe verdict entered into force. The believer still insists on her innocence. She has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nEarlier, the Lenin District Court of Rostov-on-Don sentenced Galina Parkova to 2 years and 3 months of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 2 years and 3 months.\nRepresentatives of the prosecutor's office, A.P. Chebrikov and I.V. Napalkova, requested 3 years of probation for the believer and 1 year of restriction of freedom with a 4-year probationary period.\nThe criminal prosecution divided Galina's life into “before and after”. She is forced to do odd jobs in order to provide for herself, as well as support her husband, who has been in custody for over a year and a half on charges of “extremism”.\nGalina Parkova herself has been under recognizance agreement for about 7 months, her bank accounts have been blocked. Together with her husband, they are included in the list of Rosfinmonitoring: a list of individuals allegedly related to extremist activities or terrorism.\nOn May 22, 2019, officers of the Investigative Committee of Russia conducted searches in at least 15 houses of Rostov citizens who were suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. So the husband of Galina Parkova ended up behind bars, and two weeks later, on June 6, 2019, a criminal case was instituted against her.\nOn the same day, investigator Kalnitsky opened criminal cases for faith under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 also against Olga Ganusha and Lyudmila Ponomarenko. Now women are under recognizance agreement.\nGalina Parkova, using her freedom of religion, invited fellow believers to her home and discussed the Bible with them, and also shared her beliefs with neighbors and relatives. The investigation interprets this as participation in the activities of a banned organization and campaigning to persons who are not followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. However, all these actions are the right of every person, guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation.\nRussian and foreign opinion-makers and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-03-23T15:42:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/03/14/image_hu_211072adbca23f5e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/03/14/image_hu_83d116eea969661.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/03/14/image_hu_592ef7c081bebe27.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/03/14/image_hu_3fa96e0821bfe6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/03/14.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","suspended","families"],"title":"A Rostov-on-Don appeals court upheld Galina Parkova's guilty conviction for practicing her faith","type":"news"},{"body":"The prosecution requests 4 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony and 2 years of restriction of freedom for Tatyana Zagulina, with the obligation to report to the Federal Penitentiary Service twice a month. On March 31, 2021, at 5:00 p.m., the believer will deliver her last word in court.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Zagulina in Birobidzhan","date":"2021-03-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan15/index.html#20210323","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["punishment-request","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 16, 2021, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, having considered Evgeniy Golik's appeal against the verdict of the Birobidzhan District Court, left the suspended sentence - 2.5 years - unchanged. The verdict entered into force, but can be appealed at the cassation instance.\nOn January 20, 2021, the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region found Yevgeniy Golik guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) for discussing the Bible with other Jehovah's Witnesses during religious meetings. The believer was sentenced to two and a half years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 3 years and restriction of liberty for 1 year. Evgeniy Golik appealed against the verdict.\nThe appeal hearings were held at the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region. Judge of the panel of judges Angela Sizova did not allow the believer to fully express his position. She interrupted his speech during the debate, arguing that those present were \"of a different faith.\"\nIn his appeal to the court, Yevgeniy Golik stressed that he was accused of extremism for Christian activities, which have nothing to do with crimes. He also recalled that the Supreme Court did not ban the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n“Who suffered from my actions? From my faith? From my prayers? If there are victims in this case, it is me and my family. Recognition as an extremist limits my rights. My bank card is blocked. How can I provide myself and my family with honest labor? ” The believer asked the court questions.\nAddressing the panel of judges, Yevgeniy Golik said: “Today believers are hated and persecuted, it seems, only because they are somehow different from the majority. But to be different does not mean to be an extremist. \"\nAfter hearing the arguments, the judges partially satisfied the appeal of the prosecutor, who asked not to indicate a specific city when imposing an additional sentence in the form of restricting the freedom of the defendant. The rest of the verdict remained unchanged.\nIn recent years, 23 residents of the Jewish Autonomous Region have been prosecuted for their peaceful religion, 9 believers, including Yevgeniy Golik, have already been convicted, 12 people are under consideration in court.\nThe Russian and international community are outraged by the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. In a joint statement from 36 human rights and public organizations in Russia, it is said: “We call on the Russian authorities to stop [violation of rights], interrogations and prosecutions for the peaceful religious activities of Jehovah's Witnesses. We ask international organizations and governments of democratic states to call on the Russian government to end the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. […] After Jehovah's Witnesses were outlawed in Russia, the number of acts of intolerance, violence and discrimination on the basis of religion against members of this community is constantly growing. ”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-03-16T15:41:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/03/10/image_hu_585561ed26db4fc1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/03/10/image_hu_c3f12a477b982be5.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/03/10/image_hu_e8bde7d3adb34f39.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/03/10/image_hu_7e500f1e4a53613a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/03/10.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["suspended","appeal","282.2-2"],"title":"The Jewish Autonomous Region court confirmed Yevgeniy Golik's conviction of a two-and-a-half year probation for discussing the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"R. Sirotin, investigator of the Investigative Directorate for the Leninsky District of Saratov, of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Saratov Region, is prosecuting Rustam Seidkuliev as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The indictment contains evidence collected during the preliminary investigation, which will now be considered in court.\nThe first court hearing is scheduled for April 20.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Seidkuliev in Saratov","date":"2021-03-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saratov2/index.html#20210316","regions":["saratov"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The FSB investigator brings final charges against Oleg Postnikov under Parts 1.1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nAccording to the investigation, communicating with a resident of Birobidzhan L. P. Kabak, the Postnikov spouses \"with the tacit consent of each other, that is, a group of persons, while each, acting intentionally ... persuaded her to participate in the activities of the banned religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of the Postnikovs in Birobidzhan","date":"2021-03-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan19/index.html#20210315","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["interrogation","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"CLARIFICATION. On March 11, 2021, the Metallurgicheskiy District Court of Chelyabinsk labeled Valentina Suvorova's, a retiree, activities as extremist because she “sang songs” and “prayed to Jehovah God.” The believer was given a two-year suspended sentence with additional restrictions on certain activities for a period of six months and a one-year probationary period (initially it was reported that the believer was given a one-year suspended sentence).\nAddressing the court with her last word the day before the verdict, Valentina Suvorova noted: “The cases of persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses, which are currently being conducted in Russia, are taking place before the eyes of the whole world. And in this case, the reputation of our country suffers greatly, turning it, in fact, into a totalitarian state. \" She continues: “The criminal case against me has no legal basis and does not obey logic and common sense. I am an extremist without extremism. It doesn't work that way. Today they put the stigma of an extremist on me, accuse me of a grave crime, trampling my good name in the mud. \"\nThe verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nAlthough there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor recommended to the court that the believer be sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment in a colony.\nValentina Suvorova worked as a teacher at school in Chelyabinsk for 30 years. She bears the honorary title of \"Labor Veteran\". With her husband, Vladimir, she has been married for half a century. Several years ago, this friendly family suffered a series of tragedies: their beloved and only son Igor died of blood cancer, Valentina's mother died 2 years later, then her sister died, and her younger sister was paralyzed after a stroke. Before the Suvorovs family had time to recover from these shocks, investigators came to their house with a search. This happened on March 26, 2019, about a week after a criminal case was initiated on participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nThe investigation was initiated by the Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Chelyabinsk Region. For about a year, investigator Chepenko collected evidence that the believer \"deliberately talked about faith with the residents of the city of Chelyabinsk, sang chants, prayed to Jehovah God, and studied religious literature.\"\nThe prosecution took advantage of the testimony of an embedded agent Lilia Ruzayeva, who often spoke with Valentina on biblical topics. “We loved her as a daughter,” the believer said in her last word. - We met with joy, with treats. […] She spoke warm words of consolation, seeing how much grief and misfortune I endured that I live on pills alone. How can you drink tea, hug a person, receive flowers from him and betray him at the same time? Only now I fully understand what pain Jesus Christ experienced when he was betrayed by his own disciple Judas Iscariot. \"\nSince December 5, 2019, the believer has been under recognizance not to leave. On February 7, 2020, the case was sent to court.\nIn the same Metallurgicheskiy District Court of Chelyabinsk, a case is being heard against Valentina's spouse, 75-year-old Vladimir Suvorov. Another believer, 57-year-old Dmitry Vinogradov, is defending his beliefs in the Central District Court of Chelyabinsk.\nHuman rights defenders of the international society \"Memorial\" drew attention to the incompatibility of the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses with common sense: “It is absurd when Jehovah's Witnesses convicted under Soviet rule are recognized as victims of political repression in accordance with the Federal Law on Rehabilitation (1991) - and at the same time are sent to the prisons of the current followers of Jehovah's Witnesses. \"\nRussian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Back in 2019, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation presented a report to the President, where she drew attention to the unjustified criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. In January 2021, at a meeting with the Human Rights Council, President Putin re-ordered the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to deal with violations of the legislation on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and religious associations.\nThe conflict between law and law enforcement practice in Russia, according to the European Court of Human Rights, occurs due to a number of myths around Jehovah's Witnesses. The ECHR gave this a legal interpretation.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-03-12T16:21:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/03/8/image_hu_ad7a23b1320e9e5e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/03/8/image_hu_e0fd54d879ed5b37.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/03/8/image_hu_964830f61c868b19.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/03/8/image_hu_15b964e22bf71210.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/03/8.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"A Court in Chelyabinsk Sentenced 73-year-old Valentina Suvorova, a Labor Veteran, to a Suspended 1 Year for Reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 11, 2021, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region upheld the suspended sentence of 43-year-old Anastasia Sycheva from Obluchye. The verdict has entered into force. The believer insists on her innocence. She has the right to appeal the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nOn January 21, 2021, Olga Afanasyeva, judge of the Obluchensky District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, found Anastasiya Sycheva guilty of participating in a banned organization and sentenced her to 2 years of suspended imprisonment with a 2-year probationary period and 6 months of restriction of freedom. This is the kind of punishment the prosecutor requested.\nAt the hearing in the court of appeal, Anastasiya described the charge in the following words: “There is no logic. It is absent. After all, I'm not being judged for real crimes, but for my faith in God. But a good sense of humor helps out. Otherwise, you can get crazy if you take all this seriously.\"\nIn addition to criminal prosecution, Anastasiya had many life’s trials: in just one year, her older sister died of cancer, and later she lost her mother and brother. She has raised two nephews, and now she is caring for her sick father. She spent almost a year and a half under recognizance not to leave, which limited her free movement outside the region.\nIn total, 19 similar criminal cases were initiated in the administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Region, Birobidzhan, against 23 believers who peacefully profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The accusation against Anastasia Sycheva and a number of believers from Birobidzhan is based on the testimony of the only witness for the prosecution - police officer Yulia Zvereva. However, in court, she stated that she did not know anything about the events in which Sycheva was accused. According to the defendant, in the minutes of the court sessions of the first instance, \"what did not actually happen and was not said was added.\"\nActions such as divine services, prayers and chants are not prohibited by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. On the contrary, they are guaranteed by the Russian Constitution as fundamental human rights and freedoms. In February 2021, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated: “During the consideration of the case [in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation], neither the legitimacy of the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses, nor the ways of expressing them, were assessed. […] Members of a liquidated organization can independently practice their religion, including as part of religious groups that do not require registration. \"\nDespite this, Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia continue to be sentenced to prison terms because of their faith. Russian and foreign human rights organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of believers in Russia. In January 2021, at a meeting with the Human Rights Council, President Putin re-ordered the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to deal with violations of the legislation on freedom of conscience, religion and religious associations.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-03-12T09:09:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/03/6/image_hu_479d6aa608eadfab.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/03/6/image_hu_824b107e47b396aa.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/03/6/image_hu_d2314052e1d55a9e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/03/6/image_hu_8056ae6cdba047d0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/03/6.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["suspended","appeal","fabrications","282.2-2"],"title":"Jewish Autonomous Region court upholds Anastasiya Sycheva's suspended sentence for participating in Jehovah's Witnesses worship services","type":"news"},{"body":"A criminal case is being opened against 45-year-old Sergey Kobelev and his 65-year-old mother Galina under Part 1.1 (recruitment) and Part 2 (participation in the activities of an extremist organization) of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Grinenko and Others in Lesozavodsk","date":"2021-03-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lesozavodsk/index.html#20210308","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Acting Head of the Investigation Department for Lesozavodsk of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation O. V. Belyakova initiates a criminal case against Galina Kobeleva under Part 1 (organization), Part 1.1 (recruitment) and Part 2 (participation in the activities of an extremist organization) of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. On the same day, it is merged with the case of Yevhen Grinenko.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kobeleva in Lesozavodsk","date":"2021-03-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lesozavodsk2/index.html#20210308","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Antonov officially prosecutes Galina Pechko as a defendant under Part 2. Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Puyda and Others in Magadan","date":"2021-03-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/magadan/index.html#20210305","regions":["magadan"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On the morning of March 2, 2021, at least 4 families of local believers were searched in Syktyvkar. Four men were detained and placed in a temporary detention center. One of them, 59-year-old Sergei Ushakhin, was later released on recognizance not to leave. The rest are awaiting a court decision.\nUpdate. On March 3, 2021, the court left 42-year-old Aleksandr Kruglyakov in custody for 2 months. 49-year-old Andrey Kharlamov and 53-year-old Aleksandr Ketov were placed under house arrest. During the searches, Bibles, electronic devices and personal records were confiscated from believers.\nThe investigative measures took place shortly after the senior investigator of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Komi Republic, Major of Justice Alexander Belov, opened criminal cases against five believers, including one woman. The investigation suspects them of organizing and participating in the activities of a banned organization (parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), considering as extremism peaceful religious meetings at which believers read the Bible, prayed and sang religious songs. Details are being specified.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2021-03-03T14:28:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/03/1/image_hu_8336a88e7b240db6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/03/1/image_hu_375c64878e52a448.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/03/1/image_hu_80872f2ca2d37264.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/03/1/image_hu_3d6947a76a8fb8db.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/03/1.html","regions":["komi"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","ivs","sizo","house-arrest"],"title":"Homes of Jehovah's Witnesses were searched in Syktyvkar. Three believers are now behind bars","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 1, 2021, the Rostov Regional Court upheld the sentence against Ruslan Alyyev. The appellate court recognized him as a member of a banned organization. The believer will be conditionally imprisoned for 2.5 years.\nThe verdict has entered into force, but Ruslan Alyev still insists on his innocence. He has the right to appeal the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nEarlier, the judge of the Leninsky District Court, Vladimir Strokov, found Ruslan Alyev guilty and sentenced him to 2 years and 6 months of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 2 years 6 months and the obligation to report for registration once a month. Prosecutor Levchenko demanded 3 years of probation for Ruslan Alyev with a probation period of 4 years.\nRuslan Alyev and Semyon Baibak were detained at their places of residence in Rostov-on-Don on June 10, 2019, less than a month after a mass raid on the homes of Rostovites who were suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The next day, the court placed the detainees under house arrest.\nFor the entire time of the investigation and consideration of the case in the court of first instance, Ruslan Alyev spent a day in a temporary detention facility, and then over a year and a half under house arrest. The same fate befell Semyon Baibak.\nAmong the evidence against Ruslan Alyev is the testimony of an anonymous, secret witness, whose words the court accepted even without questioning. Thus, the defense did not have the opportunity to ask the witness questions and make sure that he did not answer according to someone else's instructions.\nThe court found the believer an extremist without evidence that he had carried out at least one of the extremist actions listed in the legislation. In addition, according to the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, crimes of an extremist nature can be committed only with direct intent. However, the court did not provide a single piece of evidence of the defendant's intent.\n\"The convict was found guilty only because he remained a believer after the liquidation of legal entities. This is reminiscent of the totalitarian regime in Soviet times, when Jehovah's Witnesses were exiled to concentration camps and shot for their faith in God. Later, by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, they were recognized as victims of political repression, \"the appeal says.\nOn March 29, 2021, the court is due to make an appeal decision in the case of Semyon Baibak, whom the court of first instance sentenced to 3.5 years of suspended imprisonment with a probation period of 4.5 years on charges of extremism. The believer also does not admit his guilt.\nThe case of three other believers - Arsen, Vilen Avanesov and Alexander Parkov is now being considered in the Leninsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don. According to investigators, they organized and financed the activities of the banned organization. For more than a year and a half, Rostovites have been kept in pre-trial detention.\nRussian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Among them are the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, prominent public figures of Russia, as well as many foreign organizations, human rights activists and scientists. Even the Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-03-02T12:18:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/03/2/image_hu_30c83507dabf967e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/03/2/image_hu_ca7490659d3eeab7.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/03/2/image_hu_760ace7ed2fc6a7e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/03/2/image_hu_dd31c937852af853.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/03/2.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","suspended"],"title":"A Rostov-on-Don appeal upheld the conviction of believer Ruslan Alyyev","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 26, 2021, the Kostroma Regional Court, having considered the appeal of the Rayman spouses, canceled the longest suspended sentence for faith - 8 and 7 years. Earlier, a lower court found Sergey and Valeriya guilty of organizing and participating in extremist activities.\nThe Court of Appeal excluded the \"organization\" from the charges against both believers (part 1 of Art. 282.2) and commuted Sergey's and Valeriya’s sentences to 3 and 2 years of suspended imprisonment respectively.\nThe verdict came into force. Believers still insist on their innocence. They have the right to appeal the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.\nOn October 9, 2020, Dmitriy Balayev, judge of the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma, sentenced Jehovah's Witnesses Sergey and Valeriya Rayman to 8 and 7 years of suspended sentenced, respectively. With the filing of the state prosecutor Ivan Bogomolov, the court found the believers guilty of both organizing and participating in extremist activities (parts 1 and 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The state prosecution asked the court to give them a suspended sentence of 7 years of imprisonment for both.\nThe couple have been married since 2015. Sergey is an interior decoration specialist, and in his free time he is engaged in cooking and video filming. Valeriya is a makeup artist and hairdresser who loves to bake and make interior items from concrete.\n“The religion of Jehovah's Witnesses has not been prohibited by any court,” Valeriya told the Court of Appeal in her last word. “I led the ordinary life of a believer. My life, my beliefs and views have nothing to do with extremism. I have not committed any crime. I ask you to look at this situation from the point of view of common sense and give us back our good name. \"\n“We live in a state governed by the rule of law,” Sergey Rayman said in his last word. “Not so long ago, even Human Rights Day was celebrated. And according to Article 28 of the Constitution, I have the right to have religious beliefs, disseminate and act in accordance with them. \"\nSergey Rayman was placed in a cramped solitary confinement cell for 2 months with a ban on correspondence and reading the Bible because of the map of ancient Palestine it contains. He then spent a month under house arrest with an electronic tracking bracelet on his leg and 90 days under a ban on certain actions. Valeria had to spend 2 days in the temporary detention facility and 179 days under the ban on certain actions. The spouses could not communicate with each other for some time because of the court decision.\nThe pursuit of the Ryman spouses began in the early morning of July 25, 2018, when armed special forces used crowbars to smash the door to their apartment at gunpoint. Law enforcement officers accompanied their actions with caustic comments regarding the religion of believers. Friends who came to the Rayman spouses found the apartment empty with signs of a burglary on the door. Sergey and Valeria were sent to a temporary detention center.\nIn September 2019, the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma returned the Rayman criminal case to the Kostroma prosecutor's office. At the same time, the court emphasized that in the case of spouses \"there is a legal right to practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which has not been prohibited.\" The court pointed to the \"vague\" wording of the indictment. Neither in the materials of the criminal case, nor in the register of legal entities, nor in any other documents, there was no confirmation that the young people were founders or members of a local religious organization in Kostroma. The accusation is unfounded in relation to the fact that the Rayman couple held meetings of a religious organization. At the same time, not a single name of the participants in such meetings is given.\nThe Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma is hearing the case of another local believer, Dmitriy Terebilov.\nRussian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The conclusion of the state religious expert examination on the doctrine and the corresponding practice of the religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses says: spreading faith, violates the rights of other citizens. On February 20, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Jehovah's Witnesses have the right to practice their religion both individually and collectively.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-02-26T20:00:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/18/image_hu_507117618ca38aae.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/18/image_hu_b06ec1ed7eb2d65b.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/18/image_hu_bdab805b3f54039a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/18/image_hu_f552189b192a30e4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/18.html","regions":["kostroma"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","mitigation","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","suspended","families"],"title":"A Kostroma appeals court commuted Sergey and Valeriya Rayman's strict sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"D. V. Antonov, senior investigator of the Magadan Region Directorate of the FSB, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. against 67-year-old Galina Pechko.\nThe investigator combines criminal cases against several believers into one proceeding. The case is assigned No. 11807440001000013.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Puyda and Others in Magadan","date":"2021-02-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/magadan/index.html#20210226","regions":["magadan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. S. Pozdnyakov, senior investigator-criminalist of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia in the Khabarovsk Territory, charges Ilya Degtyarenko with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - participation in the activities of a religious organization banned by the court.\nOn the same day, he cancels the believer's measure of restraint in the form of a ban on performing certain actions. Tracking equipment (bracelet) is removed from Degtyarenko. A new measure of restraint has not yet been chosen.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Degtyarenko in Vyazemsky","date":"2021-02-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyazemskiy2/index.html#20210226","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["282.2-2","prohibition-of-actions"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On February 24, 2021, Abakan city court passed an unprecedentedly cruel sentence: for the first time a woman, who is also elderly, was sentenced to imprisonment. For the first time, a person is imprisoned under the milder part of article 282.2 (participation in a banned organization) of the RF Criminal Code. This is the case of Valentina Baranovskaya.\nHer son, Roman Baranovskiy, was sentenced to 6 years in prison under a stricter part of Article 282.2 of the RF Criminal Code (organization of activities of a banned organization). The criminal case was based on recordings of conversations between believers, from which it follows that they practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. There are no extremist statements in their conversations. There are no victims in the case.\nThe verdict was handed down by Judge Elena Shcherbakova. The verdict did not come into force; it will be appealed. Both believers insisted on their complete innocence. After the verdict was pronounced, both believers were taken into custody. They will be placed in the SIZO.\nIn the summer of 2020, just before the court hearings began, Valentina was diagnosed with cerebral infarction or ischemic stroke. The defendant, according to doctors' estimates, was in the hospital in moderate condition. Valentina will be 70 years old in April 2021.\nSuch a cruel punishment was recommended by the state prosecutor, Svetlana Anatolievna Shestakova of the Abakan prosecutor's office. On February 1, 2021, during the debate, she asked to sentence Roman Baranovskiy to 8 years in prison, while for Valentina Baranovskaya the prosecutor recommended 5 years in a penal colony.\nIn reply to the charges of \"harming people and the state\" Valentina answered in her last statement that the Bible helped her to become peaceful, fair, loving people and God and taught her to respect the authorities and their laws. She stressed that despite the ban of the legal entity - the local religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses of Abakan (decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation from 20.04.2017) - everyone has the right to practice their religion according to Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.\nRoman Baranovsky said in his last statement: \"I am accused, in fact, of confession of faith, because exactly the actions of confession of faith, according to the prosecution, are evidence of my illegal activities, namely: singing songs glorifying God, praying together and discussing the Bible in my home with my friends and acquaintances, and the fact that we agreed to meet with each other for this purpose. And this is in the 21st century! Is this really possible? How could it undermine the constitutional order of our country?\"\nOn April 10, 2019, armed law enforcement officers broke into the home of Roman and his mother Valentina.\nShortly before that, on March 21, 2019, A. Pachuev, a senior investigator of the Investigative Department for the city of Abakan of the Investigative Committee of the RF for the Republic of Khakassia initiated a criminal case against the believers under Article 282.2 part 1 of the RF Criminal Code (organization of activities of a banned organization). Later Valentina's indictment was lowered to part 2 of Article 282.2 of the RF Criminal Code (organization of activity of a forbidden organization). Later Valentina's accusation was downgraded to part 2 Article 282.2 (participation in the activities of a liquidated organization) of the RF Criminal Code.\nAll in all, there are two criminal cases pending in the Republic of Khakasia. The second case, in which six believers from Abakan were involved, was separated from the Baranovskiys’ case.\nThe Baranovskiys' case was being investigated for one year and two months prior to coming to the Abakan city court on June 15, 2020.\nThe indictment revealed violations of the requirements of criminal procedural law, due to which the prosecutor returned the case to investigator O. Ermakova to \"rewrite the indictment and eliminate the detected violations\".\nBefore retiring in 2006, Valentina worked as an accountant and economist, while Roman did some finishing work. Their friends, colleagues, and relatives are perplexed as to how this peaceful and decent family can be accused of such monstrous things as extremism.\nRussian and international legal scholars unanimously condemn the actions of the authorities against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation.\nFor example, human rights activists from the international society Memorial highlighted the incompatibility between the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses and common sense: \"It is absurd that Jehovah's Witnesses convicted under the Soviet regime are recognized as victims of political repression in accordance with the 1991 Federal Law on Rehabilitation - while they are simultaneously imprisoned as Jehovah's Witnesses today.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-02-24T16:31:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/16/image_hu_37807d5168cd8f43.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/16/image_hu_976239dcf968843a.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/16/image_hu_88ca824f7d211ff4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/16/image_hu_6667ca2c6a5104d5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/16.html","regions":["khakassia"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","families","elderly"],"title":"In Khakasia, a 70-year-old Woman Was Sentenced to 2 Years in a Penal Colony for Faith. Her Son Was sentenced to 6 Years in a Colony. They Are Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 18, 2021, Aleksey Ivashchenko, a Birobidzhan District Court judge of the Jewish Autonomous Region, handed a two-and-a-half year suspended sentence to Konstantin Guzev, a law-abiding construction worker, for participation in extremist activities. In addition, Guzev was given a two-year probation period with the obligation to report once a month to a supervisory authority.\nThe prosecutor asked for 4 years of imprisonment in a penal colony of general regime and an additional 1-year restriction with the obligation to report once a month to the supervisory authorities. The verdict has not come into force. There are no victims in the case. The believer pleaded not guilty and would appeal the verdict. Konstantin Guzev spent the last year and a half being released on his own recognizance.\nThe Birobidzhan District Court is also hearing the case of Konstantin's wife Anastasia, accused of a similar article. The couple faced discrimination on religious grounds - they were forced to resign from the music school. The management motivated this by the fact that \"extremists\" in the children's institution had no place.\nOn May 17, 2018, a large-scale operation codenamed \"Judgment Day\" took place in Birobidzhan, involving 150 law enforcement officers.\nThe criminal case for faith against Konstantin Guzev was initiated on July 29, 2019. The case was separated from the materials of the criminal case against Alam Aliyev. The case was investigated by the Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Jewish Autonomous Region. The investigation lasted about 5 months. The prosecution was based on video footage secretly filmed during religious meetings of believers, and on the testimony of police officer Zvereva, who also acted as a prosecution witness in the cases of Evgeny Golik, Anastasia Sycheva and Tatiana Zagulina.\nOn December 23, 2019, the case went to the Birobidzhan District Court of the EAD. During the court hearings, the prosecutor officially declared the defendant's house the scene of the crime. The charges essentially boiled down to the fact that Konstantin Guzev was reading the Bible with friends at his home via Skype. In court, the believer noted, \"The evidence presented by the prosecutor only confirms that I practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. In other words, it proves that there was no corpus delicti in my actions.\"\nIn the Jewish Autonomous Region, one of the regions with the largest number of criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses, 19 cases were brought against 22 believers. Eight local Jehovah's Witnesses have already been convicted for these peaceful people exercising their constitutional right to freedom of religion. Earlier, Judge Alexei Ivaschenko sentenced another believer, Igor Tsarev, to 2.5 years of suspended imprisonment. Ivaschenko is also considering the case of Yevgeny Yegorov.\nKonstantin Guzev became the 70th resident of modern Russia to be punished under a criminal article merely for his profession of faith in the God Jehovah. A suspended sentence with probation condemns the believer to a life of constant fear, since he could go to prison at any time if law enforcement authorities deem his individual confession of faith \"an extension of the organization's activities.\nRussian human rights organizations, as well as the international community, consider the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia unlawful. The Russian Government has stated repeatedly that the Russian courts' decisions to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations 'do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses and contain no restriction or prohibition to individually profess the aforementioned doctrine'. At the end of January 2021, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin again instructed the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to deal with \"violations of the legislation on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, and religious associations.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-02-18T12:32:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/12/12_2_hu_24a7328428e5d472.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/12/12_2_hu_25c39a40800174b1.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/12/12_2_hu_4cc118e59441bbc.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/12/12_2_hu_5978365e5393beea.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/12.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","families","suspended","work-restrictions","282.2-2"],"title":"A sentencing for a 70th Jehovah's Witness. A Birobidzhan court handed Konstantin Guzev a two-and-a-half year suspended sentence for practicing his faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 17, 2021 Vladimir Mikhalyov, judge of the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, found Yelena Reyno-Chernyshova guilty under part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of a banned organization). She was sentenced to a fine of 10,000 rubles. The prosecutor asked for 4 years of imprisonment.\nThe sentence has not come into force. The believer pleaded not guilty and asked for full acquittal. There were no victims in the case.\nYelena Reyno-Chernyshova is an accountant by profession. She had lost her job at the financial department of the Government of the Jewish Autonomous Region and her position as deputy head of the financial department of the district administration because of her criminal prosecution for her belief in God. Her husband recently suffered a third heart attack. Her elderly mother also has serious heart problems and needs her daughter's care.\nElena has been under house arrest since October 1, 2019. She was one of 21 victims of criminal prosecution for \"extremism\" who were initiated and investigated by FSB investigator D. S. Yankin. A total of 22 Jehovah's Witnesses were prosecuted in Birobidzhan. The persecution of civilians began after a large-scale operation codenamed \"Judgment Day\" with the participation of 150 security officials.\nThe Reyno-Chernyshova case was opened on September 25, 2019. It was separated from the case against Alam Aliyev (currently under house arrest). The investigation lasted 5 months and 7 days. On March 3, 2020, the case went to court.\nThere have already been 8 convictions of peaceful believers who exercised their constitutional right to freedom of religion in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Among them are Yevgeny Golik, Anastasia Sycheva, Arthur Lokhvitsky and others.\nYelena Reyno-Chernyshova personally sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin, and received an answer. In court, she referred to it, as well as to an annual press conference held in December 2020, where the president said that \"there was no repression on religious grounds in Russia...there was no selective persecution for any particular religion.\"\nRussian human rights activists, as well as the international community, consider the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia to be inappropriate.\nFor example, Vladimir Ryakhovsky, a member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, says that the persecution of Witnesses in Russia has far-reaching consequences: \"It always started with Jehovah's Witnesses and then reflected on everyone.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-02-17T14:33:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/11/image_hu_6f1367154d0cd1e9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/11/image_hu_67b10a9631dc5fbc.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/11/image_hu_383aeabd81aa285a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/11/image_hu_ad07d8bb5cd07106.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/11.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","fine","work-restrictions","recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"title":"Yelena Reyno-Chernyshova of Birobidzhan was ordered to pay a fine. This is an eighth conviction for practicing one's faith in the Jewish Autonomous Region","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 16, 2021, Judge Vladimir Mikhalev of the Birobidzhan District Court found Yulyia Kaganovich, 54, guilty under part 2 of Article 282.2 of the RF Criminal Code. She was sentenced to a fine of 10,000 rubles with five months' installments. The prosecutor recommended four years of imprisonment in a penal colony plus two years of restrictions, and asked to take her into custody in the courtroom.\nYulia Kaganovich became the 68th Jehovah's Witness in Russia to be convicted for her faith. The verdict has not entered into force. There are no victims in the case. The believer insists on her complete innocence.\nYulyia Kaganovich is a creative person and an engineer by profession. Together with her husband they brought up their son, who, like Yulyia, was a musician. In her life Yulyia experienced a lot of shocks: loss of loved ones, betrayal, violence. This affected her poor health. Thanks to the Bible she was able to overcome all her trials and find meaning in her life. But now she is being prosecuted under an \"extremist\" article for her peaceful conversations on spiritual topics.\nThe persecution of Yulyia Kaganovich began almost a year and a half after the notorious large-scale operation codenamed \"Judgment Day,\" involving 150 security forces.\nThe case against Yulyia Kaganovich was initiated on October 10, 2019. It was investigated by the investigative department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Cases against at least 21 believers, including Yulyia Kaganovich, were conducted by the same investigator—D. Yankin. Yulyia Kaganovich's case was investigated for about five months. She couldn't leave Birobidzhan for almost 1.5 years because she had to sign an undertaking not to leave.\nOn March 3, 2020, the case went to the Birobidzhan District Court of the EAD. The first hearing did not take place until nine months later, on December 24, 2020. The hearing was postponed several times due to her health condition, the coronavirus pandemic, or the illness of the judge. Yulyia Kaganovich's criminal case was considered by the same judge as the cases against Yelena Reino-Chernyshova, Svetlana Monis and Larisa Artamonova. Earlier, 6 verdicts against peaceful believers, who exercised their constitutional right to freedom of religion, had already been issued in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Among them are Yevgeny Golik, Anastasiya Sycheva and Artur Lokhvitsky.\nThe prosecution relied on audio recordings of telephone conversations and other materials that had nothing to do with the defendant. For example, the prosecution presented conversations of believers on spiritual topics, discussion of work schedules and leisure activities as evidence of the defendant's involvement in extremist activities.\nRussian and international legal scholars unanimously condemn the actions of the authorities against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation. For example, human rights activists of the international society \"Memorial\" drew attention to the incompatibility of the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses with common sense: \"It is absurd when Jehovah's Witnesses, convicted under the Soviet authorities, are recognized as victims of political repression in accordance with the Federal Law on Rehabilitation (1991)—while simultaneously being sent to prison as current Jehovah's Witnesses\".\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-02-16T15:01:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/10/image_hu_cf8702e154daac05.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/10/image_hu_e70cf5f2a4687e99.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/10/image_hu_85cd1dac55801c32.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/10/image_hu_12a990bbb6bcb5c1.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/10.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"Another sentencing for one of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan. A court imposed a fine on Yuliya Kaganovich for believing in God","type":"news"},{"body":"Vladimir Mikhalyov, a city of Birobidzhan (Jewish Autonomous Region) District Court judge, found Svetlana Monis guilty of participating in the activities of a banned organization on February 15, 2021. The verdict has not yet come into force. The believer is insisting on her complete innocence.\nSvetlana was under house arrest for 495 days. Despite her progressive nearsightedness from an early age, Svetlana became a teacher of foreign languages. Lately she has been taking care of her elderly grandmother, who lives alone.\nThe persecution of Svetlana Monis began one year and 4 months after a criminal case was brought against her husband, Alam Aliyev. This happened after the notorious large-scale operation codenamed \"Judgment Day\" with the participation of 150 security forces.\nThe case was initiated on September 26, 2019. Svetlana was one of the believers against whom FSB investigator D. S. Yankin opened at least 12 criminal cases for extremism. The criminal case of Svetlana Monis was investigated by the Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Investigator D. S. Yankin investigated the case for 5 months. The case was taken to court on 3 March 2020; the hearings, with interruptions, lasted more than 11 months.\nThis is the 6th conviction of Jehovah's Witnesses in the region and the 67th conviction in the entire country.\nThirteen criminal cases against believers are at various stages of review in the Birobidzhan District Court.\nAccording to Article 28 of the Russian Constitution, everyone has the right \"to freely choose, have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and to act in accordance with them. This right extends to believers of all views and beliefs, including Jehovah's Witnesses. No court in Russia has ever recognized the religion or beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses as criminal. Such a decision is discriminatory and unconstitutional. Obviously, it is impossible to ban people, ideas, beliefs, thoughts and feelings.\nThe world community, in particular representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, unequivocally condemns the religious repression of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. They assert that \"Jehovah's Witnesses should be able to peacefully enjoy their human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, and freedom of expression, without discrimination.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-02-15T15:06:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/8/image_hu_aed68666265b49d7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/8/image_hu_725825f4e97a1b5c.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/8/image_hu_7a814cedc287d00a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/8/image_hu_4b974de3f7ab42b5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/8.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","families","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"A sentence for 67th Jehovah's Witness. A Birobidzhan court ordered Svetlana Monis to pay a fine for believing in God","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 12, 2021, Judge Vladimir Mikhalev of the Birobidzhan District Court found Larisa Artamonova guilty under Part 2, Article 282.2 of the RF Criminal Code (participation in extremist activities). With reference to Article 64 of the Criminal Code, the court sentenced her to a fine of 10,000 rubles ($135) with payment in installments for 4 months.\nIn the Jewish Autonomous Region, there have already been several convictions of peaceful believers who exercised their constitutional right to freedom of religion. Among them are Yevgeny Golik, Anastasia Sycheva and Artur Lokhvitsky, Igor Tsarev. Larisa Artamonova became the 14th woman in modern Russia to be punished under a criminal article for her profession of faith in Jehovah. The total number of those convicted throughout Russia is 64. (14 women and 51 men; the youngest was 23, the oldest 74).\nIn early childhood, Larisa Artamonova received psychological trauma because of the murder of her father. Later, she had to raise her son, who suffers from a rare disease, alone, as well as overcome her own health problems. The criminal prosecution of Larisa Artamonova began sometime after the infamous FSB special operation codenamed \"Judgment Day,\" involving 150 law enforcement officers.\nLarisa, as a person who believes in God and has the right to freedom of religion guaranteed to her by the Russian Constitution, met with co-religionists to pray and discuss the Bible. The investigation calls such meetings \"active participation in an illegal religious event for the purpose of spreading the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nThe case against Larisa Artamonova was initiated on September 25, 2019. Due to her recognizance not to leave, she was restricted in the right to move freely for almost 1.5 years. The investigation was conducted by the SO of the FSB of Russia in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Cases against at least 12 believers, including Larisa Artamonova, were handled by the same investigator, D. Yankin. The investigation lasted about 5 months. On March 3, 2020, the case was submitted to the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region. The court hearings lasted almost a year. On April 13, 2020, the preliminary hearing in the case of Larisa Artamonova was postponed, and on May 7, 2020, the court proceedings were suspended for 5 months and resumed on October 22, 2020. Larisa Artamonova's criminal case was heard by the same judge who hears cases against Elena Reino-Chernyshova and Yulia Kaganovich. In the Birobidzhan District Court, 14 criminal cases against believers are at various stages of consideration.\nRussian and foreign figures and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. They include the Russian Human Rights Ombudsman, the Presidential Human Rights Council, the Russian President, prominent Russian public figures, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses and do not contain restrictions or bans on individual practice of the aforementioned doctrine.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-02-12T17:26:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/6/6_2_hu_2a97cbfa2a1c2cfd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/6/6_2_hu_51b9ccb883e7a218.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/6/6_2_hu_6462b0ab4579f0e7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/6/6_2_hu_54602a974867c771.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/6.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"The verdict has been announced for the 66th Jehovah's Witness. In Birobidzhan, a court sentenced Larisa Artamonova to a fine for her belief in God","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 12, 2021 judge of the Birobidzhan district court of EAD Aleksey Ivaschenko sentenced the peaceful believer to 2,5 year suspended sentence with restriction of freedom for 1 year and with probation for 2 years. He was declared guilty of participating in extremist activities (Part 2, Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The sentence has not entered into force. He will be under house arrest until the verdict comes into force.\nAlthough there were no victims in the case, the prosecutor asked for four years in prison for the believer. 46-year-old Igor Tsarev and his wife are raising a schoolgirl daughter. His suspended sentence condemns him to a life of constant fear, as he may go to jail at any time if law enforcement officials deem his individual faith \"an extension of the organization.” The believer insists on his innocence and will appeal his sentence.\nReading the Bible with friends and improving his communication skills on spiritual topics was equated by the investigation with criminal activity. \"I am a Jehovah's Witness, but that does not automatically make me a criminal,\" Tsarev told the court shortly before the verdict was read, \"As a people, we are known for our peacefulness. Jehovah's Witnesses form an international brotherhood based on love and mutual respect. The Bible taught me to be a decent man, a responsible husband, a good father, a devoted friend... not to repay evil for evil to anyone. Is this extremism in the sense of our legislation?\"\nIn Birobidzhan, security forces have been harassing peaceful believers since the fall of 2015. It was then that the first planting of banned literature in the worship buildings of Jehovah's Witnesses was recorded. Jehovah's Witnesses from Birobidzhan learned about the beginning of repression for the faith in 2018 when a special operation involving 150 law enforcement officers was carried out against them. The Federal Security Service of Russia in the Jewish Autonomous Region initiated a criminal case against Igor Tsarev on July 30, 2019. The believer has been under house arrest for about 1.5 years (since August 13, 2019).\nThe preliminary investigation into Igor Tsarev's case lasted about 5 months. The charges were based on video footage obtained by FSB officers during covert filming of worship services. On December 23, 2019, the case went to court. Most of the hearings were held behind closed doors at the request of the prosecutor. In his opinion, this was necessary to \"secure\" the participants in the trial from the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses. The trial lasted almost 14 months.\nThe Jewish Autonomous Region is one of the regions with the largest number of criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses. Nineteen criminal cases against 22 Jehovah's Witnesses are in various stages of review by the EAO courts. Three local Jehovah's Witnesses, Yevgeniy Golik, Artur Lokhvitskiy, and Anastasiya Sycheva, have already been convicted for these peaceful people exercising their constitutional right to freedom of religion. Igor Tsarev became the 64th resident of modern-day Russia to be criminally convicted for practicing his faith in Jehovah.\nDuring the hearings on Tsarev's case, the prosecutor acknowledged the right, enshrined in Article 28 of the Russian Constitution, for citizens \"to practice any religion individually or in association with others.\" At the same time, he claimed that Igor Tsarev was allowed to believe \"only within himself\" and was not allowed to participate in biblical discussions with co-religionists.\nRussian and foreign figures and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, nor do they restrict or prohibit the individual practice of the above-mentioned doctrine.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-02-12T12:42:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/5/image_hu_a59f7b754ce2ae3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/5/image_hu_54089242d9e1f130.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/5/image_hu_3b866f456a3b357e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/5/image_hu_bcea6beca6b4847c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/5.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","hidden-surveillance","minors","recognizance-agreement"],"title":"The verdict has been announced for the 65th Jehovah's Witness. In Birobidzhan, Igor Tsarev was given a suspended sentence of 2.5 years for reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"The deputy head of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, Major I. Fedorov, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Agnessa Postnikova on the basis of the report of the FSB operative D. Krupetsky. According to the investigation, the Postnikovs \"formed a criminal group,\" and the believer, \"approving the activities of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses\" and \"sharing its extremist goals ... became part of the LRO.\nFedorov also opened a criminal case against Agnessa Postnikova under Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of the Postnikovs in Birobidzhan","date":"2021-02-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan19/index.html#20210212","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","282.2-1.1","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"After a wave of searches that took place in Moscow and the Moscow region on February 10, 2021, 43-year-old Aleksandr Serebryakov and 43-year-old Yuriy Temirbulatov were detained. On February 12, 2021, the Savelovsky District Court of Moscow is scheduled to select a deterrence measure for the two men.\nWhat are the believers accused of? In its press release, the Investigative Committee announced that a criminal case had been opened under the article for organizing and participating in the activities of an extremist organization (parts 1 and 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Believers are accused of the fact that in the north of Moscow “conspiratorial gatherings were held in one of the apartments located on Dybenko Street, where the followers studied religious literature and information contained in other sources of information propagating the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, and carried out other actions typical of this associations. In addition, the organizers held online meetings via video link. \" The case is being investigated by the Investigation Department for the North Administrative District of the Main Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the city of Moscow. It is not known whether this case is related to other criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in the capital, for example, the case of Tchaikovsky and others in Moscow or the case of Nikiforov and others in Chekhov.\nThe scale of the February roundup. In the early morning of February 10, 2021, representatives of law enforcement agencies with attesting witnesses and camera operators began to gather at some entrances of residential buildings in Khovrino and Levoberezhny district of Moscow, as well as Khimki and Chekhov. In a press release from the Investigative Committee it is said that the searches were carried out at 16 addresses of the believers' residence together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the FSB of Moscow and the Moscow Region with the support of the National Guard. Beginning at 5:30 am, families of Jehovah's Witnesses began to inform friends and family about the incursions into their homes. At least 14 searches have been confirmed. After the raids, at least 18 believers were interrogated until late in the evening in the buildings of the Investigative Committee on Kuusinen Street in Moscow.\nBeatings and bullying. The TV channels were flown around the footage of the invasion of the believers by law enforcers dressed in helmets and body armor and armed with machine guns. The believers who have been lifted out of bed lie on the floor with their hands behind their heads. One of them is taken away with handcuffs fastened behind his back. During one of the searches, the security forces beat two men, although they did not offer any resistance. After that, their hands were tied with plastic mounting straps. When one of the believers was pushed and fell onto the bed, the tie broke. For this, his hands were tied with three more clamps. The men were in this position while the search was going on. In addition, the security forces used gross obscene language and expressed derogatory comments about the religion of the apartment residents. At the end of the search, the family noticed that a large amount of personal savings had been stolen from them.\nThe logic of the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses is based on the assumption that faith in God is \"a continuation of the activities of an extremist organization.\" \"Proving\" the religion of the accused, which they do not hide anyway, the investigation automatically interprets this fact as the activity of a banned legal entity. Foreign leaders and organizations also unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. These include the European Union's foreign policy service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teaching individually.\"\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2021-02-11T17:18:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/4/4_2_hu_78c8c0ab55ef5557.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/4/4_2_hu_5da581da6d58a86f.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/4/4_2_hu_38893fd1bfa0f661.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/4/4_2_hu_c6aaa4e6f292f4d5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/4.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","siloviks-violence","282.2-1","282.2-2","interrogation"],"title":"Two Jehovah's Witnesses are detained in Moscow and a criminal case for practicing their faith is initiated. Some believers are reporting beatings","type":"news"},{"body":"Maria Rasskazova, an investigator of the Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the City of Moscow, initiates criminal case No. 12102450011000009 under Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against unidentified persons.\nEarly in the morning, representatives of law enforcement agencies gather with witnesses at several residential buildings in Khovrino and the Levoberezhny district of Moscow, Khimki and Chekhov. Their goal is the families of Jehovah's Witnesses. The first reports of the invasion of the apartments come from believers at 06:20. At the end of the day, it becomes known about at least 14 searches of believers. Some are taken away for interrogations. Yuriy Temirbulatov and Aleksandr Serebryakov were detained and placed in a temporary detention facility.\nTV channels broadcast footage of the invasion of believers by security forces dressed in helmets and body armor and armed with machine guns. The believers who have been lifted out of bed lie on the floor with their hands behind their heads. One of them is taken away with handcuffs fastened behind his back. During one of the searches, the security forces beat two men, although they did not offer any resistance. After that, their hands are tied with plastic mounting clamps. When one of the believers is pushed onto the bed, the tie breaks. For this, his hands are tightened with three more clamps. The men are in this position while the search is underway. At the end of the search, the family notices that a large amount of personal savings has been stolen from them.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Serebryakov and Temirbulatov in Moscow","date":"2021-02-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/moscow2/index.html#20210210","regions":["moscow"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","search","siloviks-violence","plant"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On February 2, 2021, Olga Klyuchikova, judge of the Birobidzhan district court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, sentenced 35-year-old Artur Lokhvitskiy to 2 years and 6 months in prison conditionally with a 3-year probation period and the obligation to report to the police once a month. The sentence has not come into force.\nThe verdict was handed down under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The judge considered the discussion of the Bible among fellow believers to be participation in the activities of an extremist organization. The state prosecutor N. Breycher demanded four years in a penal colony and one year of additional restrictions for a peaceful believer. At the same time, there is not a single victim in the case. The defendant does not plead guilty and notes that even the prosecution did not prove the existence of a crime.\n\"In my opinion, the entire judicial investigation proved that the worship meetings that I am charged with are exclusively peaceful, lawful, non-threatening religious activities that were not prohibited by any court. Therefore, there was no crime,\" said Artur Lokhvitskiy, speaking in court with his last word.\nSince the spring of 2017, believers' phones have been tapped and there has been hidden video recording of their worship meetings. In May 2018, in the city of Birobidzhan, an FSB special operation with the participation of 150 law enforcement officers, code-named \"Judgment Day,\" took place against local Jehovah's Witnesses. As a result, 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers.\nThe case against Artur Lokhvitskiywas initiated on July 31, 2019. It was investigated by the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Jewish Autonomous Region. The investigation lasted five months. The accusation brought against the believer was based on secretly made video recordings of worship services, where moral and spiritual topics were discussed. On December 24, 2019, the case went to trial. Hearings had been going on for more than a year. The conviction of Artur Lokhvitskiy was the 3rd conviction of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Jewish Autonomous Region.\nArtur Lokhvitskiy is an electrician by profession and works in the fire department. He spent about a year and a half under house arrest. Arthur was followed by his wife, Anna, and mother, Irina. His wife, Anna, suffered serious emotional trauma as a result of the criminal prosecution and had to undergo expensive medical treatment.\nArtur Lokhvitskiy became the 62nd believer in Russia to be convicted after the Russian Supreme Court liquidated the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 local religious organizations.\nRussian and foreign figures and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. These include the RF Commissioner for Human Rights, the RF Presidential Human Rights Council, the RF President, prominent Russian public figures, the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses and do not contain restrictions or bans on the individual practice of the above-mentioned doctrine.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-02-02T17:07:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/2/2_2_hu_2022a223e5b42701.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/2/2_2_hu_a14502378ab87a07.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/2/2_2_hu_23b3f46917883c62.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/2/2_2_hu_ba4158e552c64a45.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/2.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","families","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A Birobidzhan court handed a sentence for believing in God. Artur Lokhvitskiy received a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 28, 2021 the FSB conducted searches on believers in Kyzyl, the capital of the Tyva Republic. 41 year-old Anatoliy Senin was detained and placed in the temporary detention center. It became known that a criminal case was opened against him under an \"extremist\" article. In the next two days the court will decide on the question of a believer's preventive measure.\nUpdate. On January 30, 2021, the court placed 2 believers under house arrest: 39-year-old Vitaliy Manzyrykchi and 41-year-old Anatoliy Senin. Both spent 2 days behind bars, in a temporary detention center. During interrogations, investigators are interested in former members of the local religious organization of Jehovah\u0026rsquo;s Witnesses in the city of Kyzyl, which was liquidated in April 2017 by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. Local believers notice themselves being surveilled. In the evening, around 6:30 p. m. law enforcers came to search at least four local families. After a three-hour search of Anatoliy Senin , he was detained and taken to the investigative department for questioning. Also, law enforcement officers searched and questioned a man who did not share the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses. Electronic devices were seized from him.\nThe Republic of Tuva, located on the border with Mongolia, became the 61st region of Russia where the authorities persecute Jehovah's Witnesses, even though the Supreme Court has not banned believers from practicing their religion.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2021-01-29T18:01:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/handcuffs3_hu_a40cecf496601106.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/handcuffs3_hu_59b3c42f7ba1668c.jpg","webp":"/news/common/handcuffs3_hu_3fcbebbe31916c7c.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/handcuffs3_hu_ec97b38ee75f388c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/01/7.html","regions":["tyva"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"The Republic of Tyva became the 61st region of Russia where Jehovah's Witnesses are persecuted. A believer was placed in a temporary detention facility in the city of Kyzyl","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 26, 2021, judge of the Leninsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don, Snezhana Fedorova, sentenced Galina Parkova to 2 years and 3 months on probation with the same probation period. The court considered the participation of a believer in peaceful religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses as extremism.\n“I am allegedly being judged not for my faith, but for extremism, but no signs of this grave crime have been found. During the trial, we examined the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, and the indictment now and then flashes phrases: “bowed her head for prayer”, “sang along” ... There is a substitution of concepts. The religious life of an individual is presented as the activity of a prohibited legal entity, ”Galina Parkova said in her last word to the court on the eve of the verdict. She drew attention to the fact that there are no victims in the case, and her convictions are aimed at helping, not harming people. “An extremist without extremism, like borscht without vegetables, does not exist! My conscience is clear before God and before the law, ”said the believer.\nThe criminal case under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 (participation in the activities of an extremist organization) against Galina Parkova was initiated on June 6, 2019. The investigation was supervised by the First Investigation Department of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.\nGalina and two of her fellow believers (the cases of Olga Ganusha and Lyudmila Ponomarenko are separated into separate proceedings) were accused of participating in meetings at which prayers were sounded and Bible discussions were held, which the security officials considered a threat to the security of society and the state. The logic of the accusation was based on the erroneous thesis that the confession of faith of Jehovah's Witnesses is \"a continuation of the activities of an extremist organization.\" As a consequence of this approach, instead of searching for and proving the guilt of the defendants, the prosecutor's office was busy \"proving\" that they professed a certain religion, despite the fact that the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is not prohibited. Having “proved” the religion of the defendants, which they did not hide anyway, the investigation proposed to interpret this fact as the activity of a banned legal entity. On these grounds, the prosecutor recommended for Galina Parkova 3 years of probation, 1 year of restriction of freedom with a 4-year probationary period.\n\"The absurdity of the logic of the prosecution did not embarrass Judge Fedorova, and she passed a guilty verdict, equating a peaceful believer with dangerous criminals. The verdict has not yet entered into force,\" said Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nDuring the criminal prosecution Galina Parkova is under recognizance not to leave. She is forced to do odd jobs in order to support herself and help her husband Alexander, who, together with two other co-religionists, has also been in jail for more than a year and a half for their faith.\nThe case of Galina Parkova is one of 9 criminal cases for her faith in the Rostov region. In relation to Ruslan Alyev and Semyon Baibak, the court has already passed convictions. Alyev was sentenced to 2.5 years suspended imprisonment, and Baybak - 3.5 years suspended. Believers will appeal against sentences. Galina Parkova became the 62nd inhabitant of modern Russia, in respect of whom the court has already passed a guilty verdict for their faith.\nRussian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Among them are the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, prominent public figures of Russia, the foreign policy service of the European Union, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ... The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teaching individually.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-01-26T16:54:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/01/6/image_hu_b8dd6a2eebbeb6d6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/01/6/image_hu_49a772ca518cbe69.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/01/6/image_hu_3b9c449d5692e0df.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/01/6/image_hu_d381aa3c20175d31.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/01/6.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","families"],"title":"A sentence for discussing the Bible has been imposed in Rostov-on-Don. Galina Parkova received a two-year-three-month suspended sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"The believer is formally charged with committing crimes under Part 2 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Okhrimchuk in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2021-01-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don9/index.html#20210125","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 21, 2021, the judge of the Obluchensky district court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, Olga Afanasyeva, found Anastasiya Sycheva a member of a forbidden organization and sentenced her to 2 years of suspended imprisonment with a 2-year probation period and 6 months of restricted freedom. This punishment was recommended by the state prosecutor.\nAnastasiya Sycheva from Obluchye was sentenced only for participation in worship services and communicating with fellow believers. The believer explained to the court that the services teach compassion, mercy, patience, and other Christian qualities, encouragement to avoid violence and immorality. \"What kind of extremism are we talking about? I don't understand,\" she stressed.\nAfter 2017, Anastasiya Sycheva became the 61st Russian citizen found guilty of extremist activity for practicing faith in Jehovah God. The sentence has not entered into legal force. The believer does not admit her guilt and will appeal it. She notes: \"...there are no victims in the criminal case. Not a single person was harmed by my actions. After watching the video recordings of the worship services in court, Anastasiya Sycheva explained that during the discussions of the biblical teachings there were not extremist ideas, but appeals to compassion for others, which helps those who lead asocial lives to reform. The prosecutor was never able to answer Anastasia's question about which of these he saw as extremism. On January 15, 2021, Anastasia gave her final word, pointing out to the court that \"a minister of God must hate the evil that hurts others. The believer emphasized: \"We try just not to hate people, but even to eradicate such thoughts. I cannot be a friend of God by hurting my neighbor. None of the participants of the trial noted that I had a hatred for other people. [...] Jehovah's Witnesses are in no way associated with extremism, on the contrary, they show love for each other and other people.\"\nAlmost three years earlier, in May 2018, in the city of Birobidzhan, an FSB special operation with the participation of 150 security officials, code-named \"Judgment Day,\" took place against local Jehovah's Witnesses. As a result, 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers. The case against Sycheva was initiated on September 25, 2019. For more than a year, the believer has been under recognizance not to leave (since October 1, 2019). The case was investigated for 5 months by the Investigation Department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region. The case is based on video footage of worship services and recordings of Anastasia's telephone conversations, which, in her opinion, not only lack signs of extremism, but, on the contrary, show respect for the interlocutors.\nOn 4 March 2020, the case went to court. The hearings lasted more than 10 months. There are at least 26 volumes in the case. A witness for the prosecution, police officer Zvereva, who knew nothing about the events Anastasiya Sycheva was accused of, was questioned in court. Zvereva was involved in the formation of administrative offense cases against the Local Religious Organization and its leaders in 2015-2016, who were found guilty by courts for possession of extremist materials, although they were planted by believers. Also, believers reported to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation about the crime committed by law enforcement officers, namely planting prohibited items on them. This report is available in the materials of the criminal case. There was no proper response to this statement from the state.\nAnastasia faced many difficulties in her life. Her older sister died of cancer in one year, and later her mother and brother passed away. The believer took care of and raised two nephews, and now cares for her ailing elderly father. Ten years ago Japanese television made a program about the Sychev family. The program was about family values and human relationships. Journalists liked this large, friendly family, and in the summer of 2020, Japanese reporters found Anastasia again. They reported that the program about their family was being re-run. Ironically, in Russia, this well-meaning woman was accused of \"participating in extremist activities\" (part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code).\nRussian human rights organizations, as well as the international community, consider the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia unlawful. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, nor do they contain a restriction or ban on the individual practice of the aforementioned doctrine.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-01-23T14:24:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/01/3/image_hu_4b868e1ebcbe2ff2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/01/3/image_hu_2dca2ddb4e136f7d.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/01/3/image_hu_21a07aae475aad65.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/01/3/image_hu_7ea248ac319f5d67.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/01/3.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","recognizance-agreement","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A Jewish Autonomous Region court sentenced the 43-year-old nurse Anastasiya Sychyeva to two years of suspended sentence for her belief in Jehovah's God","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 20, 2021 Olga Klyuchikova, judge of the Birobidzhan district court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, sentenced Yevgeny Golik under part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of an extremist association): 2.5 years of suspended sentence with a probation period of 3 years and restriction of freedom for 1 year.\nThe state prosecutor requested that he be sentenced to 4 years in a penal colony. There were no victims in the case. The believer pleaded not guilty and asked for a full acquittal. The verdict did not come into force.\n\"I am against extremism, violence and brutality. I have never felt hatred towards people and have never encouraged anyone to do so. All my actions were presented on video. I studied the Bible with the perpetrators, and this was not prohibited by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation,\" Golik said in the defendant's last statement.\nBefore becoming a Jehovah's Witness, Yevgeniy Golik served in the army in Chechnya and has state awards for participation in combat operations. After becoming acquainted with the Bible, he got rid of drug addiction.\nFor almost a year and a half, he has been under house arrest, which limits his freedom of movement. It all began in May 2018, when an FSB special operation with the participation of 150 law enforcement officers, code-named \"Judgment Day,\" took place against local Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Birobidzhan. As a result, 19 criminal cases were opened against 22 believers. On July 30, 2019, a criminal case was opened against Yevgeniy Golik. His case was investigated by the Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Jewish Autonomous Region. The investigation went on for about five months, and on December 23, 2019, the materials were transferred to court. The trial lasted 13 months.\nDuring the appearance in court, a witness for the prosecution, a police officer, was unable to explain what exactly the \"crime\" of Yevgeniy Golik consisted in. She only referred to the fact that the townspeople were unhappy with the defendant's religion. They didn't hear any extremist slogans from the believers. Believers gathered to pray and discuss the Bible with co-religionists, which the security forces considered a threat to state security and the constitutional order. The entire logic of the accusation was based on the speculative thesis that belief in God is \"an extension of the activity of an extremist organization. As a consequence of this approach, instead of searching for and proving the guilt of the defendants, the prosecutor's office was busy \"proving\" that they practiced a particular religion, even though no religion is banned in Russia. Having \"proved\" the defendants' confession, which they had never concealed, the investigation suggested that this fact should be automatically interpreted as the activities of a banned legal entity. The absurdity of this logic did not embarrass the court, and it equated peaceful believers with dangerous criminals.\nThe conviction of Yevgeniy Golik was the first in the Jewish Autonomous Region. In January 2021 several more sentences for believers in this region are scheduled to be announced. Yevgeniy Golik became the 60th resident of modern Russia to be convicted of believing in God after the Russian Supreme Court liquidated the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 local religious organizations.\nRussian and foreign figures and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. These include the RF Commissioner for Human Rights, the RF Presidential Human Rights Council, the RF President, prominent Russian public figures, the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses and do not contain restrictions or bans on the individual practice of the above-mentioned doctrine.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-01-22T09:23:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/01/2/image_hu_7c4ea7588ce7cb9f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/01/2/image_hu_8228481b0358385c.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/01/2/image_hu_6b227b22e6641183.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/01/2/image_hu_b95a99ed144d43ee.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/01/2.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","families","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"Yevgeniy Golik, 44, of Birobidzhan was convicted for his faith. He received a two-and-half year suspended sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"Referee: Olga Marchenko. Pavlovsky District Court of the Krasnodar Territory (Pavlovskaya Station, Lenin Street, 23). The first hearing in the case of Vladimir Skachidub is underway. The believer is charged immediately under 2 articles of the Criminal Code: participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and involvement of others in the activities of an extremist organization (part 1.1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The measure of restraint for him remains unchanged - he is under recognizance not to leave and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Skachidub in Pavlovskaya","date":"2020-12-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovskaya3/index.html#20201230","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["to-court","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A conscientious objector, whose faith does not allow him to take up arms, was convicted under \"extremist\" articles 282.2 and 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Vladimir Barvin, a Leninskiy District Court judge, issued the verdict on December 21, 2020. Several days earlier, the same court handed down a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence to another Jehovah's Witness, Ruslan Alyyev.\nSemyon Baybak was sentenced to 3.5 years suspended imprisonment with a probation period of 4.5 years, 1-year restriction of freedom, namely: it is forbidden to leave home from 22:00 to 6:00, it is forbidden to visit institutions where alcoholic drinks are sold, it is forbidden to leave Rostov-on-Don, change the place of residence and work, it is ordered to come twice a month to a supervisory body for registration. The believer was immediately released from the measure of restraint in the form of house arrest.\nAnother 14 law-abiding residents of Rostov-on-Don are currently prosecuted under a similar scheme. The investigation interprets the unprohibited observance of religious rules — reading the Bible, praying, singing, and Biblical conversations — as participation in the activities of an organization banned by a court in Moscow in 2017.\nOn December 18, 2020, addressing the court with his last word, Semyon Baibak said: \"I am not the first Jehovah's Witness in this court and, unfortunately, not the last. My other co-religionists will be here for some time yet... Jehovah's Witnesses in general, as a religion, are absolutely alien to extremism in all its manifestations. Let me give you an example from history. Bergen-Belsen, Bohr, Buchenwald, Wevelsburg, Gros Rosen, Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Lichtenburg, Majdanek, Mauthausen, Mittelbau-Dora, Niederhagen, Neuengamm, Oswiecim, Ravensbrück, Stutthof, Esterwegen... These are all names of Nazi concentration camps. The Jehovah's Witnesses, a group of people marked with a purple triangle patch on their uniforms, were held . . . in each of them. Sent to these terrible places for their religious beliefs, for refusing to say \"Heil Hitler!\" and for refusing to participate in that war. So why did they refuse? The Bible calls, \"As far as possible on your part, be at peace with all men.\" For Jehovah's Witnesses, these are not just words. It is a directive from God that we honor sacredly.\"\nSemyon Baibak did not admit his guilt of participating in an extremist organization. He considers his criminal case to be nothing but religious persecution. At the same time, he told the court: \"I don't feel depressed or hate that such things touched me as well. But I intend to prove my innocence to the very end. I would like to end with a passage from the Bible that I like very much: \"We are constrained in every way, but not driven into a corner; we are confused, but our situation is not hopeless; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; subverted, but not destroyed.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-12-22T18:29:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/12/8/image_hu_6762db9cfce68be2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/12/8/image_hu_8c09ab7371274c24.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/12/8/image_hu_eea9b00288f1cb0a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/12/8/image_hu_f00b1423fef2f32b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/12/8.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"title":"Another verdict for practicing faith: a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence for the 23-year-old Rostov-on-Don-based Semyon Baybak","type":"news"},{"body":"On 17 December 2020, Vladimir Strokov, judge of the Leninskiy District Court of Rostov-on-Don, found a law-abiding believer guilty of participating in the activities of a banned organization just because he observes the customs of his religion: he reads the Bible and recommends it to others. The verdict did not take effect.\nTogether with the suspended sentence, Ruslan Alyev was put on probation for 2.5 years with the obligation to report for registration once a month.\nRuslan Alyev, a Chinese language tutor, spent about a year and a half under house arrest after the Investigative Committee opened a case against him for praying, reading the Bible, and discussing religious issues. The case file includes testimony from a classified witness whose words the court accepted even without questioning him, depriving the defense of the opportunity to ask him questions. The prosecutor asked for three years of suspended sentence for Alyev with a probation period of four years.\nIn his final statement, \"In the first century C.E. a young man of 33 years stood trial on charges of inciting rebellion against the state. The witnesses' testimonies contradicted each other, the prosecution could not prove his guilt, but the verdict, nevertheless, turned out to be guilty. That man was Jesus Christ. Today, in the twenty-first century, I, a young man of 33, stand before the court accused of a crime against the constitutional order and security of the state. When I hear the charge of undermining the constitutional order and threatening the security of the state, I wonder at the inconsistency and absurdity of the charge. It's like drawing a sheep with fangs and claws: on paper it's possible, but in life it's not.\"\nI grew up imbibing the culture of at least three nations: Russian, Azerbaijani and Ukrainian,\" Aliyev said about himself in his last statement, \"Each of them is dear and close to me equally. [...] Among my friends are quite a few people from various English-speaking countries in Africa and the Chinese. By blood I am an Azerbaijani. Everyone knows about the long-standing hostility between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples, but my close friend is Armenian, he was a witness at my wedding. This attitude towards people of different nationalities, races, religions and social status has been formed in me, thanks to my religious upbringing... And now to hear accusations of fomenting ethnic or racial hatred or superiority over others is very surprising to me and to those who know me.\nRuslan Alyev is one of 16 Jehovah's Witnesses in the Rostov region who are charged under Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code because of their religion.\nLaw enforcers mistakenly mistake citizens' religion for participation in the activities of an extremist organization. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, nor do they contain restrictions or bans on individual practice of the aforementioned doctrine.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-12-17T18:00:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/12/5/image_hu_eb22bbce2d1801d6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/12/5/image_hu_ca643051c003f964.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/12/5/image_hu_60a844627e38292d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/12/5/image_hu_36ca6b4563d10f9b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/12/5.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"A Rostov-on-Don sentence for practicing faith: one of Jehovah's Witnesses, Ruslan Alyyev, 33, was handed a two-and-a-half year suspended sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 9, 2020, at least three searches in the apartments of local followers of religion Jehovah's Witnesses take place in the city of Oryol. It is reported that criminal proceedings have been initiated against three believers.\nThree believers were detained and sent to a temporary detention center: Vladimir Piskaryov, 64, Artur Putintsev, 50, and Vladimir Melnik, 54. A married couple was also taken in for questioning, but were later released. According to updated information, searches were carried out at 7 addresses. During the search of Artur and Lyudmila Putintsev's home, an investigator pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot the dog. Electronic devices, books and personal records were seized from the believers. In one of the apartments, law enforcement officers seized a collection of poems, explaining that they were looking for anything that contained the name Jehovah.\nOn December 11, the Sovetsky District Court of Orel sent Vladimir Melnik and Vladimir Piskarev to a pre-trial detention center for 2 months. Artur Putintsev was left by the court in the temporary detention facility.\nUpdate. On December 14, the judge of the Sovetsky District Court of Orel, Andrei Tretyakov, decided to send Artur Putintsev to a pre-trial detention center for 2 months. According to the official press-release of the Investigative Committee, the case was initiated under part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code. It is reported that the believers in Oryol and Naryshkino were identified by FSB and MVD officers. The believers are accused for \"convening meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses, in which they personally participated and formed their summons.\"\nTwo local Jehovah's Witnesses have already been convicted for their faith: Dennis Christensen and Sergey Skrynnikov.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2020-12-09T16:58:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/search3_hu_7ea1ce3a27574811.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/search3_hu_5d81dd4e85a32543.jpg","webp":"/news/common/search3_hu_66d4ea9dba81578c.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/search3_hu_38f81ff3fa3ee2a0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/12/3.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","interrogation","new-case","282.2-2","elderly","ivs","sizo"],"title":"In the City of Oryol a Wave of Searches in the Apartments of Dennis Christensen’s Fellow Believers","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 30, 2020, in the city of Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk Region, searches were carried out in 4 families of believers, including a 69-year-old woman. A criminal case was initiated under Art. 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against 43-year-old Ilya Olenin.\nThe security forces broke into the apartment of Ilya and Natalya Olenin early in the morning. The search was led by FSB officer Alexander Teplyakov. The law enforcers searched the apartment where the believers live, their car and garage, and also another apartment 50 km from Snezhinsk. As a result of the searches, law enforcement officers seized cash and bank cards, Bibles, electronic devices, disks with films and personal records from the Olenins.\nThe search was also carried out at the work of an elderly believer who will turn 70 in the spring. The operatives asked her colleagues if she talked to them on religious topics. In addition, searches took place in her apartment and garage. Electronic devices, photographs and personal records were taken from the woman.\nA new criminal case was initiated by the investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Chelyabinsk Region, Alexander Chepenko, notorious for other cases against believers, including the married couple Vladimir and Valentina Suvorov, who are already over 70.\nThe order to conduct the searches was signed by Leonid Bobrov, judge of the Traktorozavodsky District Court of Chelyabinsk. Other details are being investigated.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2020-12-03T16:11:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/search1_hu_702c9b9704ae758a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/search1_hu_7c3d49c9fecf8054.jpg","webp":"/news/common/search1_hu_9a6e0a4c091b8ea3.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/search1_hu_4ae7e68fe9772eb5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/12/1.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"Security forces raided the homes of believers in the Chelyabinsk Region, including the home of a 69-year-old woman. A criminal case was initiated","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 30, 2020 Pervomaiskiy District Court of Omsk sentenced Sergey Polyakov to 3 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony, he was taken into custody. Another 3 women were given a suspended sentence by the court: Anastasia Polyakova 2 years 6 months, Gaukhar Bektemirova 2 years and 3 months, Dinara Dyusekeeva 2 years.\nThe verdict has not entered into force, believers will appeal against it. Sergey Polyakov will wait for the appeal while in jail.\nSergey Polyakov and his wife Anastasia, a radiophysicist and lawyer, led a usual life until June 2018, when a criminal case was initiated against them. About two weeks later, in July, their house was searched, during which Sergei was severely beaten. The spouses were later sent to a detention center where they spent 154 days in solitary confinement - Anastasia was the first woman Jehovah's Witness in the history of modern Russia to be imprisoned for her faith. The couple spent another 91 days under house arrest. On July 13, 2018, they filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights.\nThe veterinary doctor Dinara Dyusekeeva and her friend Gaukhar Bektemirova were under investigation about a year after the Polyakovs. In the summer of 2019, a case was also filed against them, which was connected to the case of Anastasia and Sergei, and the believers were under obligation to appear.\nThe women were charged with involvement, while Sergei Polyakov was charged with organizing and financing a banned religious organization. This is how the investigator qualified the fact that the believers talked to others about God and gathered for religious service together.\nDuring the trial, none of the interviewed witnesses confirmed that the defendants had caused them any harm or made threats, although some witnesses criticized the religious views of believers.\nAmong the evidence of their \"guilt\" were 20 biblical cartoons and the Bible in different languages. As in other cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, there are no victims in criminal cases against the Polyakovs, Dyusekeeva or Bektemirova.\nThe defendants themselves, testifying, explained that they \"exercised their constitutional right to spread their religious beliefs\" because \"Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation applies to all believers. They categorically rejected their involvement in extremism.\nAs Sergey Polyakov stated in his last word, the history of Jehovah's Witnesses persecution in the Soviet Union proved that believers do not threaten society and respect the authorities. His wife Anastasia brought arguments to the judge proving that she and her husband and fellow believers are judged solely for their faith in Jehovah, not for crimes.\n\"My desire for peace is connected not only with my non-participation in military conflicts, but also with my rejection of violence against other people,\" Gauhar Bektemirova said. \"I am confident in my rightness. My position is shared by many reasonable people around the world,\" Dinara Dyusekeeva noted in her testimony. On November 10, the believer made a last word in the process, emphasizing: \"Neither I nor my friends have committed any crime.\nJudge Denis Pershukevich ignored inconsistencies in the case and the arguments of the believers, admitting all 4 defendants guilty of extremism. Sergey Polyakov will have to go to the colony for his faith. The court decided to include 5 months of believer's stay in the pre-trial detention center and 3 months under house arrest as the time served. The sentence did not come into force, the believers will appeal against it.\nRussian human rights organizations, as well as the international community, consider the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia to be illegitimate.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-11-30T19:22:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/11/12/image_hu_44c83bdba91ae661.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/11/12/image_hu_47b9c37fa528caf0.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/11/12/image_hu_d4789da9a42df955.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/11/12/image_hu_170b8fb513ea6966.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/11/12.html","regions":["omsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","families"],"title":"An Omsk court sentenced a 48-year-old Jehovah's Witness to a three-year sentence in a correctional facility. His wife and two other women received a suspended sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"Judge of the Pervomaisky District Court of Omsk Denis Pershukevich sentences Sergey Polyakov to 3 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony. At the same time, the court decides to include 5 months of the believer's stay in a pre-trial detention center and 3 months under house arrest in the served term. The court sentenced Anastasia Polyakova to 2 years and 6 months of probation. Gaukhar Bektemirova and Dinara Dyusekeyeva also receive suspended sentences of 2 years and 3 months, as well as 2 years, respectively. Believers do not agree with the guilty verdict and will appeal against it.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2020-11-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20201130","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Judge Denis Pershukevich in the Pervomaisky District Court of Omsk begins, but does not finish, read out the verdict in the case. The announcement of the verdict will continue on Monday, November 30.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2020-11-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20201127","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 24, 2020, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky City Court found the believer guilty of activity of extremist organization but reclassified his actions from part 1 (organization) to part 2 (participation) of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code. He was appointed two years conditionally with a probation period of three years. The prosecutor demanded six years of the penal colony.\nThe sentence did not come into force. Sergey Ledenyov did not plead guilty and intends to appeal the decision. \"My conscience is pure before God and people,\" he said in his last word to Judge Natalia Lychkova. \"When a person commits a real crime, he is expected to repent in the last word. I still can't understand what I need to repent. That I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses? In other words, that I deeply believe in Jehovah and tell others about him? Or that we gathered together with friends? What exactly is my crime? The entire investigation has proven that the worship meetings that I am accused of are purely peaceful, legal, non-hazardous religious activity, which was not banned by any court.\"\nThe criminal prosecution of Sergey Ledenyov lasts almost 2 years. Searches in houses of believers were conducted in December 2018. He was charged with organizing the activities of a banned organization for discussing the Bible with other people. A year later, in 2019, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky City Court found many violations in the case and returned it to the prosecutor, but the supervisory authority finally insisted that the case be considered in court.\nLaw scholars and human rights activists both in Russia and abroad unanimously condemn the authorities' actions against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-11-25T09:03:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/11/7/image_hu_16db46ff70834484.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/11/7/image_hu_ff6443c597170a88.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/11/7/image_hu_970ee40d6a7fa9cd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/11/7/image_hu_7d0559971a204253.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/11/7.html","regions":["kamchatka"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"Kamchatka resident Sergey Ledenyov was sentenced to two years of probation for speaking about the moral value of the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"The case of Loginov and others is separated into a separate proceeding.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Loginov and Others in Surgut","date":"2020-11-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/surgut/index.html#20201120","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 16, 2020 the Investigative Committee and OMON officers conducted searches at 9 addresses of believers in Gryazi town in Lipetsk region. Five believers, including a pensioner, had already spent the night in the detention center. The court will decide on their further restraint. Another 7 people were released by the law enforcers after the interrogation.\nOn November 17, the day after their arrest, 42-year-old Sergey Kretov and 46-year-old Yevgeniy Reshetnikov were charged under Article 282.2(1) of the Criminal Code. The Gryazinsky City Court chose a measure of restraint in the form of detention for peaceful believers. Information on the situation of the remaining detainees is being clarified.\nUpdate. On November 18, 67-year-old Natalia Perekatiy, as well as Svetlana Vyrezkova and Tatyana Morlang, were released from custody, against whom the case was initiated under Part 2 of Article 282.2. The searches were carried out on the basis of 5 criminal cases initiated by an investigator of the first department for investigation of especially important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Lipetsk region under part 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization and participation in activities of an extremist organization). Electronic devices and personal documents were seized from believers. In the nearest future the court will decide on the measure of restraint in relation to the detainees.\nAccording to the investigation, believers, professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, conducted worship services and sermons. The police interpreted such peaceful religious activity as continuation of the banned religious organization, although the Jehovah's Witnesses religion is not banned in Russia. An official report from the Investigative Committee states that \"during the meetings, the suspects discussed religious intolerance towards representatives of other faiths with those who came\". In the near future, the court will either require the investigator to prove the allegation - and then release the believers from custody, or take his word for it - and impose a preventive measure on the believers.\nThe security forces interpret such peaceful religious activity as a continuation of the activities of a banned religious organization, although the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited in Russia.\nPreviously, three local residents had been prosecuted for their faith in Lipetsk region and held in a detention center for almost a year. At the end of October 2020, the court released them on their own recognizance.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2020-11-17T18:04:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/11/5/image_hu_38cb693d06ccb8a8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/11/5/image_hu_9bd7a28d489bb10.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/11/5/image_hu_9074776eda44a1a4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/11/5/image_hu_21a7dc5e789fe7a3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/11/5.html","regions":["lipetsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","interrogation","elderly","282.2-1","282.2-2","ivs","sizo"],"title":"In Gryazi Town 5 Believers Imprisoned for Talking About God, Among Them a 67-year-old Woman","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 17, 2020, the Kamchatka Regional Court denied the appeal of Konstantin and Snezhana Bazhenov and Vera Zolotova. The verdict of the lower court came into force.\nHunting the Elderly: Security Forces List Older Women in the Ranks of Extremists Earlier, on September 25, 2020 the judge of the Yelizovo District Court Yulia Piskun sentenced them to two years of suspended imprisonment with a probation period of 3 years and restriction of liberty for 6 months. The court found peaceful citizens guilty of participation in activity of extremist organization (part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Crimina Code).\nCriminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Yelizovo began in summer 2018. Bazhenov spouses and pensioner Vera Zolotova were accused of holding joint worship meetings and conversations with others about God, which was considered as \"organization\" of the activities of a banned extremist organization (part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). Subsequently, when the court passed the sentence, it reclassified the charges as \"participation\" (part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code).\nThe religious persecution turned out to be not only an exhausting series of court proceedings, but also serious financial difficulties for the believers. Bazhenovs, school teachers by profession, cannot find jobs in children's institutions. Together with 74-year-old Vera Zolotova, they are included in the \"List of terrorists and extremists\" of Rosfinmonitoring, which means blocking all bank accounts.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-11-17T11:25:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/11/4/image_hu_e600a7d9fcda0982.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/11/4/image_hu_e19f4f160e9c8f7b.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/11/4/image_hu_58f2aa45fc62fe65.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/11/4/image_hu_433cbda3d3699802.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/11/4.html","regions":["kamchatka"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","suspended","elderly","282.2-2","rosfinmonitoring"],"title":"The Appeal Did Not Change the Sentence of the Kamchatka Believers. School Teachers and a Pensioner Will Be Conditionally Deprived of Their Liberty for Two Years","type":"news"},{"body":"Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Roman Kochanov, an investigator for particularly important cases of the first investigation department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Lipetsk Region, initiates criminal cases for faith against 5 civilians in the city of Gryazi: 46-year-old Yevgeny Reshetnikov, 42-year-old Sergey Kretov, 63-year-old Tatyana Morlang, 49-year-old Svetlana Vyrezkova and 67-year-old Natalia Perekatiy. Men are suspected of organizing \"extremist\" activities (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and women are suspected of participating in it (part 2 of the same article). Criminal cases against five believers are combined into one — No. 12002420014000029.\nThe materials of Perekatiy's case state that the believer \"deliberately, acting from extremist motives, expressed in propaganda of the advantage of followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses over other persons, a negative assessment of persons who are not followers of this religious teaching ... continued to spread the ideology and faith of this extremist organization among the residents of the city of Gryazi, Lipetsk Region.\" Similar wording is contained in the case files of the other believers involved.\nOn the same day, officers of the Investigative Committee, accompanied by riot police, conduct searches at 9 addresses in the city. Electronic devices and personal documents are seized from believers.\nAll five believers against whom criminal cases have been initiated, including pensioners, are placed in an isolation ward. The rest are released after interrogation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Reshetnikov and Others in Gryazi","date":"2020-11-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/gryazi/index.html#20201116","regions":["lipetsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","search","ivs"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Lieutenant V. A. Drakin, investigator of the investigation department of the FSB Directorate for the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, charges Yelena Menchikova with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Menchikova in Cherkessk","date":"2020-11-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk2/index.html#20201113","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"O. I. Komissarov, investigator of the 2nd branch of the Krasnodar Territory Directorate of the FSB, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Oleg Danilov. The believer is charged with participating \"in religious teaching and sermons ... through information and telecommunication networks, ... entered into discussions in a collective discussion of the Bible, ... read aloud to other participants the religious books \"Jehovah's Witnesses\", emphasizing that these books contain true knowledge about God ...\n","caseTitle":"Case of Danilov in Kholmskaya","date":"2020-11-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya2/index.html#20201112","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"O. I. Komissarov, investigator of the 2nd branch of the Krasnodar Territory Directorate of the FSB, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against 44-year-old Alexander Shcherbina.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shcherbina in Kholmskaya","date":"2020-11-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya3/index.html#20201112","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In the morning of November 12, 2020, a group of law enforcement officers led by an investigator of the FSB for Karachay-Cherkessia V. Drakin repeated the search of Yelena Menchikova. Dracinom repeated the search of Elena Menchikova. A 56-year-old resident of Cherkessk had her daughter seized her drawings. The woman was asked to sign a not to leave the city.\nThe reason for the actions of law enforcement officers was a new criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code, which investigator Drakin initiated against the believer on November 3, 2020. The FSB blames Menchikova for friendly meetings and peaceful conversations about the Bible, interpreting them as \"incitement to religious discord,\" \"recruiting conversations\" and \"exams to join the ranks of a local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nThe first search of Yelena was conducted earlier in the criminal case against a local believer, Albert Batchaev, who was charged under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code. According to the indictment, he is guilty of \"singing songs from a special collection of religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and praying to the God of Jehovah. The case of the believer is heard in the Cherkessk City Court.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2020-11-12T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/11/3/image_hu_d60265858e5f3b5c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/11/3/image_hu_d407ce1db3d2547e.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/11/3/image_hu_6b4effafad13a33b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/11/3/image_hu_d7c0f17c729e8939.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/11/3.html","regions":["karachaevo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","recognizance-agreement","new-case","282.2-2"],"title":"A Cherkessk resident is suspected of extremism for talking about the Bible. Her daughter's drawings were seized as evidence from the believer","type":"news"},{"body":"V. A. Zhuravlev, an investigator of the second department for the investigation of especially important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Trans-Baikal Territory, from the criminal case of Ermolaev and others in Chita, identifies materials against Vadim Kutsenko, Aleksey Loskutov, Pavel Mamalimov and at least 12 other believers to verify their involvement in the commission of other crimes: participation in the activities of a religious association banned by the court, involvement of other persons in it and financing of extremist activities.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ermolaev and Others in Chita","date":"2020-11-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chita/index.html#20201111","regions":["zabaykalsky"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A. A. Buts, an investigator of the Department for Investigation of Especially Important Cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, initiates a new criminal case against believers: Nikolai Anufriev (63 years old), Eduard Merinkov (45 years old), Pavel Ogorodov (69 years old), Alexander Vorontsov (35 years old) and Alexander Prilepsky (56 years old).\nThe new case shall be joined with the previously initiated case under Ch. 282.2 (1) and (2) in respect of Gennadiy Polyakevich and Gennadiy Skutelets (1) and (2).\nPreviously, Pavel Ogorodov had already been searched. In May, after another interrogation, Ogorodov suffered a microstroke.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Polyakevich and Others in Pechora","date":"2020-11-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pechora/index.html#20201110","regions":["komi"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"N. E. Yakimov, an investigator of the Vyazemsky Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates a criminal case against Sergey Kazakov under parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of extremist activities and participation in them).\nAlso, a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for participation in the activities of a banned organization was initiated against Olga Mirgorodskaya and other unidentified persons.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kazakov and Mirgorodskaya in Bikin","date":"2020-11-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/bikin/index.html#20201109","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Alexander Chepenko, an investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Committee for the Chelyabinsk Region, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization) against unidentified persons.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Salikova in Snezhinsk","date":"2020-11-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/snezhinsk/index.html#20201109","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigator for especially important cases, Major I. A. Kalnitsky, initiates a criminal case against Andrey Okhrimchuk under two articles - participation in the activities of a banned organization and its financing - respectively Article 282.2 (2) and Article 282.3 (1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The believer is accused of \"taking part in an illegal religious meeting ... including under the leadership of A.M. Parkov, in respect of whom a criminal case was [initiated].\" The investigation also found that money transfers were made from Okhrimchuk's bank card to the cards of Semyon Baibak and Arsen Avanesov. According to the investigator, the funds were intended to pay for the rent of the premises, the purchase of computer equipment, as well as stationery and household supplies \"to ensure the activities of an extremist organization.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Okhrimchuk in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2020-10-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don9/index.html#20201029","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 28 Bryansk regional court upheld the conviction of Jehovah's Witnesses from Novozybkov. Vladimir Khokhlov, Eduard Zhinzhikov, Tatyana Shamsheva and Olga Silaeva remain free because they have already served their sentences in investigatory isolators. They do not admit guilt in extremism.\nCriminal proceedings against four Novozybkov residents began in June 2019. After a series of raids, Tatiana Shamsheva and Olga Silaeva were the first to be imprisoned. Four months later, criminal proceedings were instituted against Vladimir Khokhlov and Eduard Zhinzhikov. Tatyana and Olga spent 8 months in detention; Vladimir and Eduard were in detention for almost a year. In September, a court sentenced the believers to imprisonment, but since they had already served their sentence, they were released in the courtroom.\nThe defense appealed the court decision because the believers had not committed any crime. The prosecutor's office, although initially asking for an increase in prison sentences, agreed to the verdict. The Judicial Collegium of the Bryansk Regional Court consisting of Alexander Sidorenko, Andrey Rossolov and Alexander Ryabukhin upheld the verdict of the previous court.\nOlga Silaeva, Tatyana Shamsheva, Vladimir Khokhlov and Eduard Zhinzhikov in the courtroom. Bryansk. 28 October 2020 Speaking at the appeal hearing on October 28 believers insisted on their innocence and noted that decision of Novozybkovsky court was a manifestation of discrimination on religious grounds.\n\"The court considered it a crime that I watched different religious videos, listened to religious songs, discussed religious topics\", - Olga Silayeva stated. But when examining these materials in court it was clearly seen that all this encourages only to show love, compassion for people [...] and love is completely opposite to extremism\".\n\"The error of the investigation is that the concepts of 'Jehovah's Witnesses' and 'Jehovah's Witnesses Management Center in Russia' are not different,\" Tatiana Shamsheva said, stressing that the court banned legal entities, but not religion. - After the coming into force of the court decision of April 20, 2017 should I stop being one of Jehovah's Witness? Should I stop reading the Bible, pray, talk to others about your beliefs, change your lifestyle? If I don't pray, read the Word of God, what kind of a believer am I?\"\nThe international community, Russian human rights activists believe that the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is nothing more than religious persecution. According to the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with extremism.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-10-28T17:14:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/10/16/image_hu_f1d97a42a6bf0247.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/10/16/image_hu_747abf88be0f5b1f.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/10/16/image_hu_61786d387c38acee.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/10/16/image_hu_67d4aa360fe44c67.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/10/16.html","regions":["bryansk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","282.3-1"],"title":"The Bryansk Court Confirmed the Conviction of 4 Jehovah's Witnesses From Novozybkov, But the Believers Will Remain Free","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigation Department of the FSB Directorate for the Khabarovsk Territory S. Nemtsev initiates a criminal case against a 29-year-old resident of the city of Vyazemsky Ilya Degtyarenko under Part 2 of Article 282.2 (participation in a banned organization). The investigation calls Degtyarenko's meetings with fellow believers and his \"stable religious views\" a \"crime.\" All this, according to the investigator, indicates that the believer is a member of a prohibited legal entity.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Degtyarenko in Vyazemsky","date":"2020-10-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vyazemskiy2/index.html#20201028","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In the early morning of October 19, 2020, at least 5 searches of the residences of local Jehovah's Witnesses took place in the town of Beryozovsky near Ekaterinburg. The 38-year-old Konstantin Zotov was detained, but after 3 hours of interrogation was released. Details are being clarified.\nOne of the searches was led by A. Babeshko, an employee of the Investigative Committee of the RF. He was accompanied by FSB officer R. Gainullin, Center for Counteracting Extremism officer V. Bauer and the expert of the Central Committee of the Interior Ministry's Main Directorate T. Chistyakova, who was taking photos and videos. The search warrant was issued by the Berezovsky Town Court of Sverdlovsk Region.\nUpdate. Investigative actions against believers were initiated by the head of the department of the FSB of Russia for the Central Military District of Yekaterinburg, Colonel Andrei Kalashnikov. On October 14, 2020, Alexey Zyryanov, head of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Sverdlovsk Region, opened a criminal case against Konstantin Zotov and Natalia Kochneva, who live in Berezovsky and are not related to the liquidated LRO Jehovah's Witnesses of Yekaterinburg. The investigation interprets conversations about the Bible among friends as \"participation in the activities of an extremist organization\" (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nMore than 10 believers living at 5 addresses became innocent victims of the raid. The searches lasted 3-5 hours. Bibles of various translations, bank cards, electronic devices and other media, personal records, photographs and postcards, SIM cards, cash receipts, a city map and watches were seized from civilians.\nNatalia Kochneva's house was searched by the deputy head of the investigation department, Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Snigirev, with the participation of the detective of the CPE of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Sverdlovsk Region, Police Major Vladimir Yarochevsky, senior FSB detective, Major Alexei Filatov and chief expert of the forensic center Marina Egorova.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2020-10-21T08:10:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/search2_hu_49779cebc96c1159.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/search2_hu_620778508a59ad7b.jpg","webp":"/news/common/search2_hu_8fce651d990480ef.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/search2_hu_1d18a4e1b43d8ff3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/10/9.html","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","interrogation","282.2-2"],"title":"The Center for Counteracting Extremism, the FSB and the Investigative Committee conducted a joint raid on believers near Yekaterinburg","type":"news"},{"body":"Alexey Zyryanov, Head of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Sverdlovsk Region, is initiating a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Konstantin Zotov and Natalia Kochneva. According to the investigation, the believers \"participated in meetings of the Berezovsky subdivision, held conversations in order to promote religious exclusivity, and disseminated deliberately extremist materials.\"\n","caseTitle":"The case of Zotov and others in Berezovsky","date":"2020-10-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/beryozovsky3/index.html#20201014","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 9, 2020, Dmitry Balayev, judge of the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma, sentenced Jehovah's Witnesses Sergey and Valeriya Rayman to 8 and 7 years of probation, respectively. This is more than the state prosecutor asked. The believers' guilt is a joint home Bible discussion. The verdict has not entered into force.\nThe court found the believing spouses guilty both in organization and participation in activity of extremist organization (part 1 and 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). State prosecution asked the court to sentence them to 7 years conditionally each. Believers continue to insist on their complete innocence.\n\"The very fact that they were found guilty under 2 mutually exclusive articles at once already testifies to complete misunderstanding of the matter among law enforcers, - said Yaroslav Sivulskiy from the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, - In reality Sergey and Valeriya simply enjoyed their constitutional right to freedom of religion, no extremist activity is being involved\".\nSergey and Valeria Rayman during the sentencing in court. Kostroma. 9 October 2020 \"For some reason, any attempt to exercise their religious beliefs, which no court has banned, is a crime from the perspective of the investigation. No one was harmed by my actions, and the indictment clearly states: 'No victims’. They could not have been, because the main motive of all my actions is love for people. I am not ashamed of my beliefs that helped me to become a worthy man,\" Sergei Rayman said in his last word.\nValeriya Rayman, addressing to court with last word, has told: \"The persecution by the authorities has had an impact on our life, on our physical and emotional health. And now, for over two years, we have been living under constant stress and anxiety. And all this is due to the unfair accusation of extremism. I have not committed any crime and my conscience is clean before everyone.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-10-09T16:16:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/10/4/image_hu_4b5827d6e374f75c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/10/4/image_hu_61a5246850d4700e.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/10/4/image_hu_c2a4891807e82d05.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/10/4/image_hu_acbdb08a82b67035.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/10/4.html","regions":["kostroma"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2","families","sentence"],"title":"In Kostroma, the Court Sentenced a Family of Jehovah's Witnesses to the Largest Probation Period During Religious Persecution in Russia","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 8, 2020, the judge of the Zasviyazhsky District Court of Ulyanovsk, Galina Soshkina, sentenced 6 law-abiding local residents professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses to various terms of imprisonment suspended from 2 years and 2 months to 3.5 years. Until the verdict comes into force, they will be under recognizance not to leave.\nSergey Mysin was sentenced to 3.5 years of suspended imprisonment plus 10 months of restriction of freedom, his actions were reclassified under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. His wife, Natalia Mysina, was sentenced to 2 years and 2 months of suspended imprisonment plus 7 months of restriction of freedom. Mikhail Zelensky was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months of suspended imprisonment plus 8 months of restriction of freedom. Andrey Tabakov was sentenced to 3 years and 3 months of suspended imprisonment plus 10 months of restriction of freedom. Aleksandr Ganin was sentenced to 3 years of suspended imprisonment plus 9 months of restriction of freedom. Khoren Khachikyan was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months of suspended imprisonment plus 7 months of restriction of liberty. The property of believers has not been confiscated, it has been seized.\nThe state prosecutor asked for a sentence of 3 to 7 years in a colony with the confiscation of savings and cars in the amount of 1.57 million rubles, which were seized. The believers themselves asked the court to fully acquit them.\nSergei Mysin told the court in his final statement: \"Neither I, nor my family, nor my friends are extremists, and never have been. I have nothing to be ashamed of, and I am not guilty either before the law of my country, or before my conscience, or before the Creator, Jehovah God\" (full text).\nAndrei Tabakov told the court: \"The indictment says that each of us committed a deliberate crime against the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state. But I don't understand how exercising my constitutional right to have beliefs and share them with others can lead to such serious consequences for the state. I don't understand how you can call extremists people who, even at the cost of their own lives, reject any violence\" (full text).\nKhoren Khachikyan said: \"I do not presume to teach those who undertook to eradicate the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, but there is one simple and very important feature: the stronger the persecution of a sincerely believing Christian, the stronger his faith becomes\" (full text).\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-10-08T15:51:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/10/3/image_hu_8a696096c5fce514.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/10/3/image_hu_182aeee2c8d15134.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/10/3/image_hu_ee2dd714f8226f67.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/10/3/image_hu_412381955eeac695.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/10/3.html","regions":["ulyanovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2","families"],"title":"A verdict was passed on 6 believers in Ulyanovsk. All of them were sentenced to suspended imprisonment for terms up to 3.5 years","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Melnikov re-orders to prosecute Yevgeny Yelin and Sergey Kulakov under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of activities of a banned organization), Tatyana Kulakova, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Aleksandr Kolzitin under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (involvement in the activities of a banned organization).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kulakovs and Others in Nevelsk","date":"2020-10-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevelsk3/index.html#20201008","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator for especially important cases of the 1st investigation department of the 2nd department for investigation of especially important cases of the Main Investigative Directorate for the Moscow Region Kobylyatsky Y. I. charges Konstantin Zherebtsov with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - participation in the activities of a religious association liquidated by the court on \"extremist grounds\".\nThe investigator interprets the usual conversations of two believers in the car with S.V. Kuznetsky, who, on the instructions of the FSB, imitated interest in biblical teachings, as a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Constitution of the Russian Federation and other laws.\nAccording to the investigation, the accused took active actions \"in the form of a church-preaching discourse, manifested in a special set and specificity of the functioning of lexical units correlated with doctrinal and moralizing concepts, within the framework of this religious direction and an appeal to those present to conduct Bible study classes.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Nikiforov and Others in Chekhov","date":"2020-10-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chekhov/index.html#20201005","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Tatyana Galkevich and Valentina Vladimirova are facing an indictment of about 400 pages. The believers are charged with the fact that they \"together with other persons unidentified during the investigation took part in the activities of a religious association, in respect of which the court adopted a final decision on its liquidation in connection with the implementation of extremist activities.\"\nAccording to investigators, a general scheme for committing crimes was developed among Jehovah's Witnesses in Smolensk. The believers \"carefully prepared and planned in detail joint actions to hold weekly religious meetings of the extremist organization,\" for which Tatyana and Valentina provided their apartments. At the same time, women \"took conspiracy measures to conceal the activities of an extremist organization.\" However, the indictment repeatedly mentions only that those present at the services sang songs together, pronouncing the name Jehovah, and also addressed him with prayers of thanksgiving.\nAccording to the conclusion of the forensic psychological, linguistic and religious examination, the main content of the materials studied is to discuss religious topics and biblical texts, prayers to God, statements about the properties of Jehovah and the attitude of the participants of the meeting to him. The examination was prepared by the Interregional Center for Information Security and Forensic Examination.\nTatyana Galkevich and Valentina Vladimirova do not admit their guilt in committing crimes under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and do not agree with the charges.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Vladimirova and Galkevich in Smolensk","date":"2020-10-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/smolensk/index.html#20201002","regions":["smolensk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Obukhov searches the apartment of 36-year-old Sergey Kardakov in the presence of witnesses: a soldier and two FSB operatives, Nikolai Korendov and Mikhail Panchuk. 2 mobile phones, a hard drive and a flash drive were seized from the believer and his wife. Obukhov issues a decision to bring Sergey Kardakov as a defendant in committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. (According to investigators, a peaceful believer, reading the Bible and praying to Jehovah, \"undermines the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state ... acting out of extremist motives.\") With regard to Sergey Kardakov, a preventive measure was chosen in the form of a recognizance not to leave and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Olshevskiy and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2020-09-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk/index.html#20200924","regions":["amur"],"tags":["search","recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A. A. Krupinov, senior investigator of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia in the Nizhny Novgorod region, summons 40-year-old Alexander Rakovsky for questioning. The investigator is involving a peaceful believer as a defendant in criminal case No. 11907220001000025, which has already been investigated since July 2019 against Aleksey Oreshkov and Aleksandr Vavilov. Rakovsky is charged with Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as, unusually, Part 2 of Article 35 (\"committing a crime by an organized group\"). He is chosen a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Vavilov and Oreshkov in Pavlovo","date":"2020-09-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovo/index.html#20200921","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator V. S. Obukhov is prosecuting 56-year-old Sergey Afanasyev as a defendant in committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. A peaceful believer, the father of a minor child, is accused of \"anticipating the onset of socially dangerous consequences in the form of violation of rights and freedoms ... Person... depending on his religious affiliation... and wishing the onset of these socially dangerous consequences, acting from extremist motives,... He was directly involved in... religious events.\"\nAfanasyev is chosen a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Olshevskiy and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2020-09-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk/index.html#20200918","regions":["amur"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2","minors"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In the Pervomaisky District Court of Omsk, the debate of the parties begins. The prosecutor requests 6 years and 6 months of real imprisonment for Sergey Polyakov under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Anastasia Polyakova, Dinara Dyusekeyeva and Gaukhar Bektemirova (charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) are asked by the state prosecutor to be sentenced to 2 years of suspended imprisonment.\nAfter the prosecutor's speech, the believers themselves speak in the debate.\nThe position of the lawyer in the debate will be presented on September 24, 2020. On the same day, the defendants will address the court with the last word, and the judge may announce the date of the announcement of the verdict.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2020-09-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20200917","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["punishment-request","defense-arguments","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator of the investigation department of the FSB Directorate for the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Captain of Justice R. N. Tazhikenov separates the materials of the criminal case of Elena Menchikova from the case of Albert Batchaev into a separate proceeding. The investigation sees illegal activity in the fact that the believer \"sang songs\" and \"prayed to Jehovah God.\"\nInvestigator Tazhikenov transfers the case materials against the believer and \"other persons who committed a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation\" to the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee. Among the materials of the case are postcards with the inscription \"with love\"; \"We love you\"; \"Jehovah wants you to feel His love forever...\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Menchikova in Cherkessk","date":"2020-09-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk2/index.html#20200915","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 10, 2020, the Berezovsky City Court of Kemerovo region handed a guilty verdict to Hasan Kogut, a 37-year-old father of a minor child. The believer was sentenced conditionally to two-and-a-half years with a probation period of two years. He strongly denied the guilty charge of extremism, stating that he was convicted for his faith.\n\"30 states openly condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses and hope that this misunderstanding will soon be over. I'm not going to give up my faith in Jehovah, and making me do it is a crime,\" Hassan Kogut said in a final statement to the court, stressing that he is not being tried for crimes but for religious beliefs.\nJudge Elena Bigeza, having listened to the argumentation of the believer, sentenced him to suspended sentence, although the prosecutor asked for 2 years of colony for Kogut.\nJuly 22, 2018 the house of a resident of Berezovsky Hassan Koghut was searched. But he was only detained on 6 February 2019, the same day that the regional FSB department opened a criminal case against him for involvement in extremist activities. Immediately after his arrest, Kogut was placed in a detention center for 2 days, and later - for 202 days under house arrest. The court then relaxed his restraining order until he signed a notice not to leave.\nAccording to the case file, Hassan Koghut gathered with his fellow believers for religious meetings, \"continuing\" the activities of a legal entity, a banned religious organization. By doing so, a believer \"committed a deliberate crime against the foundations of the constitutional order and security,\" the indictment said.\nHassan Kohut\u0026rsquo;s support group outside the courthouse The trial of Hassan Kogut lasted more than a year. During that time, many witnesses testified that they had not heard a believer call to hatred, violence or anti-state slogans - none of which is listed in the legislation on countering extremist activity. The presence of extremism in Kogut's words analyzed during the court sessions was also denied by the expert Vadim Shiller from Kemerovo.\n\"The course of the process indicated that law enforcers act on the basis of misinformation about believers. For example, in her speech the state prosecutor stated that Jehovah's Witnesses invented the doctrine of hell as a place of torment for sinners, although among Christian religions it is the Witnesses who deny the existence of fiery hell. This nuance is an indicator of how law enforcement in general treats the facts, if we talk about the criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses,\" - commented on the sentence representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses Yaroslav Sivulsky.\nThe case of Hasan Kogut was separated from the case of other Berezovsky believers - Vadim Levchuk and Sergey Britvin, who were sent to the colony for 4 years by the court on September 2, 2020, based on similar charges.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-09-10T17:24:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/09/5/image_hu_5076a489cb507c97.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/09/5/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/09/5/image_hu_f80038bb430955fb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/09/5/image_hu_60494d2d0d42abd3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/09/5.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2"],"title":"Hasan Kogut, a believer from Beryozovsky, was handed a two and a half year suspended sentence for participating in meetings with fellow believers","type":"news"},{"body":"Hassan Kogut addresses the court with the last word, not admitting guilt in extremism. Judge Elena Begeza sentences him to 2.5 years of probation with a probation period of 2 years.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kogut in Beryozovsky","date":"2020-09-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/beryozovsky/index.html#20200910","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["final-statement","courtroom","sentence","suspended","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"V. S. Obukhov, an investigator of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia for the Amur Region, charges 57-year-old local resident Adam Svarichevsky with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, the accused, together with Olshevsky and Yermilov, took an active part in the religious activities of the banned organization. The believer does not admit guilt. With regard to Svarichevskiy, a preventive measure is chosen in the form of a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Olshevskiy and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2020-09-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk/index.html#20200910","regions":["amur"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The criminal case against Aleksey Matveev is separated into a separate proceeding.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kochnev and Others in Orenburg","date":"2020-09-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/orenburg/index.html#20200910","regions":["orenburg"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The criminal case against Aleksey Matveev stands out from the case of other believers in Orenburg.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Matveev in Orenburg","date":"2020-09-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/orenburg3/index.html#20200910","regions":["orenburg"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Kalnitsky singles out the case of Lyudmila Ponomarenko in a separate proceeding. In the relevant ruling, he points to the \"guilt\" of the believer: she communicated with fellow believers, \"participated in reading prayers, discussing them, singing,\" which is allegedly propaganda of the superiority of religion at the expense of humiliating other religions.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ponomarenko in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2020-09-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don8/index.html#20200909","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Melnikov begins to acquaint Yevgeny Yelin, Sergey and Tatyana Kulakov, Vyacheslav Ivanov and Alexander Kozlitin with the materials of the criminal case.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kulakovs and Others in Nevelsk","date":"2020-09-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevelsk3/index.html#20200908","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"29-year-old Ekaterina Treguba is charged under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a religious association or other organization in respect of which the court made a final decision to liquidate or ban activities in connection with extremist activities).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Redozubov and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2020-09-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok/index.html#20200908","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 3, 2020, the Novozybkov City Court sentenced Vladimir Khokhlov and Eduard Zhinzhikov to 1 year and 3 months of imprisonment and 1 year of restraint, and Tatyana Shamsheva and Olga Silaeva to 1 year of imprisonment and 6 months of restraint. But, since they have already served their time in a pre-trial detention center, they were released.\nNone of the believers pleaded guilty to extremism. One of them, Vladimir Khokhlov, addressing the court with the last word, said: “I am accused of committing crimes against the foundations of the constitutional order and state security. I consider this to be unfounded statements, since it is directly opposite to everything I believe in and how I act” (the full text of the speeches with the last words of Eduard Zhinzhikov,Tatiana Shamsheva, and Olga Silaeva is also available).\nThe criminal prosecution of four civilians from Novozybkov began in June 2019. After a series of raids, 42-year-old Tatiana Shamsheva and 31-year-old Olga Silaeva were the first to be imprisoned. They were accused of “spreading the ideology of the religious organization“ Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia ”by conducting conversations with residents of Novozybkov and Klimovo” (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nFour months later, in October 2019, a criminal case was opened against the 42-year-old father of a minor child, Vladimir Khokhlov, and 47-year-old Eduard Zhinzhikov. They gathered to pray and discuss the Bible with their fellow believers, which the security officials considered a threat to the security of society and the state (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Homes of Vladimir and Eduard were searched again, and the believers themselves were detained and later sent to a pre-trial detention center.\n\u0026ldquo;The accusation of Yahweh worshippers has already been finalized\u0026rdquo;—speech of the lawyer Tatyana and Olga spent 8 months in custody and in February 2020 were released from the detention center under the recognizance agreement. Vladimir and Eduard were imprisoned for almost a year—until the recent court verdict.\n“Courts unreasonably send believers to prison. The sentence to four Jehovah's Witnesses from Novozybkov seems mild, but it is nevertheless an accusatory one. People spent many months behind bars on the basis of fictitious accusations,” Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, commented on the court's decision.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-09-04T13:41:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/09/3/image_hu_c0942dd1237c4f2b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/09/3/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/09/3/image_hu_6033e9656b4261de.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/09/3/image_hu_d65e84463c2bd329.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/09/3.html","regions":["bryansk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"title":"Novozybkov Court Sentenced 4 Jehovah's Witnesses to Jail, But Released Them Because They Have Already Served Their Time","type":"news"},{"body":"Vasily Reznichenko was indicted.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Reznichenko in Zeya","date":"2020-09-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/zeya/index.html#20200904","regions":["amur"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A. S. Spirin, senior investigator of the Investigative Department for the city of Krasnoturinsk of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Sverdlovsk Region, initiates 2 new criminal cases against a resident of Karpinsk, Alexander Pryanikov - under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of the activities of an extremist organization) and Part 4 of Article 150 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (involvement of a minor in a criminal group). Earlier, on February 18, 2020, a criminal case had already been initiated against him under Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (involvement in the activities of an extremist organization). In addition, the criminal case initiated against him under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization) has already passed the stage of court hearings, a verdict has been passed on it, but the appellate court overturned the verdict, returning the case for a new trial to the Karpinsky City Court. Thus, 4 criminal cases for faith were initiated against Pryanikov at once, all of them are in the active phase.\nIn addition, investigator Spirin opened a new criminal case under Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Anastasia Pryanikova, the wife of Alexander Pryanikov. She is charged with involving residents of the Sverdlovsk region in the activities of an extremist organization, as well as a certain citizen \"Osokina\", whose true identity data was kept secret by the investigation. This is the second criminal case brought against Anastasia for her faith. The first case, under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, was initiated against her three months earlier. It was initiated by the same investigator Spirin.\nFinally, investigator Spirin initiates a criminal case against Svetlana Zalyaeva and her husband Ruslan (who does not profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses) under Part 4 of Article 150 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (involvement of a minor in a criminal group). The Zalyayevs, who live in the city of Karpinsk, have two children, aged 12 and 16, whom they raise in accordance with evangelical values, which serves as the basis for initiating a criminal case under Article 150. In addition, 2 more criminal cases were initiated against the Zalyayevs - under part 1.1 and part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (involvement and participation in the activities of an extremist organization). All three cases are being investigated separately.\n(Earlier, investigator Spirin also initiated 2 criminal cases against Venera and Daria Dulov, a mother and daughter living in the city of Karpinsk. The criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is at the stage of court hearings, and the case under Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is at the stage of investigation.)\n","caseTitle":"Second Case of Prianikov and Others in Karpinsk","date":"2020-08-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/karpinsk2/index.html#20200819","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The cases of Olga Ganusha, Lyudmila Ponomarenko and Galina Parkova are combined into one proceeding. They choose a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave. All women are formally charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ganusha in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2020-08-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don4/index.html#20200817","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The cases of Olga Ganusha, Lyudmila Ponomarenko and Galina Parkova are combined into one proceeding. All women are formally charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Parkova in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2020-08-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don5/index.html#20200817","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The cases of Olga Ganush, Lyudmila Ponomarenko and Galina Parkova are combined into one proceeding. They choose a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave. All women are formally charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ponomarenko in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2020-08-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don8/index.html#20200817","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"During searches in the homes of residents of Nevinnomyssk on August 10, 2020, law enforcers planted books on the believer that are included in the Federal List of Extremist Literature (FSEM). Another believer's laptop and phone were seized.\nThe searches were carried out by officers of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Stavropol Territory on the basis of a ruling by the judge of the Stavropol Regional Court, Nikolai Kramchinin, who authorized the \"Inspection\" to verify information about the involvement of believers in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The forbidden literature was planted when one of the witnesses became ill and was taken out into the street.\nWhy are banned literature planted on Jehovah\u0026rsquo;s Witnesses? On the same day law enforcement officers came to another local believer. He told the law enforcers that there was nothing forbidden in his house, so he would consider everything that would be \"found\" as a plant. His laptop and phone were seized from him. No religious literature from the FSEM was found in his home by law enforcement officials.\nAccording to preliminary information, operational and investigative measures are not connected with the criminal prosecution of Kuznetsov and others in Nevinnomyssk. The suspects in the Kuznetsov case are eight local believers. One of them, Rimma Vashchenko, a 90-year-old physics teacher, is the oldest Jehovah's Witness prosecuted for her faith in Russia. Rosfinmonitoring has listed her and other individuals with regard to whom there is evidence of involvement in extremist activities or terrorism. There are restrictions on access to their bank accounts.\nThe planting of banned religious publications was one of the foundations of criminal proceedings against believers, which led to the banning of Jehovah's Witnesses legal entities in Russia. In September 2016, CCTV cameras recorded the falsification of evidence in a church building in the village of Nezlobnaya, located in the same Stavropol Territory.\nLater, special services planted evidence in peaceful believers both in Stavropol, Kabardino-Balkaria, Dagestan, Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod and Novosibirsk regions, Kaluga and other regions of Russia.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2020-08-13T16:18:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/08/5/image_hu_87c5d9fbde9b8ed0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/08/5/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/08/5/image_hu_de1a879ad76fa4f4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/08/5/image_hu_7713b4ab65b461a7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/08/5.html","regions":["stavropol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","plant","fsem","282.2-2","elderly"],"title":"In Stavropol Territory, Law Enforcers Planted Banned Literature on the Believer. Details of Searches in Nevinnomyssk","type":"news"},{"body":"The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Amur Region initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against an unidentified circle of persons.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Druzhinin and Bitusov in Zeya","date":"2020-08-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/zeya3/index.html#20200810","regions":["amur"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Deputy Prosecutor of Kostroma E. L. Sokolov approves the indictment and hands it to Terebilov.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Terebilov in Kostroma","date":"2020-08-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kostroma/index.html#20200807","regions":["kostroma"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 6, 2020, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court overturned the sentence of Alexander Pryanikov, Venera, and Daria Dulova, who were conditionally convicted six months ago for a term of 1 to 2.5 years. The case is being returned to the Karpinsky City Court for consideration by another judge.\n","category":"trial","date":"2020-08-06T17:26:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/08/3/image_hu_c8ae4f80b481df50.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/08/3/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/08/3/image_hu_388db195b5ad1025.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/08/3/image_hu_a8777e00c1b159b4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/08/3.html","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","families"],"title":"The Sverdlovsk Court Overturned the Conviction of Three Jehovah's Witnesses From Karpinsk","type":"news"},{"body":"Two criminal cases were brought against Vyacheslav Ivanov from the town of Nevelsk under the same part of the \"extremist\" article (part 2 of article 282.2). Two large law enforcement agencies use serious resources to prosecute a civilian for believing in God and talking about the Bible.\nThe first criminal case was initiated by the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Nevelsk urban district. On August 29, 2019 Senior Lieutenant Ilya Antonov accepted the case for proceedings under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the grounds that Vyacheslav Ivanov \"by prior conspiracy bypassed the residents [...] of the city of Nevelsk on behalf of a representative of a religious organization\".\nThe second case was initiated by the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Sakhalin region, located in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. On October 14, 2019 Senior Lieutenant D.S. Melnikov initiated and accepted for investigation another criminal case under the same article against Vyacheslav Ivanov on the basis of the report of the operative officer. According to this document, the believer \"is an active member of a religious association... Jehovah's Witnesses\" and \"involved new individuals in it.\"\nAs a result, Vyacheslav Ivanov, forced to simultaneously respond to various investigators, filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office against the actions of the authorities. However, Aleksandr Metelsky, senior assistant to the prosecutor of the Sakhalin region, refused to satisfy his complaint and \"found no reason to connect the two criminal cases.\nBy mid-July 2020, a FSB investigator was ahead of his colleague from the Interior Ministry. On 14 July D. S. Melnikov brought an official charge against Vyacheslav Ivanov. He believes that the believer participated in criminal activity \"on the instructions of Sergey Kulakov or Yevgeniy Elin\" and \"together with Kulakov and Kozlitin conducted psychological processing of Nevelsk residents in order to involve them in the activities of \"Jehovah's Witnesses\". (It is noteworthy that the entire family of Kulakovs — Kulakov Sergey and Kulakova Tatyana, as well as their son, Kulakov Dmitriy — are persecuted for their faith by various agencies).\nWhat is happening to Vyacheslav Ivanov is not the first time that the state has spared neither efforts nor means to fight peaceful believers. For example, Nikolay Polevodov and Stanislav Kim from Khabarovsk are tried for their faith in two courts at once, while criminal cases on \"extremist\" articles have been reopened against Venera Dulova, her daughter Daria and Aleksandr Pryanikov after the conviction.\nLaw enforcers mistakenly accept the religion of citizens for participation in the extremist organization's activities. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations \"do not evaluate the Jehovah's Witnesses' doctrine, and do not contain restrictions or prohibitions on individual practice of the above doctrine.\n","category":"trial","date":"2020-07-31T13:20:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_943a8332cba14e42.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_caffff98386a2f9a.jpg","webp":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_10d4e5329eff2378.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_543ff2e213e31665.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/07/23.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"title":"Two separate criminal charges were filed against a Sakhalin-based believer based on the same subpart of the legal code","type":"news"},{"body":"Sergey Kulakov is charged with committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organizing the activities of a banned organization). Tatyana Kulakova was charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (involvement in the activities of a banned organization). The spouses are under recognizance not to leave. Sergey and Tatiana file a motion to include the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and to dismiss the criminal case.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kulakovs and Others in Nevelsk","date":"2020-07-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevelsk3/index.html#20200715","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. S. Melnikov issues a decision to bring Vyacheslav Ivanov as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, Ivanov, \"realizing a criminal intent aimed at continuing to participate in the activities of a local religious organization recognized as extremist [...] assisted Sergey Kulakov by carrying out his instructions [...] and, on his or Yelin's instructions, kept the religious literature of Jehovah's Witnesses in both paper and electronic form for mass distribution [...] At the direction of Kulakov or Yelin, together with the Kulakovs and Kozlitin, they carried out psychological processing of the residents of the city of Nevelsk in order to involve them in the activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization.\"\nIvanov is chosen a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior. It is noteworthy that another department (the Ministry of Internal Affairs) initiated exactly the same criminal case against him, under the same part of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nAleksandr Kozlitin is also charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code. He is chosen a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kulakovs and Others in Nevelsk","date":"2020-07-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevelsk3/index.html#20200714","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lieutenant of Justice S. V. Kimizhuk, senior investigator of the Investigative Directorate for the Pervorechensky District of Vladivostok of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory, is prosecuting Nina Astvatsaturova as a defendant in committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the ruling, she is accused of \"reading and discussing texts from the Bible ... participation in the performance of religious chants and prayers, watching video sermons.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Redozubov and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2020-07-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok/index.html#20200713","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigator opens a criminal case against Roman Zhivolupov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Malyanov and Others in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2020-07-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod2/index.html#20200709","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 9, 2020, the First Cassation Court of the Saratov Jurisdiction will be holding a hearing to review a complaint from the Prosecutor's Office. The complaint objects to the Appeals Court's overturned conviction of Vladimir Alushkin, a worshiper from the city of Penza. Depending on the Cassation Court's decision, Alushkin may be placed into custody once again.\nIn December, 2019 the court of first instance in Penza has sentenced Alushkin to six years of colony for faith. In March 2020, the regional court overturned this verdict and sent the case for a new trial to the same court with a new composition, while the believer was released from custody on a subscription not to leave the city. The prosecution disagreed with this and filed a cassation appeal. On July 9, 2020, it will be the first time that the Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction will review the sentence in the case against Jehovah's Witnesses. Previously, the Court of Cassation had only reviewed interim judgments, such as defendants' complaints about the precautionary measure or the court's refusal to grant a leniency application.\nUpdate. On July 9, 2020, the First Court of Cassation returned the case of Alushkin and 5 of his fellow believers for a new appeal to the Penza Regional Court. The measure of restraint chosen by the believers in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the place remained unchanged. The case was heard by the judges of the Court of Cassation Elena Batulina (rapporteur), Andrey Savelyev and Valentina Komissarova. Alushkin has already been imprisoned twice for his faith. The first time he was sent to the pre-trial detention center in 2018, while his case was under investigation. He spent six months there and another 11 months under house arrest. When the Leninskiy District Court of Penza sentenced him to six years in prison for his faith, he was taken into custody in the courtroom and sent to another pre-trial detention facility for 291 days. He stayed there until the Penza regional court cancelled the wrongful conviction and sent the case for a new trial. Accordingly, if the cassation court reverses the decision of the Penza Regional Court, the believer will be taken into custody for the third time.\nThe decision of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, issued in October 2019, demonstrates the illegality of the verdict and sentence of six years in prison. This body found Vladimir Alushkin's arrest unlawful. The Working Group described what was happening with Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia as \"systemic and institutionalized persecution\" (para. 65).\nCourts of cassation are an innovation in Russian legal proceedings. They are the higher instance for appeal courts and review court decisions that have come into force on cassation appeals and on newly discovered circumstances. The general courts of cassation began their work on 1 October 2019. A total of 9 general courts of cassation have been established in Saratov, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Krasnodar, Pyatigorsk, Samara, Chelyabinsk, Kemerovo and Vladivostok.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-07-08T16:22:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/07/5/image_hu_9f5c5dc7493d2b4b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/07/5/image_hu_32116054ede46397.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/07/5/image_hu_50b34a7c0c0f353d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/07/5/image_hu_21f6eddb3d0d52c5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/07/5.html","regions":["penza","saratov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["cassation","recognizance-agreement","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Vladimir Alushkin May Be Placed Under Arrest for the Third Time. Cassation Court Will Review the Appeal Decision to Overturn the Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"Almost 2 months after the searches in the village of Pavlovskaya, officers of the Federal Security Service of Russia in Krasnodar region initiated criminal proceedings against two more believers: 58-year-old Vladimir Skachidub and 39-year-old Maxim Beltikov. Earlier in the village the case was opened against Liudmila Shchekoldina.\nOn June 29th, 2020 the believers were summoned for interrogation. The reason for this was the criminal cases brought under part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of the banned extremist organization). Lieutenant of Justice M. Loi asked Maxim Beltikov about his religious beliefs and belonging to a legal entity banned by the court, local religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses of Pavlovskaya village.\nThe investigator of the same institution, Lieutenant of Justice Vitali Veter questioned Vladimir Skachidub. The next day his wife, who is an invalid of group II, was summoned for interrogation.\nIn the decisions on initiation of criminal cases the investigators use almost identical wording: \"... participated in religious sermons, during which... conducted and listened to lectures based on religious literature, entered into conversations and religious discussions, and participated in collective discussions of the content of religious books\". Believers are suspected of \"being aware of the criminal nature and public danger of their actions,\" exercising \"the role of a preacher.\" They were taken to sign up for not leaving.\nA total of six believers are persecuted in Krasnodar region for their faith in Jehovah. Everyone is accused of extremist activities - this is how law enforcers qualify the peaceful religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which, according to the authorities, was not banned. There are no victims in these criminal cases.\n","category":"trial","date":"2020-07-06T10:38:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_a8c404e2bc8d351e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_314afd7539e86e80.jpg","webp":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_2ad7449984257986.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_34a0012c7c562f22.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/07/4.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","interrogation","disability","recognizance-agreement"],"title":"In Krasnodar Region Two More Local Residents Prosecuted for Their Faith. They Are Accused of Preaching","type":"news"},{"body":"Beltikov is brought in as an accused, he is interrogated. Investigator M. Loi asks the believer about his religious beliefs and belonging to a legal entity banned by the court, the local religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses of the village of Pavlovskaya.\nBeltikov is chosen a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Beltikov in Pavlovskaya","date":"2020-06-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovskaya2/index.html#20200629","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Vladimir Skachidub is being prosecuted. The ruling states that he, \"participated ... in a religious educational event - a sermon lesson, exercising the role of a preacher ... spread the ideology of the LRO Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\nInvestigator Vitaliy Veter interrogates Vladimir Skachidub. A written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior is taken from him.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Skachidub in Pavlovskaya","date":"2020-06-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovskaya3/index.html#20200629","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lieutenant of Justice M. Loy, investigator of the 2nd branch of the Krasnodar Territory Directorate of the FSB of Russia, initiates a criminal case against Maxim Beltikov under Part 2 of Article 282. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a banned extremist organization).\nIn the decision to institute criminal proceedings, the investigator uses the following wording: \"participated in religious teaching and sermons, during which ... conducted and listened to lectures based on religious literature, entered into conversations and religious discussions, participated in collective discussions of the content of religious books.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Beltikov in Pavlovskaya","date":"2020-06-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovskaya2/index.html#20200623","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lieutenant of Justice Vitaliy Veter, investigator of the 2nd branch of the Krasnodar Territory Directorate of the FSB of Russia, initiates a criminal case against Vladimir Skachidub under Part 2 of Article 282. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a banned extremist organization).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Skachidub in Pavlovskaya","date":"2020-06-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovskaya3/index.html#20200623","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigator reclassifies the charge against Vitaly Ilinykh to a milder article — participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ilinych in Ussuriysk","date":"2020-06-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ussuriysk/index.html#20200617","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 11, 2020, Natalia Senchenko and Olga Ivanova, judges of the Kirovskiy district court of Astrakhan, decided to send three believers to the detention center: Sergey Klikunov, Rustam Diarov, and Yevgeniy Ivanov. All three have families. Judge Nadezhda Melikhova put under house arrest Yevgeny Ivanov’s wife, Olga.\nJune 9, 2020 in Astrakhan, about one hundred of law enforcement officers searched two dozen families of local Jehovah's Witnesses. That day, investigators detained for three days Sergey Klikunov, 45, Rustam Diarov, 46, Evgeniy Ivanov, 43, and his wife, Olga Ivanova, 37.\nAs of June 12, 2020, 34 people are languishing in Russian prisons for their faith in Jehovah. Another 142 people, after having been behind bars for several years to many months, have been changed to a milder measure, such as house arrest, a ban on certain actions, or a not-exit subscription. The longest person behind bars is Dennis Christensen from the City of Orel (3 years and 1 month). The longest sentence was passed on 61-year-old Gennady Shpakovsky from Pskov (6.5 years in prison).\nThe Astrakhan judges, justifying their decision on the strictest measure of restraint for peaceful believers, draw attention to the fact that they carried out \"an encroachment directed against the foundations of the constitutional order.” In particular, Judge Natalia Senchenko notes in her ruling that \"Diarov's involvement in the crime is confirmed ... by the testimony of a witness about the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, whose activities differ from the traditional principles of Christianity.”\nUnder what article are the Astrakhan believers charged? On June 8th , a criminal case was brought against them by a senior investigator for investigation of particularly important cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in Astrakhan region, N. P. Banko. Three men are charged under part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of extremist activity). Olga Ivanova (she's the judge's namesake) is charged with part 2 of article 282.2 (participation in extremist activities). The charges directly go back to the Supreme Court decision of 20 April 2017 on liquidation of all registered Jehovah's Witnesses organizations. Although religion itself was not banned, which is emphasized by the Russian government, law enforcement officials do not distinguish between the inherent right of everyone to freedom of religion and participation in the activities of an organization whose activities are prohibited by the court.\nLawyers and human rights activists both in Russia and abroad unanimously condemn the actions of the authorities against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2020-06-12T13:03:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/colony4_hu_fbb0f6cf1b601cc0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/colony4_hu_51441f02ed3083fc.jpg","webp":"/news/common/colony4_hu_d4437787afa78821.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/colony4_hu_ceca8910487919d5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/06/11.html","regions":["astrakhan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","house-arrest","families","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"In Astrakhan, the Court Put Three Jehovah's Witnesses Behind Bars and Placed the Wife of One of Them Under House Arrest From Prison","type":"news"},{"body":"Dmitry Dolzhikov is charged with participation in the activities of an extremist organization. The decision is made by the investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Novosibirsk Region A. Bryuzgin. He also chooses a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Dolzhikov in Novosibirsk","date":"2020-06-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novosibirsk8/index.html#20200611","regions":["novosibirsk"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 5, 2020, the Babushkinskiy District Court of Moscow refused to allow the investigator to detain Sergey Oganyan, 33, who had been detained after a series of searches in Vlasiha settlement near Moscow, and sent the believer under house arrest.\nInvestigator E. V. Dymchenko accuses Sergey Oganyan under three articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation at once: organization of an extremist community (part 1 of article 282.2), recruitment (part 1.1 of article 282.2) and participation in it (part 2 of article 282.2). Despite the fact that the investigator asked for a strict measure of restraint - pre-trial detention - the prosecutor did not support this request. He asked to limit him to house arrest.\nAs a result, the judge of Babushkinskiy district court Evgeniya Babinova refused the investigator in the detention of a believer. She took into account the following: he has a permanent place of residence in the Moscow region, is employed, earlier was not under the trial, has a minor child. In addition, there is no evidence that Sergey will obstruct the investigation and will abscond.\nHowever, the judge considered it necessary to place the believer under house arrest, forbidding him from communicating with witnesses in the case and using any kind of communication.\nIt is worth mentioning that earlier Judge Evgeniya Babinova decided to put the believers from Chekhov near Moscow under house arrest.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2020-06-09T13:07:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/06/7/image_hu_991d3855a38d8118.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/06/7/image_hu_e649b9b09ac51ee6.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/06/7/image_hu_79d5f0101550a08f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/06/7/image_hu_acb2f18829b51b6f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/06/7.html","regions":["moscow_obl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","house-arrest","282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"title":"A Moscow Court Placed Sergey Oganyan, the Father of a Young Child, Under House Arrest. The Believer Spent 3 Days Behind Bars","type":"news"},{"body":"Senior Investigator for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Astrakhan Region N. P. Banko initiates a criminal case against Sergey Klikunov, Rustam Diarov, Yevgeniy Ivanov and his wife, Olga. Klikunov, Diarov and Ivanov are charged under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of extremist activities). Olga Ivanova is charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 (participation in extremist activities).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Ivanov and Others in Astrakhan","date":"2020-06-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/astrakhan/index.html#20200608","regions":["astrakhan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Melnikov and his lawyer receive the indictment for review.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Melnikov in Ussuriysk","date":"2020-06-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ussuriysk3/index.html#20200608","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In the village of Vlasikha near Moscow, searches are being conducted in five houses of local believers. The security forces take Sergey Oganyan to the Mytishchinskoye police station and preliminarily detain him for 48 hours. Two more women and one man are taken away for interrogation.\nInvestigator Yevgeny Dymchenko charges Sergey Oganyan with committing crimes under parts 1, 1.1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nAccording to the investigation, Sergey participated in undermining the foundations of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation and the security of the state - \"carried out deliberate actions of an organizational nature aimed at convening meetings, meetings and holding them.\" Ohanyan is also charged with \"recruiting new members\" to the organization. The resolution features Borhan Askar, whose real name law enforcement officers are hiding. According to the investigator, Sergey Oganyan persuaded this man to join the local religious organization (LRO) of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Odintsovo district.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ohanyan in Vlasikha","date":"2020-06-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vlasikha/index.html#20200602","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["search","interrogation","282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee Maria Dedyura initiates a criminal case against Liya Maltseva under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The believer is accused of participating in the activities of a religious association banned by the court.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Maltseva in Partizansk","date":"2020-06-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/partizansk2/index.html#20200601","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The cases of Yevgeny Yelin, Aleksandr Kozlitin, Sergey Kulakov and Tatyana Kulakova are merged into one proceeding.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kulakovs and Others in Nevelsk","date":"2020-06-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevelsk3/index.html#20200601","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator N. A. Tsymlyakov re-charges Dmitry Terebilov with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, adding some new episodes to the ruling.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Terebilov in Kostroma","date":"2020-05-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kostroma/index.html#20200529","regions":["kostroma"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 19, 2020 the investigation expanded the list of defendants in the second criminal case of Pryanikov and others in Karpinsk. New suspects were Anastasia Pryanikova and the Zalyaevs. Now three Uralian families are being prosecuted on far-fetched extremism charges.\nIt is noteworthy that three of the six suspects, Aleksandr Pryanikov, as well as Venera and Darya Dulova (a mother and her daughter), have already been sentenced to suspended terms on charges of involvement in extremist activities in January 2020. The court decision was appealed, while a new criminal case was opened against the believers under part 1.1 of article 282.2 (\"involvement in an extremist organization\"), which implies a more severe punishment - up to 8 years in prison.\nIn March the house of Ruslan and Svetlana Zalyaev was searched as part of the investigation of this case. On the 19th of May they together with Aleksandr Pryanikov's wife Anastasia were included in the list of suspects under part 2 of article 282.2, and two days later A.S. Spirin, senior investigator of the Investigative Department of Krasnoturyinsk city, took from them a recognizance not to live and proper behavior.\nIt is noteworthy that Ruslan Zalyaev is not a Jehovah's Witness, nevertheless he is suspected of \"participating in the activities of the Local Religious Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Krasnoturinsk by [...] holding conversations in order to promote religious exclusivity.\"\nIt is clear from the decree on the measure of restraint for believers that criminal prosecution is carried out on religious grounds. Svetlana Zalyayeva, the Pryanikovs and the Dulovs family are charged with the fact that they have not stopped communicating with others about God and gather for religious meetings - similar accusations have been made against entire families in the past.\n\"Harmless believers are accused of 'grave crimes,' but there are no victims or any signs of real crimes against the individual or the state in the case,\" comments Yaroslav Sivulsky of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, noting that groundless religious repression leads to open condemnation of Russia by the international community.\n","category":"trial","date":"2020-05-28T13:45:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/05/20/image_hu_2d0903fd643331b5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/05/20/image_hu_ba79b5bab4143086.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/05/20/image_hu_12e70f6b89c34f3c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/05/20/image_hu_cd75a6b8b5ab82ce.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/05/20.html","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["families","new-case","282.2-2","282.2-1.1"],"title":"Three More People Prosecuted for Their Faith in the Sverdlovsk Region. Six Defendants Are in the Case Now","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator for especially important cases of the Main Investigation Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Moscow Region Yevgeny Dymchenko initiates a criminal case against Sergey Oganyan. He charges the believer with a crime under three articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: Part 1 of Article 282.2, Part 1.1, Article 282.2 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 (organization, involvement and participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ohanyan in Vlasikha","date":"2020-05-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vlasikha/index.html#20200528","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator N. A. Tsymlyakov chooses a measure of restraint for Terebilov in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the place and charges him with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, in the period from July 17, 2017 to May 25, 2020, Dmitry actively participated in the activities of liquidated religious organizations.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Terebilov in Kostroma","date":"2020-05-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kostroma/index.html#20200525","regions":["kostroma"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A criminal case has been opened against Dmitry Dolzhikov \"on the fact of participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\" Subsequently, the investigation was repeatedly suspended and resumed.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Dolzhikov in Novosibirsk","date":"2020-05-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novosibirsk8/index.html#20200513","regions":["novosibirsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Ruslan Alyev and Semyon Baibak are charged with committing a crime (in the final version) - participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In addition, Semyon Baybak was also charged with financing an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Alyev in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2020-05-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don6/index.html#20200508","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The believer is handed an indictment.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shut in Razdolnoye","date":"2020-04-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volno-nadezhdinskoye2/index.html#20200427","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lyudmila Shut signs a protocol on familiarization with the materials of the criminal case.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shut in Razdolnoye","date":"2020-04-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volno-nadezhdinskoye2/index.html#20200420","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lieutenant of Justice, investigator of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Investigative Department for the city of Dalnerechensk P. Kim is prosecuting Sergey Sergeyev and Yuri Belosludtsev as defendants under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The believers are accused of \"criminal conspiracy\" to \"study and discuss religious material on topics about Jehovah.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Sergeyev and Belosludtsev in Luchegorsk","date":"2020-04-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/luchegorsk/index.html#20200417","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 20, 2020, the investigator D. Melnikov opened another criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against local resident Tatyana Kulakova. Criminal investigations are under way against her husband and eldest son, Dmitriy. The youngest of the Kulakov family, Yevgeniy, for reasons of conscience, asks to replace his military service with alternative civilian service (ACS). However, the authorized bodies unreasonably deny his request, threatening criminal prosecution for \"evading military service.\"\nMore than a year has passed since the first searches were carried out in the homes of peaceful believers on Sakhalin. Back in December 2018, a criminal case was opened in this region against a 57-year-old resident of the city of Nevelsk, Sergey Kulakov. 8 months later, on August 29, 2019, their eldest son, Dmitry, was among the suspects under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nYevgeny, the youngest of the Kulakov family, for reasons of conscience asks to replace his military service with alternative civilian service (ACS), but the authorized bodies groundlessly refuse him, threatening him with criminal prosecution for \"evading military service\". The believer had already lost in the court of first instance and appealed to a higher court.\nTo date, there are at least 20 cases in Russia where two or more family members are prosecuted because of their faith in Jehovah God.\n","category":"trial","date":"2020-04-02T15:15:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_a8c404e2bc8d351e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_314afd7539e86e80.jpg","webp":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_2ad7449984257986.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_34a0012c7c562f22.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/04/4.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["families","asc","282.2-2"],"title":"On Sakhalin, Criminal Cases for Faith Have Been Opened Against Parents and the Eldest Son. The Youngest Son Defends the Right to ACS in Courts","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Oleg Makerov initiates a criminal case against Sergey Verkhoturov's wife Victoria under Part 2 of Article 282. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This criminal case is being investigated separately.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Verhoturov in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2020-03-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod4/index.html#20200326","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["282.2-2","new-case","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Lieutenant of Justice D. S. Melnikov, investigator of the FSB Investigative Directorate, initiates a criminal case under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Tatyana Kulakova. The criminal case was assigned the number 12007640001000006.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kulakovs and Others in Nevelsk","date":"2020-03-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevelsk3/index.html#20200320","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Denis Shevchenko, investigator of the Nadezhdinsky District Investigation Department, issues a decision to prosecute Lyudmila Shut as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shut in Razdolnoye","date":"2020-03-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volno-nadezhdinskoye2/index.html#20200320","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lyudmila Shut is summoned for interrogation on summons. Investigator Denis Shevchenko charges Lyudmila under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and chooses a preventive measure against her in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the place and proper behavior. After that, the investigator announces the end of the investigative actions.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shut in Razdolnoye","date":"2020-03-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volno-nadezhdinskoye2/index.html#20200318","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["interrogation","282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On February 15, 2020, Adler police detained Saratov resident Rustam Seidkuliev in a shopping center. He was taken to a police station and later placed in a special detention center for 5 days. From there, he was transported under escort to Saratov and changed the measure of restraint to house arrest.\nIn September 2019, the spouses Rustam and Yulia Seidkulievs moved from Saratov to Adler for family reasons.\nOn February 15, 2020, Rustam and Yulia were walking through a shopping center. Suddenly, they were approached by police officers. They did not identify themselves and did not show their documents. Rustam showed his driver's license, but he was still taken to the police station for identification. Later, Yulia was informed that her husband had been detained. The next day, Rustam was notified that he was wanted, so he would be placed in a special detention center for 5 days.\nOn February 20, 2020, the believer was transported under escort to his parents' apartment, where a search was conducted, but nothing prohibited was found.\nIn the meantime, several law enforcement officers arrived from Saratov to pick up Rustam. The next day, the believer was taken to Saratov and handed over to the staff of the Investigative Committee. The investigator said that Seidkuliev was suspected of extremism, and a criminal case had been initiated against him under Part 2 of Article 282.2. of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. After that, the believer was placed in a local temporary detention facility.\nOn February 22, 2020, a trial was held in the case of Seidkuliev, he was assigned a measure of restraint in the form of house arrest for two months.\nNow Rustam lives in a small one-room apartment with his grandmother. Due to the tightness, Julia has to live separately from her husband. In March 2019, Saratov security forces had already interrogated the spouses about their religion and fellow believers.\nNote dated 16.03.2020: clarifications have been made to the text.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2020-03-11T11:35:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/handcuffs2_hu_474589935570a03a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/handcuffs2_hu_8acedb093c85c4ed.jpg","webp":"/news/common/handcuffs2_hu_48d5f127a7eed0c9.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/handcuffs2_hu_818807f2685e6d1e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/03/5.html","regions":["saratov","krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["ivs","search","interrogation","house-arrest","282.2-2"],"title":"In Adler, Police Officers Detained a Believer From Saratov","type":"news"},{"body":"Tatyana Shamsheva and Olga Silaeva were elected a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior. The defendants are charged in the final version: Tatyana Shamsheva and Olga Silaeva under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Eduard Zhinzhikov and Vladimir Khokhlov under Part 1 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Khokhlov and Zhinzhikov in Novozybkov","date":"2020-03-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novozybkov/index.html#20200305","regions":["bryansk"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Artem Shabliy is officially charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shabliy in Kerch","date":"2020-03-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kerch/index.html#20200304","regions":["crimea"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Tatyana Galkevich was officially charged in the criminal case in the final version. She is being interrogated as an accused. Tatyana pleaded not guilty.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Vladimirova and Galkevich in Smolensk","date":"2020-03-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/smolensk/index.html#20200302","regions":["smolensk"],"tags":["282.2-2","interrogation"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Deputy Prosecutor of the Jewish Autonomous Region, Senior Counselor of Justice Andrey Kolesnikov approves the indictment against Larisa Artamonova. The document cites the woman's active participation in religious events and meetings \"for the purpose of spreading the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses ... by improving the skills of the field ministry.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Artamonova in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan2/index.html#20200226","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory V.V. Golsky reclassifies the charge from Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe measure of restraint for Sergei Melnikov was changed from house arrest to recognizance not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Melnikov in Ussuriysk","date":"2020-02-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ussuriysk3/index.html#20200225","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The believer is formally charged and interrogated as an accused under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Seidkuliev in Saratov","date":"2020-02-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saratov2/index.html#20200221","regions":["saratov"],"tags":["282.2-2","interrogation"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Valentina Baranovskaya was charged under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Valentina pleaded not guilty and considers the charge unlawful because she did not commit any crimes, but only exercised her right to freedom of religion enshrined in the Constitution.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Baranovskiy in Abakan","date":"2020-02-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/abakan/index.html#20200220","regions":["khakassia"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On February 6, 2020, criminal cases were opened in Birobidzhan on suspicion of extremism against six women. Two more criminal cases - against citizens Andrei Gubin and Oleg Postnikov - were initiated on February 12. In total, 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers in the city.\nThe cases against 57-year-old Irina Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Anna Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Tatyana Sholner, 35-year-old Tatyana Zagulina, 40-year-old Anastasia Guzeva and 41-year-old Natalia Krieger were initiated by D. Yankin, a senior forensic investigator of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region.\nAll six women are charged with part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, they resumed the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan, which was liquidated in 2016, as well as the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Investigator D. Yankin opened a similar case against 44-year-old Andrey Gubin.\nIn relation to 55-year-old Oleg Postnikov, the case under the same article was initiated by the senior investigator of the investigation department of the FSB I. Fedorov.\nEarlier, the defendants in the criminal case under similar articles were the husbands of Natalia Krieger, Tatyana Zagulina and Anastasia Guzeva - Valery Krieger, Dmitry Zagulin and Konstantin Guzev. And Irina and Anna Lokhvitsky were prosecuted after their son and husband Artur Lokhvitsky. All four men are under recognizance agreement. The cases of Guzev and Lokhvitsky are already being considered in the Birobidzhan District Court.\n","category":"trial","date":"2020-02-18T17:58:05+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_a8c404e2bc8d351e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_314afd7539e86e80.jpg","webp":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_2ad7449984257986.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_34a0012c7c562f22.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/02/66.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"title":"In Birobidzhan, the Investigator Accused Eight of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Number of Criminal Cases for Faith in the City Reaches 19","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region D.S. Yankin charges Tatyana Zagulina with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Zagulina in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan15/index.html#20200218","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"FSB investigator D. Yankin opens a criminal case against 44-year-old Andrey Gubin (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and his colleague I. Fedorov against 55-year-old Oleg Postnikov (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Now the number of criminal cases in Birobidzhan reaches 19.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Aliyev and Others in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan10/index.html#20200212","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"FSB investigator D. Yankin is initiating another case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against 44-year-old Andrey Gubin. On the same day, I. Fedorov, a senior investigator of the FSB Investigation Department, opened a similar case against 55-year-old Oleg Postnikov. (A total of 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers in the city.)\n","caseTitle":"Case of A. Lokhvitskaya in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan12/index.html#20200212","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"FSB investigator D. Yankin is initiating another case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against 44-year-old Andrey Gubin. On the same day, I. Fedorov, a senior investigator of the FSB Investigation Department, opened a similar case against 55-year-old Oleg Postnikov. (A total of 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers in the city.)\n","caseTitle":"The case of I. Lokhvitskaya in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan14/index.html#20200212","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"FSB investigator D. Yankin is initiating another case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against 44-year-old Andrey Gubin. On the same day, I. Fedorov, a senior investigator of the FSB Investigation Department, opened a similar case against 55-year-old Oleg Postnikov. (A total of 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers in the city.)\n","caseTitle":"Case of Zagulina in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan15/index.html#20200212","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"FSB investigator D. Yankin is initiating another case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against 44-year-old Andrey Gubin. On the same day, I. Fedorov, a senior investigator of the FSB Investigation Department, opened a similar case against 55-year-old Oleg Postnikov. (A total of 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers in the city.)\n","caseTitle":"Case of Guzeva in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan16/index.html#20200212","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"FSB investigator D. Yankin initiates two more cases under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - against 41-year-old Natalia Kriger and 44-year-old Andrey Gubin. On the same day, I. Fedorov, a senior investigator of the FSB Investigation Department, opened a similar case against 55-year-old Oleg Postnikov. (A total of 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers in the city.)\n","caseTitle":"The Kriger Case in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan17/index.html#20200212","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. Yankin, a senior criminal investigator of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates another criminal case for his faith under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - against 46-year-old Andrey Gubin. On the same day, I. Fedorov, a senior investigator of the FSB Investigation Department, opened a similar case against 55-year-old Oleg Postnikov. (A week earlier, on 06.02.2020, investigator D. Yankin opened 6 similar cases at once against 57-year-old Irina Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Anna Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Tatyana Sholner, 35-year-old Tatyana Zagulina, 40-year-old Anastasia Guzeva and 41-year-old Natalia Krieger. Even earlier, the husbands of Natalia Krieger, Tatyana Zagulina and Anastasia Guzeva - Valery Krieger, Dmitry Zagulin and Konstantin Guzev - became accused under similar articles. And Irina and Anna Lokhvitsky were prosecuted after their son and husband Artur Lokhvitsky. A total of 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers in the city.)\n","caseTitle":"Case of Gubin in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan18/index.html#20200212","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. Yankin, a senior forensic investigator of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates another criminal case for his faith under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - against 44-year-old Andrey Gubin. On the same day, I. Fedorov, a senior investigator of the FSB Investigation Department, opened a similar case against 55-year-old Oleg Postnikov. (A week earlier, on 06.02.2020, investigator D. Yankin opened 6 similar cases at once against 57-year-old Irina Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Anna Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Tatyana Sholner, 35-year-old Tatyana Zagulina, 40-year-old Anastasia Guzeva and 41-year-old Natalia Krieger. Even earlier, the husbands of Natalia Krieger, Tatyana Zagulina and Anastasia Guzeva - Valery Krieger, Dmitry Zagulin and Konstantin Guzev - became accused under similar articles. And Irina and Anna Lokhvitsky were prosecuted after their son and husband Artur Lokhvitsky. A total of 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers in the city.)\n","caseTitle":"The Case of the Postnikovs in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan19/index.html#20200212","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Denis Shevchenko initiates a criminal case against Lyudmila Shut on the basis of suspicions of her participation in an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Lyudmila is a disabled person of the II group. For health reasons, she can move only with the help of others or on crutches.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shut in Razdolnoye","date":"2020-02-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volno-nadezhdinskoye2/index.html#20200210","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly","disability"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"During the day, D. Yankin, a senior investigator-criminalist of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates six criminal cases at once against Natalia Kriger (born in 1979), Irina Lokhvitskaya (born in 1962), Anna Lokhvitskaya (born in 1993), Tatyana Scholner (born in 1993), Tatyana Zagulina (born in 1984) and Anastasia Guzeva (born in 1978) under the same article - part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Three of them already have husbands involved in a similar article.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Aliyev and Others in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan10/index.html#20200206","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. Yankin, a senior investigator-criminalist of the investigative department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates 6 criminal cases for faith against 6 women at once: 57-year-old Irina Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Anna Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Tatyana Sholner, 35-year-old Tatyana Zagulina, 40-year-old Anastasia Guzeva and 41-year-old Nataliya Kriger . All six women are charged with part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, they resumed the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan, which was liquidated in 2016, as well as the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. (Earlier, the defendants in the criminal case under similar articles were the husbands of Natalia Krieger, Tatyana Zagulina and Anastasia Guzeva - Valery Krieger, Dmitry Zagulin and Konstantin Guzev. And Irina and Anna Lokhvitsky were prosecuted after their son and husband Artur Lokhvitsky.)\n","caseTitle":"Case of A. Lokhvitskaya in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan12/index.html#20200206","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. Yankin, a senior investigator-criminalist of the investigative department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates 6 criminal cases for faith against 6 women at once: 57-year-old Irina Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Anna Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Tatyana Sholner, 35-year-old Tatyana Zagulina, 40-year-old Anastasia Guzeva and 41-year-old Nataliya Kriger . All six women are charged with part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, they resumed the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan, which was liquidated in 2016, as well as the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. (Earlier, the defendants in the criminal case under similar articles were the husbands of Natalia Krieger, Tatyana Zagulina and Anastasia Guzeva - Valery Krieger, Dmitry Zagulin and Konstantin Guzev. And Irina and Anna Lokhvitsky were prosecuted after their son and husband Artur Lokhvitsky.)\n","caseTitle":"Case of Scholner in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan13/index.html#20200206","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. Yankin, a senior investigator-criminalist of the investigative department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates 6 criminal cases for faith against 6 women at once: 57-year-old Irina Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Anna Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Tatyana Sholner, 35-year-old Tatyana Zagulina, 40-year-old Anastasia Guzeva and 41-year-old Nataliya Kriger . All six women are charged with part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, they resumed the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan, which was liquidated in 2016, as well as the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. (Earlier, the defendants in the criminal case under similar articles were the husbands of Natalia Krieger, Tatyana Zagulina and Anastasia Guzeva - Valery Krieger, Dmitry Zagulin and Konstantin Guzev. And Irina and Anna Lokhvitsky were prosecuted after their son and husband Artur Lokhvitsky.)\n","caseTitle":"The case of I. Lokhvitskaya in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan14/index.html#20200206","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. Yankin, a senior investigator-criminalist of the investigative department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates 6 criminal cases for faith against 6 women at once: 57-year-old Irina Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Anna Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Tatyana Sholner, 35-year-old Tatyana Zagulina, 40-year-old Anastasia Guzeva and 41-year-old Nataliya Kriger . All six women are charged with part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, they resumed the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan, which was liquidated in 2016, as well as the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. (Earlier, the defendants in the criminal case under similar articles were the husbands of Natalia Krieger, Tatyana Zagulina and Anastasia Guzeva - Valery Krieger, Dmitry Zagulin and Konstantin Guzev. And Irina and Anna Lokhvitsky were prosecuted after their son and husband Artur Lokhvitsky.)\n","caseTitle":"Case of Zagulina in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan15/index.html#20200206","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. Yankin, a senior investigator-criminalist of the investigative department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates 6 criminal cases for faith against 6 women at once: 57-year-old Irina Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Anna Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Tatyana Sholner, 35-year-old Tatyana Zagulina, 40-year-old Anastasia Guzeva and 41-year-old Nataliya Kriger . All six women are charged with part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, they resumed the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan, which was liquidated in 2016, as well as the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. (Earlier, the defendants in the criminal case under similar articles were the husbands of Natalia Krieger, Tatyana Zagulina and Anastasia Guzeva - Valery Krieger, Dmitry Zagulin and Konstantin Guzev. And Irina and Anna Lokhvitsky were prosecuted after their son and husband Artur Lokhvitsky.)\n","caseTitle":"Case of Guzeva in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan16/index.html#20200206","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. Yankin, a senior investigator-criminalist of the investigative department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates 5 criminal cases for faith against 5 women at once: 57-year-old Irina Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Anna Lokhvitskaya, 26-year-old Tatyana Sholner, 35-year-old Tatyana Zagulina and 40-year-old Anastasia Guzeva. All women are charged with part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, they resumed the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan, which was liquidated in 2016, as well as the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. (Earlier, the defendants in the criminal case under similar articles were the husbands of Natalia Krieger, Tatyana Zagulina and Anastasia Guzeva - Valery Krieger, Dmitry Zagulin and Konstantin Guzev. And Irina and Anna Lokhvitsky were prosecuted after their son and husband Artur Lokhvitsky.)\n","caseTitle":"The Kriger Case in Birobidzhan","date":"2020-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan17/index.html#20200206","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"R. Bogatyrev prosecutes Eduard Zhinzhikov and Vladimir Khokhlov as defendants under Part 2 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (\"collection of funds knowingly intended to support the activities of an extremist organization\").\nThe investigation interprets everyday communication on religious topics as \"a criminal conspiracy to continue participating in the activities of the 'Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses.'\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Khokhlov and Zhinzhikov in Novozybkov","date":"2020-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novozybkov/index.html#20200206","regions":["bryansk"],"tags":["282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Natalia Firsova, judge of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Khabarovsk, announces the verdict. Nikolay Polevodov and Stanislav Kim were found guilty under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. They were sentenced to 2 years of suspended imprisonment with a probation period of 2 years. The believers consider themselves innocent and intend to appeal the verdict.\n(In addition, Kim and Polevodov are tried in another court for their faith, but under part 1 of p. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.)\n","caseTitle":"Case of Polevodov and Kim in Khabarovsk","date":"2020-02-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/khabarovsk/index.html#20200204","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","suspended"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 31, 2020, the prosecutor's office demanded that the court declare Stanislav Kim and Nikolay Polevodov guilty under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code. Believers themselves did not admit guilt and asked to be fully justified. The verdict is expected February 4 at 3 p.m. in the Zheleznodorozhniy District Court of Khabarovsk on street Suvorova, 73.\nAddress of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court: Khabarovsk, Suvorov str., 73.\nStanislav Kim and Nikolay Polevodov are tried in 2 courts at once for the same cases of reading the Bible and saying prayers. The second criminal case was initiated against them under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of an extremist organization). This case is being heard in the Industrial District Court of Khabarovsk. As a result, believers have been forced to sit in the dock in one court or the other in recent months.\n","category":"trial","date":"2020-01-31T11:06:05+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/01/54/image_hu_4e3c837a944cb6aa.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/01/54/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/01/54/image_hu_5a9bc4a807b01e9b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/01/54/image_hu_9de55e81be5b47b0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/01/54.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["prosecutor-request","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"On February 4, a Verdict Is Due in Khabarovsk in the First of Two Cases of Polevodov and Kim. The Charge Asks Three Years in Jail","type":"news"},{"body":"A criminal case under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is being initiated against 66-year-old Stepan Adamov from Chekhov near Moscow. Thus, Adamov becomes the sixth believer in this city, persecuted for his beliefs.\nThe case is being conducted by the investigator for especially important cases, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Y. Kobylyatsky. He believes that a sufficient reason for initiating a criminal case against Adamov is that the believer \"interpreted the Bible, read a prayer to Jehovah God, explaining religious concepts [...], citing examples from life.\" The investigator interprets Adamov's actions as a continuation of the activities of a banned organization.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Nikiforov and Others in Chekhov","date":"2020-01-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chekhov/index.html#20200131","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["new-case","elderly","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator for especially important cases of the first investigation department of the second department for the investigation of especially important cases (crimes against state power and in the sphere of economy) of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Moscow Region Kobylyatsky Y. I. initiates a criminal case against 67-year-old Stepan Adamov on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe ruling states that the believer, \"while in the car, [...] assisted in teaching, interpreted the Bible and read a prayer to Jehovah God, explaining the religious concepts of the religious movement of the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses, giving examples from life.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Adamov in Chekhov","date":"2020-01-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chekhov2/index.html#20200131","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Aleksey Khabarov was charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and a preventive measure was chosen in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the place and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Khabarov in Porkhov","date":"2020-01-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/porkhov/index.html#20200131","regions":["pskov"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A criminal case was opened against Khabarov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. An investigation begins.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Khabarov in Porkhov","date":"2020-01-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/porkhov/index.html#20200129","regions":["pskov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Sirotin, investigator of the Leninsky District Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Saratov Region, initiates a criminal case against Rustam Seidkuliev under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, accusing him of participating in the activities of a religious association banned by the court.\nThe resolution states that, while on the territory of the Leninsky district of Saratov, Rustam Seidkuliev took part in the activities of the local division of the religious organization, namely in conversations about the Bible and in attracting new participants.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Seidkuliev in Saratov","date":"2020-01-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saratov2/index.html#20200129","regions":["saratov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In the early morning in Pechora, security forces conduct searches at 12 addresses. 68-year-old Pavel Ogorodov, 60-year-old Gennady Polyakevich, 28-year-old Maksim Terentyev and 43-year-old Gennady Skutelets were arrested.\nOgorodov and Terentyev were released on the same day.\nThe investigator of the Department for Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Department of the TFR, A. Belov, initiates a criminal case against Polyakevich and Skutelets under Article 282.2 (parts 1 and 2, respectively) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Polyakevich and Others in Pechora","date":"2020-01-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pechora/index.html#20200128","regions":["komi"],"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 27, 2020, a judge of the Karpinsky City Court of the Sverdlovsk Region, Svetlana Gabbasova, decided in the case of three peaceful civilians under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in extremism). All received suspended sentences lasting from one to two and a half years plus restrictions solely on the basis of their religious views.\nAlexander Pryanikov received the harshest sentence - 2.5 years probation with a probationary period of 2.5 years. Venera Dulova was given a 2-year suspended sentence with a probationary period of 2 years; Darya Dulova — 1 year probation with a probationary period of 1 year.\nAll three are additionally forbidden to visit crowded places and change their place of residence. When changing jobs, it is necessary to notify the supervisory authorities. Twice a month it is necessary to report to the police. If the terms of the probation period are violated, the suspended sentence may be replaced by a real prison term.\nThe believers intend to appeal the illegal verdict on the basis of confessional affiliation. The religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited in Russia.\nPryanikov and the Dulovs have become the latest victims of law enforcement agencies that interpret the usual practice of religion as participation in extremist activities or its organization. The case against the believers has been under investigation since July 30, 2018, although Aleksandr and Venera were first detained for distributing (unbanned) religious literature back in April 2016. Then they were accused of theft without evidence.\nTwo years later, they were equally unsubstantiated accused of extremism. The case involves a religious examination of personal notes and telephone conversations between Alexander and Venus, which established two facts: they talked about religion; religion is related to Jehovah God. That's all the \"crime\", the investigation of which took a year and a half. 19-year-old Daria Dulova became the youngest defendant in cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\nAfter the verdict in Karpinsk, the number of those unjustly convicted for believing in Jehovah in Russia reached 37.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-01-27T08:12:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/01/39/image_hu_f4857a1079465ea9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/01/39/image_hu_fd872bc8b1e95df3.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/01/39/image_hu_b014f2fdb6094e02.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/01/39/image_hu_927af9760f9fa97d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/01/39.html","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","families","suspended"],"title":"In Karpinsk, the Faith of a Man and Two Women Leads to Criminal Convictions","type":"news"},{"body":"Dmitry Vinogradov, 56, was charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the basis of his religion. A written undertaking not to leave was taken. His criminal case was separated from the case of Valentina Suvorova. It is being investigated by the investigator of the Department for the Investigation of Especially Important Cases, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Alexander Viktorovich Chepenko.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Vinogradov in Chelyabinsk","date":"2020-01-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk2/index.html#20200120","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Maksim Zaitsev initiated a criminal case against Aleksandr Vospitanyuk (born in 1979), the father of two minor children, under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Andreyev and Others in Kursk","date":"2020-01-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kursk/index.html#20200117","regions":["kursk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Three believing residents of Georgievsk (Stavropol Territory) became the object of close attention of law enforcement officers - a married couple was accused of extremism. Also, the defendant in the criminal case was the father of two minor children who underwent heart surgery.\nAs it became known on January 11, 2020, a criminal case was opened on charges of organizing and participating in extremist activities in the context of searches in Georgievsk that took place on October 23, 2019.\nSpecial services raided three addresses, in each case the owners planted flash drives. Then 11 people were detained, they were interrogated until late at night, after which they were released.\nOne of the searches took place in the house of Viktor Zimovskiy. Some time ago, he underwent severe heart surgery. Victor became ill right during the special events. Nevertheless, he was also taken to the police station and interrogated along with everyone else.\nAccording to the Investigative Committee, Victor convened and held meetings of fellow believers in the household provided by the couple. Believers discussed with those who came \"religious intolerance towards representatives of other faiths,\" as follows from the message on the website of the Investigative Committee for Stavropol. This is what the security forces call peaceful prayers and joint discussions of the principles of Christian life. A criminal case was opened against all three under Part 1 of Article 282.2 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of Russia.\nThe repression may affect not only Viktor's health, but also his family. Viktor has two small children of preschool and primary school age, his wife is pregnant with her third child.\nBelievers have repeatedly told how religious persecution hits families. In addition, there have been cases when the stress associated with the actions of the security forces led to the failure of pregnancy. This happened in the Lungu family of Dzhankoy.\nUpdate. On January 23, 2020, investigator A. M. Ostya summoned Viktor Zimovskiy for questioning and immediately detained him, sending him to the temporary detention facility. The next day, the Georgievsk City Court arrested Viktor for 1 month and 6 days. It is not yet known in which pre-trial detention center the believer will await trial. ","category":"trial","date":"2020-01-16T09:42:05+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/usb-flash_hu_1ea7369786ae2d86.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/usb-flash_hu_180cb0f5b9385364.jpg","webp":"/news/common/usb-flash_hu_7f924ef94ac140a0.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/usb-flash_hu_4b5889e29bec1275.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/01/6.html","regions":["stavropol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","families","minors","new-case","plant","health-risk","interrogation","282.2-1","282.2-2","disability"],"title":"Searches in Georgievsk Lead to Criminal Prosecution of Three Believers Including the Father of Two Children","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Maksim Zaitsev initiates a criminal case against Andrey Ryshkov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Andreyev and Others in Kursk","date":"2020-01-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kursk/index.html#20200116","regions":["kursk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Today, on January 13, 2020, the panel of judges of the Perm Regional Court upheld the decision of the lower court to punish Alexei Metzger for practicing his religion.\nThe criminal verdict under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in which conversations on spiritual topics are interpreted as extremism, was left unchanged. Now a resident of Perm will have to pay the state a fine of 350 thousand rubles for his religious beliefs, which he has the right to profess on the basis of Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The decision has entered into force.\nThe penalty for believing in Jehovah was the second in the Perm region. Last summer, another civilian resident of Perm, Alexander Solovyov, was fined a comparable amount. Several other cases are pending.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2020-01-13T14:14:01+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/01/1550/metsger3_0_hu_c734f044f4b6fa5d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/01/1550/metsger3_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/01/1550/metsger3_0_hu_1a41832d1485ea34.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/01/1550/metsger3_0_hu_fb9e48196b78a539.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/01/1550.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","fine"],"title":"Court of Appeal Upholds Criminal Sentence for Aleksey Metsger for Believing in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 13, 2020, the Perm Regional Court will hold an appeal hearing on the complaint of Alexei Metzger, who was found guilty two months ago under a criminal article for his faith (with a fine of 350 thousand rubles). The meeting starts at 9:30 local time. Court address: Perm, Ekaterininskaya str., 33.\nEarlier, on November 14, 2019, the Ordzhonikidze District Court found this resident of Perm guilty under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in extremist activities). The accusation is based on two episodes that the investigation considered evidence of \"extremist activity\": a lecture on a biblical topic and a private conversation in the apartment of one of the believers. At the same time, other participants in the events, including prosecution witnesses, testified at the trial that they had not heard any extremist statements or calls for illegal actions from the defendant.\n\"The verdict is subject to cancellation, since the court unreasonably recognized as a crime my peaceful actions to practice my unbanned religion of Jehovah's Witnesses,\" Alexei Metzger said in his complaint. The believer hopes that the court of appeal will be able to restore justice in this case.\n","category":"trial","date":"2020-01-10T14:36:37+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/01/1546/permskiy_kraevoy_sud_novyy_korpus_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_315ac8ed12fe1124.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/01/1546/permskiy_kraevoy_sud_novyy_korpus_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_434039aa986e44c9.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/01/1546/permskiy_kraevoy_sud_novyy_korpus_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_3838368f7ae08066.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/01/1546/permskiy_kraevoy_sud_novyy_korpus_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_e537ca6d8ceabfa1.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/01/1546.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","complaints","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"On Monday, the Perm Regional Court Will Consider the Complaint of Aleksey Metsger On a Criminal Conviction For Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"A. A. Metelsky, Senior Assistant to the Prosecutor of the Sakhalin Region for Supervision of the Implementation of Laws on Federal Security, Interethnic Relations and Countering Extremism and Terrorism, refuses to satisfy Vyacheslav Ivanov's complaint about the illegal actions of the investigating authorities in the initiation and investigation of criminal cases No. 11901640016000206 and 11907640001000031, recognizing the investigator's decision as lawful and reasonable. A. Metelsky finds no reason to connect the two criminal cases.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kulakovs and Others in Nevelsk","date":"2020-01-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevelsk3/index.html#20200110","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 12, 2019, in Nevinnomyssk (Stavropol Territory), the Investigative Committee opened criminal cases under two \"extremist\" articles against 9 believers, the eldest of whom is 89 years old. So law enforcement officers decided to intensify the persecution of peaceful elderly Jehovah's Witnesses.\nLieutenant Colonel of Justice V. Sabadash, deputy head of the investigation department for Nevinnomyssk, decided to initiate a criminal case against 60-year-old Sergey Kuznetsov on charges of organizing a banned community (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Accused of participation in an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) were 89-year-old Rimma Vashchenko, 78-year-old Anatoliy Boyko, Georgy and Tatyana Parfentiev (73 and 72 years old, respectively), 71-year-old Evgenia Akhrameeva, as well as 57-year-old Nadezhda Konkova and 54-year-old Karina Sahakyan.\nThe decision to initiate criminal cases was made on the basis of the reports of the detective of the Center for Countering Extremism (CPE) of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Stavropol Territory M. Chmyrev and the senior detective of the FSB department of Russia F. Savichev.\nAbout a year earlier, on November 21, 2018, mass operational-search activities took place in the homes of believers from Nevinnomyssk: security forces seized phones, books, computers, other electronic devices and flash drives. In some cases, operatives demanded passwords from computer equipment, threatening otherwise to hack them.\nIn one of the cases, after a search, an elderly owner lost 10 thousand rubles. In another case, the search took place in the presence of minor children.\nThe searches were followed by interrogations that lasted for several hours. One of the men had high blood pressure during the interrogation and had to call an ambulance.\nSix months later, in July 2019, at 6:40 am, the operatives came to Vahan Mkhitaryan. The search and the subsequent interrogation were accompanied by threats and insults, as well as obscene language against the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Mkhitaryan was taken to the police station, where he was beaten for refusing to cooperate with the investigation. Electronic media, Bibles in Armenian and Russian languages were seized from him. The security forces also tried to plant a bag with suspicious green contents on the man.\nAnother raid, the victims of which were mainly the elderly, the disabled and children, took place in Neftekumsk, when on August 26, 2017, security forces detained 18 believers who were vacationing in nature.\nHarassment of believers in the Stavropol Territory began even before the Supreme Court's decision to ban 396 Russian religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses. Announcements of these events are published on the regional page.\n","category":"trial","date":"2020-01-03T17:16:49+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/01/1523/312_edited_0_hu_3c81089fb7ef7662.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/01/1523/312_edited_0_hu_99cdaf48cf4c5211.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/01/1523/312_edited_0_hu_f7208f3419e7fe0e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/01/1523/312_edited_0_hu_60fde69805fd126c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/01/1523.html","regions":["stavropol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["new-case","elderly","282.2-1","282.2-2","search","interrogation","siloviks-violence","plant"],"title":"Investigators Replenish the List of “Elderly Extremists” With Believers From Nevinnomyssk","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 5, 2019, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region charged 71-year-old Valentina Suvorova with continuing the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) simply because the woman enjoyed the right to freedom of religion. They took a written undertaking not to leave the place.\nThe investigator of the department for the investigation of especially important cases, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Alexander Viktorovich Chepenko, accuses the woman of \"committing a deliberate crime against the foundations of the constitutional order and state security.\" The decision to prosecute Valentina Suvorova alleges that she deliberately talked about faith with residents of the city of Chelyabinsk, sang chants, prayed to Jehovah God, and studied religious literature.\nValentina Suvorova committed all these terrible acts from the point of view of investigator Chepenko, \"anticipating ... and expecting the onset of socially dangerous consequences in the form of violation of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of man and citizen.\" It is noteworthy that in the same document, the lieutenant colonel explains that those who profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses are engaged in \"performing divine services, familiarizing people with the Holy Scriptures, biblical teachings, principles and norms.\"\nThe case against the believer is being handled by the Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Chelyabinsk Region. It is known that in total, at least 10 searches were conducted in the homes of believers in the Chelyabinsk region in 2019.\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-12-25T17:28:43+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/12/1499/planshet_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_1bf2c14bfa426c70.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/12/1499/planshet_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_2d43f9efdf4b2292.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/12/1499/planshet_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_ec881b33c0675bc9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/12/1499/planshet_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_2965a87e5fe457fc.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/12/1499.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"title":"In Chelyabinsk, a woman born in 1948 was charged. She \"sang hymns\" and \"prayed to Jehovah God.\"","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 18, 2019, it became known about 2 more criminal cases for faith, this time in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Back in the spring, he opened a case against 44-year-old Alexander Kozlitin, and on December 10, 2019, he opened a hunt for 45-year-old Yevgeny Yelin.\nThe basis for the initiation of these criminal cases, according to D. S. Melnikov, is \"active participation in ... the religious group and the activities therein, including religion, religious rites and ceremonies, religious instruction and religious education.\" Yevgeny Elin is charged under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and Aleksandr Kozlitin is charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In fact, believers face real terms only for their religious activities, which were not prohibited by the court.\nThe first searches of Sakhalin believers took place on January 20, 2019 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Nevelsk and the village of Nogliki. Then, on February 25, under the guise of a \"survey of premises\", searches were conducted in the Kuril Islands. On October 17, CPE officers invaded the homes of believers in Kholmsk and Chekhov, and on October 24 in Nevelsk.\n","category":"other","date":"2019-12-24T15:31:09+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/12/1495/depositphotos_75905113_7_1_hu_a7e12beae6cb7bec.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/12/1495/depositphotos_75905113_7_1.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/12/1495/depositphotos_75905113_7_1_hu_d58f9b884b44bb7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/12/1495/depositphotos_75905113_7_1_hu_eb91f4ca8be731ca.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/12/1495.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"New criminal cases on Sakhalin. Two more local believers turned out to be \"criminals\" only because of their faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator for the Department of Internal Affairs of the Rybinsk Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, Major of Justice Ufimtseva Y. A. initiates a criminal case against believers under Part 2, Article 282.2.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kabanov in Zelenogorsk","date":"2019-12-21T16:47:58+02:00","permalink":"/en/cases/zelenogorsk/index.html#20191221","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The details of the criminal case initiated on December 2, 2019 against three residents of Lipetsk — 57-year-old Viktor Bachurin, 58-year-old Alexander Kostrov and 41-year-old Artur Netreba — became known. Among the charges are holding \"religious meetings\", dealing with \"issues of a religious nature\" and \"pastoral ministry\".\nThe investigator of the Investigation Department (SO) of the FSB of Russia in the Lipetsk region, Y. Yakushev, considered all these purely religious actions \"a grave crime against the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the state\" and demanded that the believers be placed in a pre-trial detention center. The head of the SO S. Stepanov agreed with Yakushev, as a result of which three peaceful believers were thrown behind bars for 2 months.\nOn December 13, the regional court held an appeal hearing on the complaint of Aleksandr Kostrov, one of the three believers, for arrest. The trial attracted dozens of listeners, and court employees had to make additional benches. The believer took part in the meeting without leaving the pre-trial detention center, via video link. The court dismissed the complaint.\nThe case of the three believers from Lipetsk is not much different from the many similar cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. As in many of them, in the case of Kostrov, Bachurin and Netreba there are no victims, facts of committing \"crimes\" and even specific dates. At the same time, believers often spend many months in pre-trial detention.\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-12-19T16:59:32+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/12/1481/3_edited33_hu_b06b80a6f92e272d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/12/1481/3_edited33_hu_fc0d43778e65844b.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/12/1481/3_edited33_hu_d42f4760d7dd3669.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/12/1481/3_edited33_hu_fe7d7bf08e26dddf.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/12/1481.html","regions":["lipetsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","appeal","282.2-2"],"title":"In Lipetsk, an investigator explained the \"guilt\" of three believers sent to a pre-trial detention center ","type":"news"},{"body":"The preliminary investigation into Monis' case has been concluded. The investigator provides Svetlana with all the materials of the criminal case, material evidence, including video recordings of operational filming, for review and copying.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Monis in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-12-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan4/index.html#20191212","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Deputy Head of the Investigation Department for Nevinnomyssk Sabadash V.V. initiates a criminal case against 60-year-old Sergey Kuznetsov under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Rimma Vashchenko, Anatoliy Boyko, Georgiy and Tatyana Parfentyev, Evgenia Akhrameeva, Nadezhda Konkova and Karina Sahakyan are charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kuznetsov and Others in Nevinnomyssk","date":"2019-12-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevinnomyssk/index.html#20191212","regions":["stavropol"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 6, 2019, repeated searches were carried out in the homes of residents of Surgut (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug), accused of extremism because of their religion. It is known about the searches of Ilkhom Aminzhanov and Timofey Zhukov. Less than a year has passed since believers in this city were tortured for their religious beliefs.\nIt is already known that the search took place in the apartments of Ilkhom Aminzhanov and Timofey Zhukov. The case against them under Articles 282.2 (1) and 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was initiated on February 11, 2019. The search was led by the investigator of the investigation department for the city of Pyt-Yakh, senior lieutenant of justice Igonina Elena Olegovna. Electronic devices were seized from believers. Information about other possible searches is being clarified.\nThe wave of terror against peaceful believers in Surgut began on February 15, 2019, when, after mass searches accompanied by brutal torture, at least 15 people were detained and taken to the investigating authorities. And the total number of persons against whom criminal cases have been initiated in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug is now 22.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2019-12-10T15:32:53+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/12/1461/search_01_0_hu_345f97689922c53.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/12/1461/search_01_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/12/1461/search_01_0_hu_3d24520b699a0e20.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/12/1461/search_01_0_hu_2021c7bce5ce4c61.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/12/1461.html","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"In Surgut, the flame of religious persecution does not subside. Two believers were again searched","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region charges 71-year-old Valentina Suvorova with continuing the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) only because the woman exercised the right to freedom of religion. They took a written undertaking not to leave the place.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Suvorova in Chelyabinsk","date":"2019-12-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk/index.html#20191205","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Lipetsk region Y. V. Yakushev initiates a criminal case against 58-year-old Alexander Kostrov, 57-year-old Viktor Bachurin and 41-year-old Artur Netreba under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Within an hour and a half, searches begin in 7 houses of Lipetsk residents.\nA group of FSB officers breaks into the apartment of Sergei Antonov, who receives guests. They knock down the mistress of the house, so that she hits her head hard. All the men, including Kostrov, Bachurin and Netreba, are handcuffed and forced to lie on the floor. By midnight, 8 people were taken to the FSB department for interrogation. Kostrov, Bachurin and Netreba are placed in a temporary detention facility, the rest are released 5 hours later with a summons for re-interrogation on December 5, 2019.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Netreba and Others in Lipetsk","date":"2019-12-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lipetsk/index.html#20191202","regions":["lipetsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","search","interrogation","ivs"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Over the next few months, the cases of Yevgeny Yelin, Alexander Kozlitin, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Sergey Kulakov and Tatyana Kulakova were combined into one proceeding.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kulakovs and Others in Nevelsk","date":"2019-12-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevelsk3/index.html#20191201","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 31, 2019, V. Obukhov, investigator of the FSB of Russia in the Amur Region, sent a request to the Zeya Hospital for a medical examination of Vasily Reznichenko, accused for his faith under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n\"Given the advanced age of the accused,\" the investigator writes to the chief physician, \"there is a need to identify the presence (absence) of diseases that prevent the serving of a sentence of imprisonment.\"\nThe case against the 77-year-old believer was initiated on March 11, 2019. Since March 21, 2019, he has been under recognizance not to leave.\nOn top of that, Vasiliy Reznichenko was included in the List of active terrorists and extremists. On this basis, the bank blocked all his savings.\nThe elderly believer is not guilty of anything. The Amur FSB, in particular investigator Obukhov, receives funding from taxpayers' funds to persecute ordinary believers who do not pose any threat.\nCivilians in the Amur Region have been prosecuted for more than a year simply because they believe in Jehovah God. In June 2018, it became known about the first searches in this region - in Blagoveshchensk. In March 2019, the same events took place in Zeya, and in November 2019 in Tynda.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2019-11-28T12:30:48+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/11/1417/reznichenko_veb_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_29cf2579f2a00dab.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/11/1417/reznichenko_veb_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_2383228708d39a47.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/11/1417/reznichenko_veb_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_776539759c1a914c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/11/1417/reznichenko_veb_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_c39a99c4b50bda75.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/11/1417.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","282.2-2","new-case","recognizance-agreement","rosfinmonitoring","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Make sure that there are no obstacles to \"serving a sentence of imprisonment.\" The Amur FSB nobly sent a 77-year-old believer for a medical examination","type":"news"},{"body":"The Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, on the complaint of Svetlana Monis, amends the decision of the district court and excludes from it the ban on the operation of the arrested car.\nSvetlana Monisa is recharged under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Monis in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-11-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan4/index.html#20191128","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["belongings-arrest","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Larisa Artamonova is charged with a new crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, she \"took a direct active part in the illegal religious event of Jehovah's Witnesses in the form of a congregation meeting.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Artamonova in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-11-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan2/index.html#20191127","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"\"Kaleria Mamykina ... exercised her right to freedom of religion under Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and therefore there is no corpus delicti in her actions.\" Sledkom noted, however, that the woman was \"under the destructive influence\" of Eugene Yakku.\nThe decision to dismiss the case against the elderly woman was made on November 27, 2019. Investigator R. Shagarov, after a year of surveillance and 7 months of investigation, came to the conclusion that Mamykina, receiving fellow believers in her house, \"had no intention of participating in the activities of a [banned] religious organization.\" Thus, the investigator concluded that the woman's actions did not constitute a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nIn accordance with the law, Kaleria Mamykina has the right to rehabilitation, which includes an official apology from the prosecutor, compensation for property and moral damage. If information about the criminal prosecution of a rehabilitated person has been published in the mass media, then at the request of the rehabilitated person, reports on rehabilitation must be disseminated.\nMeanwhile, Yevgeny Yakku, who also exercised his constitutional right to freedom of religion, is already charged under three \"extremist\" articles - organizing activities, participation and involving others in the activities of an extremist organization (part 1 of article 282.2, part 1.1 of article 282.2, part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nThe case of Yevgeniy Yakku and Kaleria Mamykina is a clear confirmation of how blurred the concept of extremist activity is in the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which makes it unclear where the constitutional right to freedom of religion begins and where it ends. Following the logic of the investigation, it is necessary to stop the criminal prosecution of dozens of other Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as to acquit and rehabilitate those of them who have already been convicted under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-11-27T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/12/1498/mamykina_hu_40ef2a7868b61d3f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/12/1498/mamykina_hu_deb89b48f86f3ef3.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/12/1498/mamykina_hu_8c466a37f3fb6426.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/12/1498/mamykina_hu_4587a464baf5c870.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/12/1498.html","regions":["arkhangelsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","case-dismissed","282.2-2"],"title":"In Arkhangelsk, the Investigative Committee stopped the criminal prosecution of 78-year-old Kaleria Mamykina","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates the 11th criminal case for faith in Birobidzhan under Article 282.2 (2) - against Anastasia Sycheva. According to reports, the case was separated from the case file against Alam Aliyev.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Aliyev and Others in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-11-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan10/index.html#20191120","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Judge Svetlana Chereneva from the Ordzhonikidze District Court of Perm found 44-year-old Aleksey Metzger guilty under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in extremist activities). By the court verdict of November 14, 2019, he was fined 350 thousand rubles.\nThe judge did not support the prosecutor's demand for a three-year prison term for the peaceful believer. It is noteworthy that another Jehovah's Witness from Perm, Alexander Solovyov, was also previously fined a comparable amount.\nThe case against civil engineer Alexei Metzger was based on two episodes - a lecture on a biblical topic in a local house of culture and a conversation in a private apartment. The prosecution did not provide evidence that Metzger committed extremist acts or called for them of others, but the court considered that the mere fact of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is sufficient for a conviction. The believer's defense considers the sentence for believing in God illegal and will appeal against it.\nAlexei Metzger became the 28th resident of modern Russia to be criminally convicted for professing faith in Jehovah.\n","category":"administrative","date":"2019-11-14T17:28:15+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/11/1364/metsger3_hu_655596a896d585fe.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/11/1364/metsger3_hu_60f8ee09cb233237.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/11/1364/metsger3_hu_772835b63bcf02c9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/11/1364/metsger3_hu_9e68e5c681909f01.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/11/1364.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"350 thousand rubles will be paid to the state by a resident of Perm for the right to practice his religion. The verdict was announced to Alexei Metzger","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 14, 2019, the Kostroma Regional Court approved the decision of the district court to return the criminal case to the prosecutor's office. Valeria and Sergey Rayman are innocent. The shocking footage of the storming of their apartment, which was circulated by the media in July 2018, remained evidence of the suffering experienced by believers.\nOn September 25, 2019, the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma decided to return the criminal case to the prosecutor's office. At the same time, the court emphasized that in the case of spouses \"there is a legal right to practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which has not been prohibited.\"\nValeria and Sergey Rayman were accused of continuing the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, banned by the decision of the Supreme Court. However, on September 25, the Kostroma court pointed to the \"vague\" wording of the indictment. Neither in the materials of the criminal case, nor in the register of legal entities, nor in any other documents, there is no confirmation that the young spouses were founders or members of a local religious organization in Kostroma.\nThe prosecution unfoundedly pointed out that the Rayman couple held meetings of a religious organization, but at the same time did not cite a single name of the participants in such meetings - the defense of believers drew attention to this. The indictment also does not indicate the consequences of the actions of the Ryman spouses and the methods of committing the \"crime\".\nThe court found no evidence of intent to commit a crime in the investigation documents. At the same time, the court referred to Resolution No. 11 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia of June 28, 2011 \"On Judicial Practice in Criminal Cases on Crimes of an Extremist Nature\", which clearly states: \"The crime provided for in Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is committed only with direct intent and with the aim of inciting hatred or enmity, as well as humiliating the dignity of a person or a group of persons on the basis of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, attitude to religion, membership in any social group.\"\nThe court pointed out that \"in this case, there is a legal right to profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which was not prohibited by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 20.04.2017.\" \"Despite the fact that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in its decisions has repeatedly pointed out that the practice of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses on the territory of the Russian Federation is not prohibited by law, they are not deprived of the opportunity to independently practice religious cults,\" the court ruling, which has not yet entered into force, says.\nDespite this position, the court left Valeria and Sergey Rayman under recognizance not to leave. The couple still face up to 10 years in prison.\nThe nightmare for the young family began in the early morning of July 25, 2018, when, during a series of searches in Kostroma , armed special forces, using crowbars, broke down the door to their apartment. After the search of the spouses was detained, Valeriya spent 2 days under arrest and another 179 days under the ban on certain actions. Sergey spent 59 days under arrest, part of this period in a cramped solitary confinement cell, 30 days under house arrest and another 90 days under the prohibition of certain actions. All this time, it was impossible for the spouses to lead a full life, including communicating with each other.\nThe religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is indeed not prohibited.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2019-11-14T14:58:34+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/11/1362/rayman2_montazhnaya_oblast_1_0_hu_551395d3e4734af0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/11/1362/rayman2_montazhnaya_oblast_1_0_hu_aef4693dcb003dff.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/11/1362/rayman2_montazhnaya_oblast_1_0_hu_53bd5a5209a46abe.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/11/1362/rayman2_montazhnaya_oblast_1_0_hu_7c3036cf90a12872.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/11/1362.html","regions":["kostroma"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","families","282.2-2","282.2-1","case-to-prosecutor"],"title":"The Court of Appeal in Kostroma upheld the right of young spouses to worship Jehovah God without fear of criminal prosecution","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 12, 2019, a preliminary hearing was held in the Leninsky District Court of Omsk in the case of spouses Sergey and Anastasia Polyakov, as well as Dinara Dyusekeyeva and Gaukhar Bektemirova. These are civilians from Omsk, and the only basis for criminal prosecution is their religion as Jehovah's Witnesses.\nThe case against the Polyakovs was initiated on June 20, 2018. A few days later, on July 4, searches were carried out in four houses of believers, Sergey and Anastasia were taken away for separate interrogations. During the arrest, Sergey was severely beaten by masked security forces, receiving several blows to the head and face. One of the blows was struck by the knee. Then he himself was forced to wipe his own blood off the floor. Anastasia was insulted during interrogations. After interrogation, Sergey was thrown into a pre-trial detention center, where he spent 154 days. He spent another 91 days under house arrest, and now he is under recognizance not to leave. Later, Dinara Dyusekeyeva and Gaukhar Bektemirova were involved in the Polyakov case.\n47-year-old engineer-radiophysicist Sergey Polyakov is charged simultaneously under two articles of the Criminal Code - 282.2 (1), 282.3 (1), respectively, the organization of extremist activities and its financing. Three women are charged under the milder article 282.2 (2) - participation in extremist activities.\nThe hearings are presided over by Judge Ivan Vladimirovich Kargapolov. On November 12, the defendants filed a motion to transfer the case to the Pervomaisky District Court of Omsk in connection with the territory of jurisdiction, it will be considered on November 20.\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-11-13T14:04:16+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/11/1358/polyakovy_bektemirova_dyusekeeva_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_87ddbbe4ddb39dc7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/11/1358/polyakovy_bektemirova_dyusekeeva_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_cd61db79ed52136b.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/11/1358/polyakovy_bektemirova_dyusekeeva_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_6b031f7e6e242dc8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/11/1358/polyakovy_bektemirova_dyusekeeva_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_2ebda51641f7a3f4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/11/1358.html","regions":["omsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["families","282.2-1","282.3-1","282.2-2","to-court"],"title":"The trial of four believers has begun in Omsk. The Polyakovs' spouses, Dinara Dyusekeeva and Gaukhar Bektemirova are in the dock ","type":"news"},{"body":"In Khabarovsk, the Investigative Committee and the FSB did not share the dubious laurels of victory over believers. Now Stanislav Kim and Nikolay Polevodov are tried simultaneously for the same religious actions in the Industrial and Railway courts of the city - under Articles 282.2 (1) and 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nNovember 10, 2019 marks exactly one year since more than 50 residents of Khabarovsk gathered in a rented café for a friendly party. This meeting was not a religious gathering: people planned to socialize together, enjoy treats and entertainment. Shortly after the start of the meeting, several dozen riot policemen burst into the café. Investigators of the Investigative Committee stood behind them.\nThese events marked the beginning of the criminal prosecution of six believers - Nikolai Polevodov, Stanislav Kim, spouses Vitaly and Tatyana Zhuk, Svetlana Sedova and 70-year-old Maya Karpushkina were under investigation. Three men were put in a pre-trial detention center, and later sent under house arrest, one is now under recognizance not to leave. The women were given a written undertaking not to leave the place. All six are charged with various parts of the \"extremist\" Article 282 of the Criminal Code of Russia. Investigators consider extremism not to be real criminal offenses, but faith in Jehovah God and meetings with fellow believers, including friendly parties.\nSix months later, the Khabarovsk FSB, for its part, also opened a criminal case for faith - against 49-year-old Nikolai Polevodov and 51-year-old Stanislav Kim. Due to the callous attitude of the authorities, believers and their families are now forced to suffer doubly unjustly.\n\"Ends with ends.\" Stanislav Kim, 51, is a former forensic expert who worked for many years in the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and drug control. During this time, he received awards and commendations. Previously, Stanislav watched from the inside how the law enforcement system works, but now he has become its victim.\nStanislav has two children, one of whom, a son, has been disabled since childhood. Now, because of the criminal prosecution, his health has deteriorated. \"Chronic diseases have worsened. The chosen measure of restraint and prohibitions do not allow him to purchase basic necessities. Since his wife does not work, they have to make ends meet. All this has a very strong effect on Stanislav's psycho-emotional state,\" said lawyer Artur Ganin, who assists Stanislav Kim.\nThe life of 49-year-old electrician Nikolai Polevodov has also changed dramatically, although he is still free (he spent 66 days in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Khabarovsk Territory, 201 days under house arrest). \"Nikolay is seriously worried about his little son, wife, because he does not know what the verdict will be. Will he be able to provide for his family, be a support and support for his wife, raise his son and participate in his life? At the moment, he is not able to fully work and earn a living, \"said family friends.\n\"Formalism is higher than values.\" The uniqueness of the situation of Stanislav Kim and Nikolai Polevodov is that they are accused in two criminal cases at once. The first was initiated on the basis of a charge of organizing the activities of a banned extremist organization (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the second on the basis of a charge of participation in it (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Investigators do not merge cases into a single proceeding, as is usually the case. This means that law-abiding Russians face two criminal penalties, but now they are forced to go to two trials at once in different district courts of Khabarovsk - Industrial and Railway. Initially, the two criminal cases were investigated by different investigative bodies - the Investigative Committee and the FSB. The latter saw grounds for combining the criminal case and for this purpose handed over the documents to the prosecutor of Khabarovsk, but the prosecutor's office sent the case to the TFR \"as is\".\n\"The main reason for such decisions is the reluctance of the courts and the prosecutor's office to delve into the essence of the case. Unfortunately, for the judicial system, formalism is higher than the values and principles of the criminal procedure law,\" Artur Ganin believes.\nAccording to Ganin, it is very difficult for believers to defend themselves, especially Polevodov, who does not have a law degree.\n\"This is a violation of the defendant's right to defense. Since he is not a lawyer, it is difficult for him to prepare for several trials at the same time. Of course, the situation itself is an element of pressure. First, the defendants see the formalism inherent in the judicial system. Secondly, if the court does not want to understand the obvious things and stand up for their rights, the big question arises as to how fair it will be at all,\" says Artur Ganin.\nHouse arrest with \"bugs\". Stanislav Kim is currently under house arrest. This measure of restraint is considered to be mild, however, as explained by believers who have been or are under this judicial restriction, it causes a lot of inconvenience, mainly because of the atmosphere of fear created by the efforts of law enforcement agencies.\nMany families fear that they have \"wiretaps\" at home - devices for hidden audio or video surveillance. Such fears are not unfounded. Surveillance and secret \"wiretapping\" of believers repeatedly preceded the arrests. There were cases when the tenants of the apartments themselves discovered listening devices.\n\"Sometimes the investigators themselves are intimidated by stories about wiretapping. In some cases, they demonstrate that they know everything about the family, sometimes they retell some phrases, reproduce dialogues. That is, it is clear that a camera and wiretapping were installed in the bedroom, \"says Artur Ganin.\nAccording to the lawyer, the hidden equipment is installed with the aim of \"exposing\" prayers and reading the Bible, which, according to law enforcement officers, is extremist activity, which means that the court may choose a stricter measure of restraint.\n\"People understand that the observance of the right to privacy, family secrets, inviolability of the home in relation to them has been erased,\" Ganin summed up.\nThe case of six Khabarovsk residents is another fact of the persecution of religious minorities in Russia. A variety of organizations have repeatedly expressed their concern about what is happening, and Russian President V. Putin called for \"carefully understanding\" what is happening. In September , the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe \"urged the authorities to urgently take all necessary measures to ensure the right of Jehovah's Witnesses to practice their religion without hindrance.\"\nHearings in the Industrial District Court of Khabarovsk are scheduled for November 5 and 13, 2019, hearings in the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Khabarovsk are scheduled for November 14, 18, 26 and December 5, 2019.\nUpdate. The Industrial Court postponed the hearing from November 13 to December 5, 2019. As a result, on December 5, believers defend themselves at 9:30 a.m. in the Industrial Court, and at 2:00 p.m. in the Zheleznodorozhny Court of Khabarovsk.\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-11-07T16:39:34+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/11/1329/kim_polevodov_hu_a331f925f602e7bc.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/11/1329/kim_polevodov_hu_f2a73515a694a317.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/11/1329/kim_polevodov_hu_5946423859055414.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/11/1329/kim_polevodov_hu_cba1c0c028317bfd.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/11/1329.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["first-instance","282.2-1","282.2-2","review","leisure-disruption","minors"],"title":"Khabarovsk pliers: an electrician and a former criminologist are tried for faith in two courts at once ","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 5, 2019, at a hearing in the Ordzhonikidze District Court of Perm, the prosecutor's office requested a sentence of 3 years in prison for Alexei Metzger. He is accused of participating in extremist activities (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), which is how the prosecution interprets Bible discussions and joint prayers.\nAccording to the prosecutor's office, the accused professed the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, but had to stop doing so after the closure of legal entities to which he had never had any relation. On November 5, the hearing of arguments in this case took place. On November 12, Alexei Metzger will deliver his final speech, followed by the sentencing.\nThe details of the hearings can be followed in the updated chronicle.\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-11-05T14:38:32+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/11/1320/mecger_s_zhenoy_hu_923e010351c2b8aa.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/11/1320/mecger_s_zhenoy_hu_af507e29960087f6.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/11/1320/mecger_s_zhenoy_hu_a5e8d0b5ad01b84a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/11/1320/mecger_s_zhenoy_hu_65f3e1a0053e1fee.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/11/1320.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["prosecutor-request","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"A Perm prosecutor requested a three-year prison sentence for Aleksey Metzger because of his religion","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 5, 2019, the Khabarovsk Regional Court commuted the sentence of Valery Moskalenko, replacing forced labor with a fine of 500 thousand rubles for reading an excerpt from Christ's Sermon on the Mount. Taking into account 396 days in the pre-trial detention center, the court released him from paying this fine. The prosecution asked for 3 years in prison for him.\nThe verdict has entered into force. The court ruled to return to Moskalenko all the items seized from him during the search, including computer equipment, notebooks with personal notes, as well as printed publications of Jehovah's Witnesses, with the exception of one book included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials.\nEarlier, on September 2, 2019, the court of first instance sentenced him to 2 years and 2 months of forced labor, as well as to restriction of freedom for a period of 6 months in the form of a ban on leaving Khabarovsk and the obligation to report to the inspection on a monthly basis.\nThe text of the appellate ruling in the form of a signed document is not yet available.\nMoskalenko believes that criminal prosecution for believing in God is unacceptable. On December 18, 2018, his complaint \"Moskalenko v. Russia\" regarding his illegal detention was submitted to the European Court of Human Rights. Now Moskalenko intends to file a complaint with the ECHR against the conviction.\n","category":"administrative","date":"2019-11-05T10:43:46+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/11/1319/web_image_moskalenko_valeriy1_edited_hu_c88b2d7f925ee637.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/11/1319/web_image_moskalenko_valeriy1_edited_hu_dfcd59392c07357f.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/11/1319/web_image_moskalenko_valeriy1_edited_hu_21255c5683339faa.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/11/1319/web_image_moskalenko_valeriy1_edited_hu_98687dc277613e29.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/11/1319.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","labor","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"A Khabarovsk Court of Appeal Replaced a Believer's 26 Months of Forced Labor with a Large Fine","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 24, 2019, in the city of Nevelsk (Sakhalin), searches were conducted at the homes of 49-year-old Vyacheslav Ivanov and 22-year-old Dmitry Kulakov. This is the second criminal case for faith in the city.\nThe search warrants were issued by Polina Rykova, chairman of the Nevelsk City Court. The searches were conducted by D. Aimagambetova, a senior investigator of the city Department of Internal Affairs. The searches of believers were also supported by the prosecutor E. Pomogaeva.\nIn Nevelsk, 2 criminal cases for faith are being investigated. The first of them is being investigated by the SO of the FSB in the Sakhalin Region. This case was initiated in 2018 against 58-year-old Sergey Kulakov (father of Dmitry Kulakov). As a result, on January 20, 2019, the FSB conducted a series of searches in the homes of believers on Sakhalin. The second case is being investigated by the Department of Internal Affairs of the Nevelsk urban district. It was initiated at the end of August 2019 against Dmitry Kulakov and Vyacheslav Ivanov.\nInvestigator D. Aimagambetova believes that Vyacheslav Ivanov and Dmitry Kulakov \"conducted conversations\" with residents of one of the houses in Nevelsk, \"trying to impose on them the ideas that were preached by a religious association liquidated by a court decision, in connection with the implementation of extremist activities.\" During the search, personal notes, notebooks, various translations of the Bible and receipts for electricity were seized from believers.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2019-10-29T17:38:47+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1306/190206_saransk532_0_0_0_1_0_hu_bc35e2b13fcbc919.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1306/190206_saransk532_0_0_0_1_0_hu_f571588148f19ed3.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1306/190206_saransk532_0_0_0_1_0_hu_18155fa8c9f9373.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1306/190206_saransk532_0_0_0_1_0_hu_a34abcc86fea65d6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/10/1306.html","regions":["sakhalin"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","families"],"title":"A new criminal case for faith on Sakhalin. Searches were carried out","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 5, 2019, D. S. Pozdnyakov, a senior forensic investigator of the Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate for the Khabarovsk Territory, charged Sergey Semenyuk and Sergey Svetonosov in absentia under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Their alleged fault is that in April 2018 they met with friends in the conference room of the hotel complex and read the Holy Scriptures together.\nSemenyuk and Svetonosov were charged along with Yevgeny Aksyonov, who has been under house arrest since August 6, 2019, when his apartment was searched. The number of believers persecuted in Khabarovsk has reached 10 people. One of them, Valery Moskalenko, was sentenced on September 2, 2019 to 2 years and 2 months of forced labor and 6 months of restricted freedom. A decision by the Court of Appeal is awaited.\nOn August 13, 2019, the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Khabarovsk, in the absence of the accused, chose a measure of restraint for them in the form of detention. According to investigators, Sergey Semenyuk and Sergey Svetonosov are outside of Russia. They are on the international wanted list. Returning to their homeland threatens each of them with immediate imprisonment.\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-10-29T08:00:19+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1301/depositphotos_36128927_1_hu_4d9b0f700cb05c38.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1301/depositphotos_36128927_1.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1301/depositphotos_36128927_1_hu_47e317bbf397c366.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1301/depositphotos_36128927_1_hu_801a71917c6929b0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/10/1301.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","sizo"],"title":"Arrested in absentia. In Khabarovsk, two more men became defendants because of their faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Obukhov is prosecuting Anton Olshevskiy as a defendant under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. He signed a recognizance not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Olshevskiy and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2019-10-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk/index.html#20191028","regions":["amur"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 21 and 22, 2019, a new charge was brought against six believers from Orenburg, and the articles under which each of the believers is accused were changed (Articles 282.2, parts 1 and 2, as well as Article 282.3). The preliminary investigation of the case is coming to an end, followed by the stage of familiarization with the case materials.\nSergey Logunov, who is under recognizance not to leave, has now been charged with organizing the activities of an extremist organization. Vladimir Kochnev, who spent 78 days in a pre-trial detention center and 70 days under house arrest and is now banned from certain actions, is charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). The same charge was brought against Nikolai Zhugin, Alexei Matveev and Pavel Lekontsev. Vladislav Kolbanov, in addition, is charged under Article 282.3 (financing of extremist activities). He spent 2 days in a temporary detention facility and 146 days under house arrest, and is currently prohibited from certain activities.\nThese peaceful Orenburg residents became accused after a major raid by security forces on May 16, 2018. Relatives and friends of believers are seriously concerned about what is happening, because these respectable citizens face real prison terms just because they studied the Bible. The support of loved ones helps them cope with this ordeal, and they all hope for a fair trial.\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-10-25T19:25:14+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1292/6_hu_3b7d0458ba732fc1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1292/6_hu_8bd969dd8c528d5f.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1292/6_hu_4e859077b78e3269.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1292/6_hu_f532348782f0fbca.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/10/1292.html","regions":["orenburg"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"title":"In Orenburg, investigators re-indicted 6 believers","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 21, 2019, V. S. Obukhov, an investigator of the Investigation Department of the FSB of Russia for the Amur Region, issued a decision to initiate a new criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Sergey Yermilov and Anton Olshevsky are now accused of extremism. Both were taken on their own recognizance.\nThis is not the first criminal case initiated against civilians in Blagoveshchensk. On July 20, 2018, searches were carried out in seven homes of believers in the city. One of them was Dmitry Golik, in whose apartment a listening device was installed. For almost six months, operatives listened to the details of the personal life of Dmitry and his wife. On January 21, 2019, Alexei Berchuk was detained at the Moscow airport and taken to Blagoveshchensk. Both men signed recognizance agreements. A preliminary investigation of the criminal case is underway.\nThus, the authorities of Blagoveshchensk interpret the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of religion as organizing and participating in the activities of an extremist organization. Sergey Yermilov and Anton Olshevskiy face real prison terms just because they believe in God.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2019-10-25T19:13:42+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1291/blagoveshchensk_0_hu_145f92ebc5eb5a7d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1291/blagoveshchensk_0_hu_5fd67dc6b998858a.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1291/blagoveshchensk_0_hu_7291d7ce29a903f6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1291/blagoveshchensk_0_hu_fbb94a92841f67bb.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/10/1291.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["new-case","recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"title":"In Blagoveshchensk, a new criminal case was opened for faith. Two men signed a recognizance agreement","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Obukhov is prosecuting Sergey Yermilov as a defendant under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. He signed a recognizance not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Olshevskiy and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2019-10-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk/index.html#20191024","regions":["amur"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In Kursk, after mass searches on October 16, 2019 and subsequent interrogations of believers , Andrey Andreyev, as well as spouses Artem and Alevtina Bagratyan, were arrested for 27 days. The believers were placed in custody until November 11, 2019 inclusive. Criminal cases against three citizens are combined into one, it is being investigated by the investigative department of the FSB in the Kursk region.\nAccording to incomplete information, searches in Kursk took place at more than 10 addresses, and law enforcement officers invaded some local residents at 6 am. After the searches, many believers were taken away for interrogations, during which FSB officers intimidated them, threatening to open criminal cases against both themselves and their family members. For three believers, these threats became a reality.\nAs follows from the documents of the case, Andrey Andreev is accused of continuing the activities of a certain \"Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Kursk\" (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and Artem and Alevtina Bagratyan are charged with participation in the activities of this organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nIt is noteworthy that, although the decisions on detention were made by different judges of the Leninsky District Court of Kursk (Judge Inessa Kvaskova sent Alevtina Bagratyan to the pre-trial detention center, and Judge Tatyana Pozdnyakova issued an arrest warrant for Artem Bagratyan and Andrey Andreev), the terms of imprisonment for all three are the same, which indicates the coordination of actions.\n90 kilometers from Kursk in the city of Lgov (Kursk region), Dennis Christensen, a Danish citizen sentenced to 6 years just because he did not renounce his beliefs, is serving a sentence. Many Russian and international organizations, such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Human Rights Society Memorial, spoke out in support of Christensen.\nUpdate. On October 24, 2019, 4 more searches of believers took place in Kursk - two of older women, and one in front of a young child. A laptop, phones, digital media were seized.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2019-10-23T10:12:05+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1274/depositphotos_21862193_5_hu_dc77be40404d0772.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1274/depositphotos_21862193_5.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1274/depositphotos_21862193_5_hu_b2617c89503029b0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1274/depositphotos_21862193_5_hu_a991a9524848ca09.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/10/1274.html","regions":["kursk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","sizo","interrogation","282.2-1","282.2-2","families"],"title":"In Kursk, Two Men and One Woman Sent to a Pre-Trial Detention Center for Their Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"V. S. Obukhov, investigator of the FSB of Russia for the Amur Region, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Anton Olshevsky and Sergey Ermilov. According to investigators, Yermilov, together with Olshevsky, \"anticipating the onset of socially dangerous consequences, ... took a direct part in religious events.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Olshevskiy and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2019-10-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk/index.html#20191021","regions":["amur"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Sakhalin Oblast Directorate of the FSB of Russia, Senior Lieutenant D. S. Melnikov, initiates and accepts for proceedings a criminal case against Vyacheslav Ivanov on the basis of a report from an operational officer, according to which the believer \"is an active participant in a religious association [...] Jehovah's Witnesses\" and \"involved [new individuals in the religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses\"]. The criminal case is assigned No. 11907640001000031.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kulakovs and Others in Nevelsk","date":"2019-10-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevelsk3/index.html#20191014","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates the 10th criminal case in Birobidzhan for faith under Article 282.2 (2) - against Yulia Kaganovich. According to reports, the case was separated from the case file against Alam Aliyev.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Aliyev and Others in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-10-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan10/index.html#20191010","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region is initiating a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2) against 53-year-old Yuliya Kaganovich. According to the investigation, she \"committed deliberate actions related to the resumption and continuation of the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Birobidzhan.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kaganovich in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-10-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan6/index.html#20191010","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator-criminalist of the SB of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, Senior Lieutenant of Justice D. Yankin makes a decision to bring Svetlana as an accused.\nIn relation to Svetlana, a preventive measure is chosen in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the place.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Monis in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-10-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan4/index.html#20191009","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Ekaterina Pegasheva is charged with committing a crime under Part 2. Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - participation in the activities of a banned organization.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Pegasheva in Yoshkar-Ola","date":"2019-10-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/yoshkar-ola/index.html#20191009","regions":["mari-el"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On October 3, 2019, in the capital of the Republic of Mari El, searches were carried out in the homes of believers. According to preliminary data, the case under the article \"participation in the activities of an extremist organization\" (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) was initiated against 30-year-old Ekaterina Pegasheva, she was sent to pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the city of Yoshkar-Ola. Thus, 7 women and 33 men are in various prisons in Russia for practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nIt is known about three searches in the case of Ekaterina Pegasheva: two took place in Yoshkar-Ola, one in the village of Pirogovo (Kirov region), where her mother lives. During the searches, books and videos, electronic devices, personal letters and documents were seized, including even a school certificate and a certificate of passing the exam. Other details of the incident are being clarified.\nThe number of criminal cases against peaceful believers is growing throughout the country, despite the explanation of the Government of the Russian Federation that the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited and citizens have the right to practice it. This was recently confirmed by the district court in Kostroma.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2019-10-08T22:26:56+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1202/yoshkar-ola_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_e72af37aa75d1f1c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1202/yoshkar-ola_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_7805ecde99cd73d0.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1202/yoshkar-ola_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_df8ef87054fb48b9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1202/yoshkar-ola_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_5350b2c269f17eb4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/10/1202.html","regions":["mari-el"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","sizo"],"title":"A criminal case for faith in Yoshkar-Ola. A young woman was sent to jail","type":"news"},{"body":"Bringing Z. Krutyakova as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation\n","caseTitle":"Case of Nikiforov and Others in Chekhov","date":"2019-10-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chekhov/index.html#20191003","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["282.2-2","families"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Larisa Artamonova is officially charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and a preventive measure is chosen in the form of a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Artamonova in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-10-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan2/index.html#20191002","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 25, 2019, the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma returned the criminal case against the married couple Valeria and Sergey Rayman to the Kostroma prosecutor's office. At the same time, the court emphasized that in the case of spouses \"there is a legal right to practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which has not been prohibited.\"\nValeria and Sergey Rayman are accused of continuing the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, banned by the decision of the Supreme Court. However, on September 25, the Kostroma court pointed to the \"vague\" wording of the indictment. Neither in the materials of the criminal case, nor in the register of legal entities, nor in any other documents, there is no confirmation that the young spouses were founders or members of a local religious organization in Kostroma.\nThe prosecution unfoundedly points out that the Rayman spouses held meetings of a religious organization, but at the same time does not cite a single name of the participants in such meetings - the defense of believers drew attention to this. The indictment also does not indicate the consequences of the actions of the Ryman spouses and the methods of committing the \"crime\".\nThe court found no evidence of intent to commit a crime in the investigation documents. At the same time, the court referred to Resolution No. 11 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia of June 28, 2011 \"On Judicial Practice in Criminal Cases on Crimes of an Extremist Nature\", which clearly states: \"The crime provided for in Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is committed only with direct intent and with the aim of inciting hatred or enmity, as well as humiliating the dignity of a person or a group of persons on the basis of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, attitude to religion, membership in any social group.\"\nThe court pointed out that \"in this case, there is a legal right to profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which was not prohibited by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 20.04.2017.\" \"Despite the fact that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in its decisions has repeatedly pointed out that the practice of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses on the territory of the Russian Federation is not prohibited by law, they are not deprived of the opportunity to independently practice religious cults,\" the court ruling, which has not yet entered into force, says.\nDespite this position, the court left Valeria and Sergey Rayman under recognizance not to leave. The couple still face up to 10 years in prison.\nThe nightmare for the young family began in the early morning of July 25, 2018, when, during a series of searches in Kostroma , armed special forces, using crowbars, broke down the door to their apartment. After the search of the spouses was detained, Valeriya spent 2 days under arrest and another 179 days under the ban on certain actions. Sergey spent 59 days under arrest, part of this period in a cramped solitary confinement cell, 30 days under house arrest and another 90 days under the prohibition of certain actions. All this time, it was impossible for the spouses to lead a full life, including communicating with each other.\nThe religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is indeed not prohibited.\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-10-01T12:29:23+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1192/raymany_oblozhka_0_hu_116121878ef82f3a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1192/raymany_oblozhka_0_hu_c5bec802239ecf64.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1192/raymany_oblozhka_0_hu_8ae5169cf054f50d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1192/raymany_oblozhka_0_hu_a1a1bfc7ae1b5627.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/10/1192.html","regions":["kostroma"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1","282.2-2","case-to-prosecutor","families"],"title":"The court recognized the right of the spouses to profess the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses and returned the case to the prosecutor because of the unfounded accusation","type":"news"},{"body":"There is information in the media about the initiation of 5 criminal cases under Part 2 of Article 282.2 by the Chief Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of Russia of the Moscow Region, including against Yuri Krutyakov, who, according to the investigation, was previously one of the founders of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Podolsk. The investigation believes that he attracted his wife and three other residents of the Moscow region to the faith.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Nikiforov and Others in Chekhov","date":"2019-10-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chekhov/index.html#20191001","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates the 9th criminal case in Birobidzhan for faith under Article 282.2 (2) - against Yelena Reyno-Chernyshova. According to reports, the case was separated from the case file against Alam Aliyev.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Aliyev and Others in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-09-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan10/index.html#20190929","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates the 8th criminal case in Birobidzhan for faith under Article 282.2 (2) against Svetlana Monis. According to reports, the case was separated from the case file against Alam Aliyev.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Aliyev and Others in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-09-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan10/index.html#20190926","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator-criminalist of the Investigative Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, Senior Lieutenant of Justice D. Yankin initiates a criminal case against Monis under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Monis in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-09-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan4/index.html#20190926","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Republic of Mari El initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2); According to the investigation, she \"deliberately continued illegal activities ... by conducting interviews with unidentified persons in order to promote the activities of the banned religious extremist organization Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as by directly participating in events held by the banned organization.\" Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Ekaterina Pegasheva (born in 1989).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Pegasheva in Yoshkar-Ola","date":"2019-09-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/yoshkar-ola/index.html#20190926","regions":["mari-el"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates the 7th criminal case in Birobidzhan for faith under Article 282.2 (2) - against Larisa Artamonova. According to reports, the case was separated from the case file against Alam Aliyev.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Aliyev and Others in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-09-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan10/index.html#20190925","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Lieutenant of Justice D. S. Yankin, investigator of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates a criminal case for faith under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Larisa Artamonova (born in 1970).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Artamonova in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-09-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan2/index.html#20190925","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2); According to the investigation, she \"committed deliberate actions related to the resumption and continuation of the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Birobidzhan\" (from the decision to initiate a criminal case). Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Anastasia Sycheva (born in 1977).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Sycheva in Obluchye","date":"2019-09-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan3/index.html#20190925","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Lieutenant of Justice D. Yankin, investigator of the Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Elena Reyno-Chernyshova. The case is separated from the case file against Alam Aliyev.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Reyno-Chernyshova in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-09-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan5/index.html#20190925","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Elena Barmakina was charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, \"she took a direct part in religious speeches, divine services, sermons, learning variants of sermons for use in preaching ... carried out the preaching work.\" A preventive measure is chosen against her in the form of a recognizance not to leave and proper behavior.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Redozubov and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2019-09-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok/index.html#20190913","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Maksim Zaitsev, Senior Investigator of the Kursk Region FSB Directorate of the Kursk Region of the Russian Federal Security Service initiates criminal cases for faith under Articles 282.2 (1) and 282.2 (2). Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Andreev Andrey (born in 1976), Bagratyan Artyom (born in 1972), Bagratyan Alevtina (born in 1977).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Andreyev and Others in Kursk","date":"2019-09-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kursk/index.html#20190912","regions":["kursk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Two years and two months of forced labor and another six months of restriction of freedom - this is the sentence handed down to Valery Moskalenko by the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Khabarovsk on September 2, 2019. At the same time, the court did not support the petition for a prison term for a peaceful believer convicted of reading the Bible.\nOn the morning of September 2, 2019, Judge Ivan Belykh announced the verdict, in which he only partially supported the position of the prosecutor's office. The prosecutor called for the believer to be sent to jail for three years under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in extremist activities). The key episode for the prosecution was the events that took place on April 21, 2018 in the conference hall of the Yerofey hotel complex. There, Moskalenko quoted the words of Jesus Christ from the Sermon on the Mount. A ten-minute audio recording of the reading of this passage with commentary formed the basis of the indictment.\nAfter the verdict was announced, 52-year-old Valery Moskalenko was released from custody in the courtroom to the delight of his family and friends. He has been in jail for more than a year, since August 2, 2018. Before being taken into custody, he worked as an assistant locomotive driver and cared for his sick mother. Under the terms of restriction of freedom, he cannot travel outside Khabarovsk and must report to the penitentiary inspectorate once a month.\nThe believer's defense believes that a guilty verdict for believing in God and quoting the words of Jesus Christ cannot be considered legitimate, so it intends to appeal the verdict.\nIn addition to Valery Moskalenko, 7 more believers in the Khabarovsk Territory are awaiting sentences for similar \"crimes\". In this Russian region, as in many others, law enforcement officers deny citizens the right to practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which contradicts not only Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, but also the position of the Government and the President of the Russian Federation.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2019-09-02T14:10:18+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/09/1115/140fab92-26cf-41fa-bd33-5a7fdff05434_hu_ab863688bdd804b8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/09/1115/140fab92-26cf-41fa-bd33-5a7fdff05434.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/09/1115/140fab92-26cf-41fa-bd33-5a7fdff05434_hu_a4ae4c64c2e1e71e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/09/1115/140fab92-26cf-41fa-bd33-5a7fdff05434_hu_70b114c97824b381.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/09/1115.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","labor","282.2-2","sizo"],"title":"2 years and 2 months of forced labor and 6 months of restricted freedom for reading the Bible. Valery Moskalenko at large, but with a guilty verdict ","type":"news"},{"body":"On August 22, 2019, a 43-year-old resident of Perm, Alexei Metzger, was officially prosecuted for alleged participation in extremist activities. He signed a recognizance not to leave. The believer faces up to 6 years in prison just for practicing his religion.\nDespite the absence of victims, law enforcement agencies are convinced that Metzger's actions constitute a serious crime. E. Leontiev, an investigator for especially important cases, opened a criminal case against another peaceful believer under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). The accused has already begun to familiarize himself with the materials of the case. It will then be taken to court.\nAlexey Metzger has become the fifth resident of the Perm Territory against whom a criminal case has been initiated in connection with the practice of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. His case was separated from the case of Alexander Solovyov, who had already been convicted under a similar article. On July 4, 2019, he was sentenced to a fine of 300 thousand rubles. Three more residents of the Perm region are now under investigation: Boris Burylov, Viktor Kuchkov and Igor Turik.\nThese criminal cases are a direct consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate and ban the activities of all Jehovah's Witnesses organizations in Russia. Law enforcement officers inappropriately interpret joint confession of religion as participation in extremist activities, which contradicts Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which guarantees freedom of religion for all.\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-08-29T12:44:38+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/08/1113/img_20190406_173622_2_hu_df4fb1fbf2577351.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/08/1113/img_20190406_173622_2.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/08/1113/img_20190406_173622_2_hu_690f3b4519cedad5.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/08/1113/img_20190406_173622_2_hu_3140c611242ad5c7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/08/1113.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"title":"Another criminal case for faith in Perm. Alexei Metzger was indicted ","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Nevelsk Urban District initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2) against Vyacheslav Ivanov and Dmitry Kulakov. According to the investigation, \"by prior conspiracy ... conducted conversations with residents ... at home, trying to impose on them the ideas that were preached by a religious association liquidated by a court decision in connection with extremist activities.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ivanov and Kulakov in Nevelsk","date":"2019-08-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevelsk2/index.html#20190829","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Denis Peresunko is being prosecuted and interrogated as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Rogozin and Others in Volgograd","date":"2019-08-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volgograd/index.html#20190827","regions":["volgograd"],"tags":["interrogation","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Alexey Metzger was officially charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Metsger in Perm","date":"2019-08-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/perm/index.html#20190822","regions":["perm"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Yevgeny is again interrogated, this time as accused of extremism. The believer does not admit guilt.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Aksenov in Khabarovsk","date":"2019-08-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/khabarovsk3/index.html#20190821","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["interrogation","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 12, 2019, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court upheld the decision of the lower court, which sent 51-year-old Alexander Vavilov to a pre-trial detention center for his faith. Alexei Oreshkov, 48, is also behind bars. Both are accused of participating in extremist activities, which is how the investigating authorities interpret the peaceful religious beliefs of citizens.\nTwo believers have been in pre-trial detention centers since mid-July 2019. At the moment, it is known that Alexander Vavilov was sent to pre-trial detention center No. 2 of the Kstovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Alexei Oreshkov is being held in pre-trial detention center No. 1 of Nizhny Novgorod. Both are charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in extremist activities). This was preceded by mass searches and detentions of believers in the Nizhny Novgorod region, which took place on July 16 and 17, 2019.\nAccording to the materials of the case, the believers Vavilov and Oreshkov, \"realizing a joint criminal intent, acting intentionally, by a group of persons by prior conspiracy ... took active steps aimed at... conducting religious speeches and services\" (from the decision to bring A. V. Vavilov as an accused, signed by investigator S. S. Sosunov).\nAt the moment, more than ten believers in the Nizhny Novgorod region have been prosecuted because of their religion. Law enforcement agencies are convinced that residents of the region are forbidden to practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which directly contradicts the position of the Government and the President of the Russian Federation.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2019-08-13T15:54:18+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/08/1051/jw-russia_02703_0_0_0_hu_b2338c9446a128c9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/08/1051/jw-russia_02703_0_0_0_hu_313b4c1be40c6db9.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/08/1051/jw-russia_02703_0_0_0_hu_6f3d432f9aa46fcf.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/08/1051/jw-russia_02703_0_0_0_hu_2b8ca09ae0cf009b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/08/1051.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","sizo","282.2-2"],"title":"Two residents of the Nizhny Novgorod region were imprisoned because of their faith ","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator D. Pozdnyakov charges Sergey Semenyuk and Sergey Svetonosov in absentia and puts them on the international wanted list. According to investigators, both men are outside of Russia.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Svetonosov and Semenyuk in Khabarovsk","date":"2019-08-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/khabarovsk2/index.html#20190805","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 30, 2019, in the city of Karpinsk (Sverdlovsk region), a criminal case was initiated against 19-year-old Daria Dulova solely on religious grounds. The investigation believes that she professes the views of Jehovah's Witnesses. For the same reason, her mother has been under recognizance not to leave for a year. According to the investigation, the 19-year-old college student, colluding with her mother and acquaintance, \"continued to actively participate in the activities of the banned local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses\" and had a \"psychological impact on society.\" On this basis, Senior Investigator of the Investigative Department for Krasnoturinsk of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Captain of Justice V. A. Sudin opened a criminal case against Daria for participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The girl became the youngest accused in the trials against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia at the moment. A year earlier, on July 30, 2018, a criminal case was initiated under a similar article against Daria's mother, Venera Dulova, who has a hearing disability. Then law enforcement officers searched their apartment and subjected Darya to psychological pressure and threats. They were actively interested in whether her parents read religious literature. The case of Darya Dulova is combined with the criminal cases of Venera Dulova and Aleksandr Pryanikov, another peaceful believer who was persecuted in Karpinsk. Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia has recently become widespread, and law enforcement agencies are initiating cases under serious criminal articles, regardless of the age and gender of the believers. The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, President Putin himself, prominent public figures of Russia, the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights drew attention to this problem. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-08-03T22:36:25+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/08/1015/web_daria_dulova_hu_30445067175a901e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/08/1015/web_daria_dulova.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/08/1015/web_daria_dulova_hu_999b0d270f58fa0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/08/1015/web_daria_dulova_hu_208c1233e4e8bf06.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/08/1015.html","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["new-case","families","282.2-2","disability"],"title":"In the Sverdlovsk region, a criminal case for faith was opened against a young girl and her disabled mother ","type":"news"},{"body":"The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates the 6th criminal case in Birobidzhan for faith under Article 282.2 (2) - against Arthur Lokhvitsky. According to reports, the case was separated from the case file against Alam Aliyev.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Aliyev and Others in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-07-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan10/index.html#20190731","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region is initiating a criminal case against 33-year-old Artur Lokhvitsky for his faith under Article 282.2 (2). According to the investigation, \"in order to disseminate the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses by improving the skills of preaching and other religious activities, a study was carried out ... the publication of Jehovah's Witnesses \"Holy Scripture - New World Translation\", recognized as extremist.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Lokhvitskiy in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-07-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan7/index.html#20190731","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2); According to the investigation, he conducted \"a study among the participants of the collection of religious literature of Jehovah's Witnesses, including the publication of Jehovah's Witnesses \"Holy Scripture / New World Translation\". Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Golik Yevgeny (born in 1975).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Golik in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-07-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan/index.html#20190730","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates the 4th criminal case in Birobidzhan for faith under Article 282.2 (2) - against Igor Tsarev.\nOn the same day, the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates the 5th criminal case in Birobidzhan for faith under Article 282.2 (2) - against Yevgeny Golik. According to available data, both cases are separated from the case file against Alam Aliyev.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Aliyev and Others in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-07-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan10/index.html#20190730","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region is initiating a criminal case for faith under Part 2 of Article 282.2 against 45-year-old Igor Tsarev. According to the investigation, he \"in order to spread the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses by improving the skills of preaching and other religious activities, he studied ... the publication of Jehovah's Witnesses \"Holy Scripture / New World Translation\", recognized as extremist.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Tsarev in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-07-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan8/index.html#20190730","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Dyusekeeva and Bektemirova were charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2019-07-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20190730","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A decision is made to search for Semenyuk and Svetonosov, they are put on the federal wanted list.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Svetonosov and Semenyuk in Khabarovsk","date":"2019-07-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/khabarovsk2/index.html#20190730","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates the 2nd criminal case in Birobidzhan for faith under Article 282.2 (2) - against Yevgeny Yegorov. According to reports, the case was separated from the case file against Alam Aliyev.\nOn the same day, the 3rd criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was initiated against Konstantin Guzev. The investigation is being conducted within the framework of the Alam Aliyev case.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Aliyev and Others in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-07-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan10/index.html#20190729","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates the 3rd criminal case in Birobidzhan for faith under Article 282.2 (2) - against Konstantin Guzev. According to reports, the case was separated from the case file against Alam Aliyev.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Guzev in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-07-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan11/index.html#20190729","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region is initiating a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Yevgeny Egorov.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Yegorov in Birobidzhan","date":"2019-07-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan9/index.html#20190729","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Britvin and Levchuk were charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Levchuk and Britvin in Beryozovsky","date":"2019-07-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/beryozovsky2/index.html#20190727","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Semenyuk and Svetonosov were charged with committing a crime under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Svetonosov and Semenyuk in Khabarovsk","date":"2019-07-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/khabarovsk2/index.html#20190727","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 24, 2019, the judge of the Central District Court of Kemerovo, Elena Lapina, sent two Kemerovo civilians, 58-year-old Sergey Yavushkin and 45-year-old Aleksandr Bondarchuk, under house arrest for one month and 27 days. Prior to that, they spent almost two days in a temporary detention center.\nOn July 22, at 6 a.m., officers of the Investigative Committee invaded their apartments with a second search. For the first time, believers were subjected to this humiliating procedure on January 23, 2018. According to investigator M. Nikitin, both defendants profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, and therefore participate in extremist activities. On July 18, 2019, a criminal case was opened against them under the article \"Organization of the activities of an extremist organization\" (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nThis is not the first case of persecution for faith in the Kemerovo region. The epicenter of persecution was the city of Berezovsky. On July 22, 2018, Sergey Britvin and Vadim Levchuk were arrested there and sent to a pre-trial detention center . In February 2019, the court placed another resident of this city, Hassan Kogut, under house arrest. All of them are accused only of not ceasing to profess the religious views of Jehovah's Witnesses after the decision of the Supreme Court of April 20, 2017. The wave of religious repression that has been going on in the Kemerovo region for the second year was a direct consequence of the fact that civilians were branded extremists for simply practicing religion. The Russian government emphasized that the views of Jehovah's Witnesses have never been declared criminal in Russia. The president of the country also spoke out against the persecution of them. ","category":"restriction","date":"2019-07-26T12:33:01+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/07/998/190215_surgut2759_0_0_0_0_hu_656ef17cdbe4b20d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/07/998/190215_surgut2759_0_0_0_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/07/998/190215_surgut2759_0_0_0_0_hu_7ce8e2062dbcb96.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/07/998/190215_surgut2759_0_0_0_0_hu_b7d5336e4c911f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/07/998.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","house-arrest","282.2-2"],"title":"New searches in Kemerovo, believers were placed under house arrest ","type":"news"},{"body":"Yevgeny is charged with taking part in the activities of a banned religious organization, quoting a translation of the Bible banned in Russia, while acting \"deliberately\", wanting \"socially dangerous consequences.\" Aksyonov tells investigators that he is alien to the ideas of extremism. Aksyonov is taken to sign a not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Aksenov in Khabarovsk","date":"2019-07-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/khabarovsk3/index.html#20190724","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Yavushkin is charged with committing a crime under Article 282.2, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and is interrogated as an accused. The wives of Bondarchuk and Yavushkin are being interrogated.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Yavushkin and Bondarchuk in Kemerovo","date":"2019-07-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kemerovo/index.html#20190723","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["interrogation","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Office of the Investigative Committee for the Kemerovo Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2). According to investigators, local residents communicated with others about God and gathered with fellow believers, which, according to investigators, is \"a continuation of the activities of the liquidated religious organization.\" Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Alexander Bondarchuk (born in 1974), Sergey Yavushkin (born in 1960). The case is assigned No. 11902320035000583.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Yavushkin and Bondarchuk in Kemerovo","date":"2019-07-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kemerovo/index.html#20190718","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On the evening of July 16 and the morning of July 17, 2019, about 10 searches were carried out in the homes of believers in Nizhny Novgorod and the city of Pavlovo (Nizhny Novgorod region), and equipment was seized. In at least one case, security forces forced civilians to lie on the floor. Men and women have been detained, and interrogations are underway.\nThe last time Nizhny Novgorod security officials put pressure on those who hold the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses was more than two years ago, even before the Supreme Court's decision to ban 396 organizations of believers came into force. Then the special services disrupted the worship service and planted a brochure included in the list of extremist materials. Update. In total, searches were carried out in 31 families of Nizhny Novgorod believers. 5 criminal cases were initiated against 7 men and 2 women. Persecution of faith is carried out by employees of the Nizhny Novgorod regional police department together with employees of the regional department of the FSB. Force support was provided by the SOBR of the regional department of the Russian Guard.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2019-07-17T23:39:57+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/07/976/190717_nizhniy_novgorod_hu_c76b515c04f5d1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/07/976/190717_nizhniy_novgorod.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/07/976/190717_nizhniy_novgorod_hu_bcc0ec49f1b7dbc8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/07/976/190717_nizhniy_novgorod_hu_bb42be29c516becf.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/07/976.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","interrogation","new-case","282.2-2"],"title":"Mass operation against believers in the Nizhny Novgorod region","type":"news"},{"body":"Security forces detain and interrogate local residents Aleksey Oreshkov and Aleksandr Vavilov. They are charged under Article 282.2(2).\nThe Pavlovsk City Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region chooses a measure of restraint for both believers in the form of detention until 15.09.2019.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Vavilov and Oreshkov in Pavlovo","date":"2019-07-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovo/index.html#20190717","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["sizo","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigation Department of the FSB of Russia in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Captain of Justice S. S. Sosunov initiates a criminal case on the fact that unidentified persons committed a crime under Part 2 of Article 35 (a crime by a group of persons by prior conspiracy who agreed in advance on the joint commission of a crime) and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nAccording to the investigation, \"unidentified persons, realizing a joint criminal intent, acting deliberately, by a group of persons by prior conspiracy ... took active steps aimed at... conducting religious performances and worship services.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Vavilov and Oreshkov in Pavlovo","date":"2019-07-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovo/index.html#20190716","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Ordzhonikidze District Court of Perm appointed 300,000 rubles instead of the 3.5 years in prison requested by the prosecutor to Jehovah's Witness Alexander Solovyov. The verdict was announced on July 4, 2019. The believer insists on his complete innocence and will appeal.\nThe case against Solovyov was initiated in May 2018. The investigation was carried out by the Investigative Committee for the Perm Territory. The indictment was approved by the Deputy Prosecutor of the Perm Territory Alexander Deryshov. There are no victims in the criminal case.\nWhat is the essence of the accusations? Solovyov was charged with participating in the activities of an organization banned by the court, citing the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses. In 2017, a small group of Perm residents who in the past professed the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, on the instructions of the \"E\" center, having received hidden recording equipment from operatives, began to hold discussions with Solovyov about the Bible. Police Lieutenant Colonel K. Ulitin sent the recordings of these discussions for examination to the catechist of the Russian Orthodox Church, a graduate of the Perm Theological Seminary, Alexei Mosin. The expert \"found\" in Solovyov's words signs of psychological pressure on the interlocutor, which, in turn, according to prosecutors, serves as confirmation that Solovyov \"continued the activities\" of the banned organization. He was charged under the article \"Participation in the activities of an extremist organization\" (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nIn Perm and the Perm Territory, several similar criminal cases have been initiated against Jehovah's Witnesses. Russian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. These include the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, prominent public figures of Russia, the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\nUpdate. On September 5, 2019, the Perm Regional Court upheld the conviction of Aleksandr Solovyov.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2019-07-04T13:39:03+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/07/948/web_image_aleksandr_solovyov721_hu_cdf3f8f2d53c1318.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/07/948/web_image_aleksandr_solovyov721_hu_d9394d3a83fd0c61.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/07/948/web_image_aleksandr_solovyov721_hu_ee74bf15c8aaa24a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/07/948/web_image_aleksandr_solovyov721_hu_b35af87d6ae8e446.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/07/948.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"A guilty verdict for faith was passed in Perm. A large fine was imposed ","type":"news"},{"body":"The trial of Alexander Solovyov, who is charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of the activities of an extremist organization), has ended in Perm. The prosecutor's office requested that the 49-year-old believer be sent to a penal colony for a period of three and a half years (see chronology of the case).\nThe trial lasted six sessions, the announcement of the verdict is scheduled for July 4, 2019, 11:00. At the same time, there are no victims in the case.\nAlexander Solovyov may become the second Jehovah's Witness in Russia to go to prison for his faith. Earlier this month, Dennis Christensen, a believer from Oryol, went to serve his sentence in the Kursk region.\nPersecution of Jehovah's Witnesses has been growing lately, and a record number of 37 believers are being held in pre-trial detention centers in different cities of the country. This is despite the fact that the Russian government assured that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\" Public figures, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and other Russian and international organizations have repeatedly drawn attention to religious repressions.\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-06-28T00:30:28+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/06/943/solovevy_aleksandr_i_anna621_0_hu_27d5de9a3ddadc1a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/06/943/solovevy_aleksandr_i_anna621_0_hu_6780ff6a146e93f6.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/06/943/solovevy_aleksandr_i_anna621_0_hu_99599123ee6f635f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/06/943/solovevy_aleksandr_i_anna621_0_hu_cd2dca04916377ed.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/06/943.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["prosecutor-request","liberty-deprivation","282.2-2"],"title":"The prosecutor requested 3.5 years in prison for faith for a resident of Perm","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Novosibirsk Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2); According to the investigation, \"they participated in conducting collective religious services, teaching the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, methods and methods of disseminating the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses among citizens, and collected funds in the form of donations.\" Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Vitaly Popov (born in 1967), Maxim Eremeev (born in 1987).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Popov and Eremeev in Novosibirsk","date":"2019-06-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novosibirsk/index.html#20190627","regions":["novosibirsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Novosibirsk Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2); According to the investigation, \"they participated in conducting collective religious services, teaching the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, methods and methods of disseminating the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses among citizens, and collected funds in the form of donations.\" Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Vitaly Popov (born in 1967), Maxim Eremeev (born in 1987).\n","caseTitle":"Case Eremeev in Novosibirsk","date":"2019-06-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novosibirsk4/index.html#20190627","regions":["novosibirsk"],"tags":["282.2-2","new-case"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lieutenant Colonel of Justice D.V. Levchenko, Senior Investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Omsk Region, having considered the report on the detection of signs of a crime of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation No. 234pr-19 and the materials of the check on the fact of participation in the activities of a religious organization, opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, against Karimzhanov A.Zh., Polyakov S.V., Polyakova A.A., Dyusekeeva D.Kh., Bektemirova G.M. and other persons.\nThe head of the first department for the investigation of particularly important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Omsk Region, Colonel of Justice K.M. Martynenko, reviewed the materials of UD No. 11802520007000028 and the materials of UD No. 11902520035000010 decided to combine criminal cases under the number No. 11802520007000028.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2019-06-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20190624","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Tatyana Shamsheva, 42, and Olga Silaeva, 31, were arrested during mass searches conducted in the Bryansk region on June 11, 2019, in the homes of local Jehovah's Witnesses and their relatives. In total, in the city of Unecha, the city of Novozybkov, in the village. Klimovo and the village of Dobrik underwent 22 searches.\nIt is known that a criminal case has been initiated on charges of participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). After the searches, Tatyana Shamsheva and Olga Silaeva stopped communicating. On June 14, 2019, it became known that they were in SIZO-2 in the Bryansk region (in Novozybkov, 9 Red Square Street).\nSearches were also carried out in families with young children, as well as in the home of an 83-year-old woman. As part of this criminal case, the 23rd search also took place at Olga Silaeva's relatives in Moscow.\nA huge number of Russian and international figures and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. These include the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, prominent public figures of Russia, the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2019-06-14T20:48:01+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/06/934/depositphotos_6406965_2_0_hu_a80eba6c9c4df8ed.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/06/934/depositphotos_6406965_2_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/06/934/depositphotos_6406965_2_0_hu_47aec7c6d02f45f8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/06/934/depositphotos_6406965_2_0_hu_e8c0909b3e5d1bad.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/06/934.html","regions":["bryansk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","sizo","elderly","minors"],"title":"2 women believers were arrested in the Bryansk region. 22 searches carried out","type":"news"},{"body":"On June 13, 2019, a panel of three judges of the Oryol Regional Court upheld the verdict of the district court, according to which Sergey Skrynnikov was sentenced to a large fine for his faith.\nEarlier, on April 1, 2019, Gleb Noskov, judge of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Orel, announced his decision to find Sergey Skrynnikov guilty under the article \"participation in the activities of an extremist organization\" (part 2 of article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and sentence him to a fine in the amount of 350 thousand rubles. At the same time, the judge considered far-fetched the accusations of calls for the destruction of the family and non-recognition of authority, which were put forward against the believer by the investigators and prosecutors.\nThe case against Sergey Skrynnikov was separated from the criminal case of Dennis Christensen, whom the same court sent to a colony for 6 years.\nA huge number of Russian and international figures and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. These include the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, prominent public figures of Russia, the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"verdict","date":"2019-06-13T16:48:52+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/06/933/skrynnikov24764_hu_d59933bcf55ebb7c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/06/933/skrynnikov24764.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/06/933/skrynnikov24764_hu_a3faaa0a406e6a31.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/06/933/skrynnikov24764_hu_77c8bc28742b3193.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/06/933.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","fine","282.2-2"],"title":"An appeals court in Oryol upheld the conviction of a second believer ","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigation Department for the Central District of Kostroma of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kostroma Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2). According to investigators, Dmitry Terebilov (born in 1980) \"Distributing ... literature included in the federal list of extremist materials, containing information inciting religious discord, promoting the exclusivity, superiority of the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses and the inferiority of other citizens who do not profess this doctrine ... took part in the meetings held.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Terebilov in Kostroma","date":"2019-06-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kostroma/index.html#20190613","regions":["kostroma"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Starting from June 7 and until July 2, 2020, Agadzhanov, Asatryan, Solntsev, Dergacheva, Revyakin, Kardakova and Khvostova are charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Puida, Petrov, Yerkin and Zyablov under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Puyda and Others in Magadan","date":"2019-06-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/magadan/index.html#20190607","regions":["magadan"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The First Investigation Department (located in Rostov-on-Don) of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2); According to the investigation, he participated in religious meetings, including religious services; made donations; engaged in agitation among persons who are not followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Baibak Semyon (born in 1997).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Baybak in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2019-06-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don2/index.html#20190606","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lieutenant Colonel of Justice M. Antipov, Senior Investigator for Particularly Important Cases of the First Investigation Department of the First Investigation Department (based in Rostov-on-Don) of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, initiates a criminal case for his faith under Article 282.2 (2); According to the investigation, he participated in religious meetings, including religious services; made donations; engaged in agitation among persons who are not followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Pavel Gild (born in 1998).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Gild in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2019-06-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don3/index.html#20190606","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The First Investigation Department (based in Rostov-on-Don) of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiates criminal cases for faith under Part 2 of Article 282.2 against Olga Ganusha (born in 1961), Lyudmila Ponomarenko (born in 1950) and Galina Parkova (born in 1970). According to the investigation, they participated in religious meetings, including religious services; provided living quarters for meetings; made donations; engaged in agitation among persons who are not followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ganusha in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2019-06-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don4/index.html#20190606","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The First Investigation Department (based in Rostov-on-Don) of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiates criminal cases for faith under Part 2 of Article 282.2 against Olga Ganusha (born in 1961), Lyudmila Ponomarenko (born in 1950) and Galina Parkova (born in 1970). According to the investigation, they participated in religious meetings, including religious services; provided living quarters for meetings; made donations; engaged in agitation among persons who are not followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Parkova in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2019-06-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don5/index.html#20190606","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The First Investigation Department (located in Rostov-on-Don) of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiates a criminal case, accusing Ruslan Alyev of participating in religious meetings and campaigning among persons who are not followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Alyev in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2019-06-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don6/index.html#20190606","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The First Investigation Department (based in Rostov-on-Don) of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiates criminal cases for faith under Part 2 of Article 282.2 against Olga Ganush (born in 1961), Lyudmila Ponomarenko (born in 1950) and Galina Parkova (born in 1970). According to the investigation, they participated in religious meetings, including religious services; provided living quarters for meetings; made donations; engaged in agitation among persons who are not followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. The reason for initiating a criminal case against Lyudmila Ponomarenko is the report of the head of the CPE of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Arthur Metzger. According to Mikhail Antipov, a senior investigator for especially important cases, the believer \"had the intent to participate in the activities of an extremist organization ... bringing to the attention of the population of Rostov-on-Don the content of religious literature.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ponomarenko in Rostov-on-Don","date":"2019-06-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rostov-on-don8/index.html#20190606","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"D. Pozdnyakov, a senior investigator-criminalist of the investigation department of the FSB Directorate for the Khabarovsk Territory, initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Yevgeniy Aksenov, Sergey Semenyuk and Sergey Svetonosov. According to investigators, they discussed the Bible with other people, which is interpreted as a continuation of extremist activity.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Svetonosov and Semenyuk in Khabarovsk","date":"2019-05-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/khabarovsk2/index.html#20190530","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Melnik, Igor Yegoraryan and Valery Rogozin are officially charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Rogozin and Others in Volgograd","date":"2019-05-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volgograd/index.html#20190524","regions":["volgograd"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 18, 2019, the judge of the Leninsky District Court of Smolensk, Lyudmila Kuzub, decided to detain two women for a period of 2 months: Tatyana Galkevich and 63-year-old Valentina Vladimirova. Prior to that, both were searched.\nAlthough Valentina Vladimirova was detained under the pretext of stealing from the prosecutor's house, during the interrogation the investigator immediately began to ask prepared questions about her religion. A case was opened against the women under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in extremist activities). Then her house was searched, interrogated, and electronic devices were seized.\nSmolensk law enforcement officers, following their colleagues in other Russian cities, claim that peaceful believers are engaged in \"organizing extremist activities,\" while they only privately read the Bible and prayed. The Russian government confirmed that the decisions of the Russian courts \"do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice individually the above teachings [of Jehovah's Witnesses].\"\nVladimirova and Galkevich became the seventh and eighth defendants in criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in Smolensk. At the end of April 2019, four believers were sent to the pre-trial detention center, and before that, Maria Troshina and Natalia Sorokina spent 191 days behind bars.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2019-05-22T15:57:38+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/05/867/depositphotos_6406965_2_hu_1bbec167c0c66ac.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/05/867/depositphotos_6406965_2.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/05/867/depositphotos_6406965_2_hu_67809cd636efcf6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/05/867/depositphotos_6406965_2_hu_2407383a2cdbcb51.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/05/867.html","regions":["smolensk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","sizo","elderly","new-case","282.2-2"],"title":"In Smolensk, two more women were sent to a pre-trial detention center for their faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 18, 2019, the judge of the Central District Court of Volgograd, Andrey Oleynikov, decided to send four civilians who were detained during a raid on believers on May 16, 2019, to a pre-trial detention center for two months. Valery Rogozin, Sergei Melnik, Igor Egozaryan and Vyacheslav Osipov were sent to prison only because the authorities consider them Jehovah's Witnesses. All four are charged with Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - participation in extremist activities.\nIvan Valkovsky, whose detention was reported earlier, was released on the same day. Information about the detention of D. Peresunko and V. Tarasov (81 years old) was subsequently not confirmed. Surveillance, summons and interrogations of believers in the city continue.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2019-05-21T17:47:02+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/05/861/depositphotos_21862193_2_2_hu_8840cec15fee8f3d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/05/861/depositphotos_21862193_2_2.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/05/861/depositphotos_21862193_2_2_hu_62802ad46aa503fd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/05/861/depositphotos_21862193_2_2_hu_2848070554300b5b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/05/861.html","regions":["volgograd"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","interrogation","282.2-2"],"title":"In Volgograd, Four Believers Were Detained for 2 Months","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 16, 2019, the judge of the Leninsky District Court of the city of Ulyanovsk, Yulia Poladova, chose a measure of restraint for 62-year-old Alexander Ganin - a ban until June 23 to leave the house from 16:00 to 9:00 the next day, use the telephone and the Internet, as well as communicate with participants in criminal proceedings.\nEarlier, on May 15, 2019, at 5:50 a.m. local time, FSB officers came to Alexander's house in Novoulyanovsk and searched him. Aleksandr himself was placed in a temporary detention center.\nAleksandr Ganin became the sixth believer in Ulyanovsk to be prosecuted for his faith. He is charged under Article 282.2 Part 2 (Participation in the activities of an extremist organization). The cases of all six were merged into one criminal proceeding. According to the investigation, the Ulyanovsk believers were engaged in \"popularizing the ideas of Jehovah's Witnesses, promoting the superiority of these ideas over other religious teachings.\" Such an absurd accusation was made despite the fact that the Government of the Russian Federation clearly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"restriction","date":"2019-05-17T17:03:17+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/05/853/190215_surgut2759_0_hu_407b0352f7f3df8a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/05/853/190215_surgut2759_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/05/853/190215_surgut2759_0_hu_5a72f0b834530009.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/05/853/190215_surgut2759_0_hu_2f601db844bdf09d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/05/853.html","regions":["ulyanovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["ivs","search","282.2-2","prohibition-of-actions"],"title":"In Ulyanovsk, the court released the believer from the detention center, but with the condition","type":"news"},{"body":"Tatyana Galkevich is charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and interrogated as an accused. A decision was also made to bring Valentina Vladimirova as a defendant in a criminal case.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Vladimirova and Galkevich in Smolensk","date":"2019-05-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/smolensk/index.html#20190517","regions":["smolensk"],"tags":["282.2-2","interrogation"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Several other believers are detained in Volgograd in the same criminal case: Valery Rogozin (born in 1962), Sergey Melnik (born in 1972), and Igor Egozaryan (born in 1965).\nAccording to the investigation, they also repeatedly participated \"in mass events for viewing, listening, discussing audio and video materials promoting the cult of religious superiority of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Rogozin and Others in Volgograd","date":"2019-05-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volgograd/index.html#20190516","regions":["volgograd"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 6, 2019, Aleksandr Deryshov, deputy prosecutor of the Perm region, signed the final document in which investigators summarized the charge against 48-year-old Perm resident Alexander Solovyov, suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The case goes to court (see chronology of the case).\nWhat exactly is Alexander Solovyov accused of? He is charged with participating in the activities of an organization banned by the court, citing the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses. In 2017, a small group of Perm residents who in the past professed the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, on the instructions of the \"E\" center, having received hidden recording equipment from operatives, began to hold discussions with Solovyov about the Bible. Police Lieutenant Colonel K. Ulitin sent the recordings of these discussions for examination to the catechist of the Russian Orthodox Church, a graduate of the Perm Theological Seminary, Alexei Mosin. The expert found in Solovyov's words signs of psychological pressure on the interlocutor, which, in turn, according to prosecutors, serves as confirmation that Solovyov continued the activities of the banned organization. He was charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. There are no victims in the criminal case.\nWhat is the position of the accused? According to the indictment, Alexander Solovyov does not agree with the charges, does not admit guilt, claims that he did nothing wrong, and does not understand why he is being held accountable. Refers to Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which gives the right to practice any religion personally or jointly with others. He believes that the Bible taught him self-control, helped him give up bad habits, and its study also led to other positive aspects. In addition, Alexander Solovyov did not want to explain anything, deciding to wait for the trial.\nLaw enforcers mistakenly mistake citizens' religion for participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Prominent public figures of Russia, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, as well as international organizations - the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - drew attention to this problem. Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with extremism and insist on their complete innocence. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-05-15T16:50:49+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/05/846/solovevy_aleksandr_i_anna621_hu_27d5de9a3ddadc1a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/05/846/solovevy_aleksandr_i_anna621_hu_6780ff6a146e93f6.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/05/846/solovevy_aleksandr_i_anna621_hu_99599123ee6f635f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/05/846/solovevy_aleksandr_i_anna621_hu_cd2dca04916377ed.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/05/846.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["review","282.2-2","to-court"],"title":"The prosecutor's office in Perm signed an indictment against Alexander Solovyov","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigative Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Smolensk Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2). According to the investigation, Valentina Vladimirova (born in 1956), Tatyana Galkevich (born in 1959) \"participated in joint prayers to 'Jehovah' and discussion of Bible interpretations.\" Vladimirova is also accused of \"providing the premises of her apartment for holding meetings\" of fellow believers in conditions of secrecy.\nLaw enforcement officers conduct a series of searches in the homes of other local believers. One of them, A.Zh., is taken away by the security forces directly from the hospital. During the interrogation, the investigator asks prepared questions about religion.\nValentina is detained. Her apartment is being searched, but law enforcement officers do not find evidence of the crime. The woman is interrogated for about 14 hours, at which time she becomes ill, she has to call an ambulance. During the interrogation, investigator O. K. Bulgakov focuses on the woman's religion.\nAfter interrogation, Valentina is imprisoned for 48 hours in a temporary detention facility. According to Valentina, before being transferred to the pre-trial detention center, she is subjected to psychological pressure in order to force her to confess to something she did not commit.\nThe protection of the believer is complaining about the actions of the security forces.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Vladimirova and Galkevich in Smolensk","date":"2019-05-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/smolensk/index.html#20190514","regions":["smolensk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","search","interrogation","ivs","health-risk"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Investigator of the First Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the Volgograd Region, Senior Lieutenant of Justice Ignatov, initiates a criminal case under the article on participation in a banned organization (Article 282.2 (2)). At that time, 48-year-old Vyacheslav Osipov, 71-year-old Valentina Makhmadagaeva and 65-year-old Olga Medvedeva and a number of \"unidentified persons\" became innocent victims of law enforcement officers. They are accused of holding video conferences, discussing biblical thoughts, and singing songs with fellow believers. According to the investigator, this is the resumption of the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses organizations.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Rogozin and Others in Volgograd","date":"2019-05-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volgograd/index.html#20190513","regions":["volgograd"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Arkhangelsk Region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug initiates a criminal case for faith under Article 282.2 (2); According to the investigation, she continued the illegal activities of the banned local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Arkhangelsk. Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Mamykina Kaleria (born in 1941).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Mamykina in Arkhangelsk","date":"2019-05-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/arkhangelsk/index.html#20190507","regions":["arkhangelsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Another criminal case under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was initiated against 78-year-old Kaleria Mamykina. According to investigators, the pensioner allegedly continued the illegal activities of the banned local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Arkhangelsk.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Yakku in Arkhangelsk","date":"2019-05-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/arkhangelsk2/index.html#20190507","regions":["arkhangelsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 7, 2019, a criminal case was initiated against Kaleria Fedorovna Mamykina. The woman is accused of \"continuing the illegal activities of the banned local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Arkhangelsk.\" Investigators equated reading the Bible and talking about faith with acts with criminal intent.\nFor more than a year, the woman was under surveillance, during which sufficient information was collected, according to investigators, indicating the presence in the actions of Kaleria Fedorovna of signs of a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Namely: participation in meetings of groups of possible participants in extremist activities at their place of residence.\nThe case is being investigated by the investigator for the investigation of especially important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Arkhangelsk Region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug R. Shagarov, who is in the rank of lieutenant colonel.\nRussian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. These include the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, prominent public figures of Russia, the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-05-07T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/06/935/planting-062765_0_hu_87c5d9fbde9b8ed0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/06/935/planting-062765_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/06/935/planting-062765_0_hu_de1a879ad76fa4f4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/06/935/planting-062765_0_hu_7713b4ab65b461a7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/06/935.html","regions":["arkhangelsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","new-case","282.2-2","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A 78-year-old resident of Arkhangelsk is accused of inciting religious hatred with criminal intent","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 1, 2019, a court in Smolensk sent 30-year-old Yevgeniy Deshko, who is suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, to prison for 2 months. The man was arrested on April 29, 2019 in Dagomys (Krasnodar region) and taken to Smolensk.\nAccording to preliminary information, Yevgeny Deshko came to the attention of Smolensk law enforcement officers in the context of the criminal prosecution of Valery Shalev and other followers of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Smolensk, against whom the Investigative Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Smolensk Region opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The case became known on April 25, 2019, when searches were carried out in the homes of believers in Smolensk. The next day, the Leninsky District Court of Smolensk sent Ruslan Korolev, Valery Shalev and Viktor Malkov to jail.\nThis is the second such criminal case in the Smolensk region. On October 7, 2018, officers of the FSB Directorate for the Smolensk Region conducted a series of searches, during which in Sychevka (Smolensk Region) 2 women, Natalia Sorokina and Maria Troshina, were arrested. They spent more than six months behind bars, after which they were transferred to house arrest.\nLaw enforcers mistakenly mistake citizens' religion for participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Prominent public figures of Russia, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, as well as international organizations - the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - drew attention to this problem. Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with extremism and insist on their complete innocence. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2019-05-02T16:57:31+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/05/813/190501_smolensk_deshko2938_hu_b1b09ffc05734fc.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/05/813/190501_smolensk_deshko2938.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/05/813/190501_smolensk_deshko2938_hu_dfaf7658a4675457.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/05/813/190501_smolensk_deshko2938_hu_dae34042d32b0013.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/05/813.html","regions":["smolensk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","new-case","282.2-2"],"title":"Fourth believer arrested in Smolensk","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator D. Pozdnyakov makes a decision to bring Valery Moskalenko as an accused. He was charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Moskalenko in Khabarovsk","date":"2019-04-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/khabarovsk5/index.html#20190429","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 19, 2019, FSB officers simultaneously invaded at least six homes of civilians whom the authorities suspect of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. It became known about the initiation of a criminal case against 64-year-old Alexander Seredkin, 44-year-old Valery Maletskov and 48-year-old Marina Chaplykina. On April 21, 2019, the Oktyabrsky District Court refused to allow the investigator to detain Seredkin and Maletskov. Instead, they chose a measure of restraint in the form of house arrest. Marina Chaplykina signed a recognizance not to leave.\nAleksandr Seredkin is charged under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with organizing the activities of an extremist organization. According to the investigation, he \"organized meetings and led the reading and discussion of literature recognized as extremist.\" Valery Maletskov and Marina Chaplykina are charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with participation in the activities of an extremist organization. The investigation believes that they assisted A. Seredkin. The case was initiated by the senior investigator for especially important cases of the Novosibirsk Region Directorate of the FSB of Russia, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice E.V. Selyunin. More than 70 people were interrogated in the case.\nSearches in the homes of believers followed a similar pattern. A loud knock on the door was heard at 20:45 in the house of Valery Maletskov, who lives with his wife and young child. Without waiting for an answer, the door was broken into. Shouting \"Stand, do not move, raise your hands!\" 5 people in camouflage, masks, with weapons and tools to break the door burst into the house. After that, 9 more people in civilian clothes immediately entered the house. They stated that the house would be searched by court order. The certificates were presented by police Lieutenant Colonel A.V. Pinaev and FSB Captain D.S. Maslyukov The operation was led by an FSB officer who refused to show the certificate. The search lasted until 3 a.m., during which they seized passports, phones, computer equipment and a CD with a recording of their wedding. After the search, the spouses were taken to the Federal Security Service of Russia Directorate for the Novosibirsk Region at 49 Kommunisticheskaya Street. There, at 5 a.m., their interrogation continued on video. After interrogation, Valeriy Maletskov was placed in an isolation ward. The man appealed to the investigator with a petition for the application of a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave due to special circumstances (the only breadwinner in the family, works 2 jobs, in the care of a young child and a 72-year-old mother with a disability of group II). However, investigator Selyunin asked the court to send the man to jail, without even mentioning his petition in court.\nUpdate. In total, searches were carried out at 12 addresses of believers.\nIn the autumn of last year, a criminal case was opened in Novosibirsk against Yuri Savelyev, who is now in a pre-trial detention center.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2019-04-25T16:15:45+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/04/790/police-034407_0_2_2_hu_b3a75d6446bf5b00.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/04/790/police-034407_0_2_2.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/04/790/police-034407_0_2_2_hu_9c2c1347edee10ce.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/04/790/police-034407_0_2_2_hu_cec6f3ae74f8e0a8.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/04/790.html","regions":["novosibirsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","interrogation","new-case","house-arrest","elderly","282.2-1","282.2-2","ivs"],"title":"A new criminal case for faith is being opened in Novosibirsk, about 70 people have been interrogated","type":"news"},{"body":"E. Leontiev, an investigator for especially important cases, initiates a criminal case against Alexei Metzger under Part 2 of Article 282.2.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Metsger in Perm","date":"2019-04-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/perm/index.html#20190425","regions":["perm"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The homes of believers in Smolensk are searched, and they are taken by the security forces for interrogation to the Investigative Department of the FSB, from where they never leave. It becomes known that a criminal case has been initiated under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The case is being investigated by the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia in the Smolensk region.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shalev and Others in Smolensk","date":"2019-04-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/smolensk2/index.html#20190425","regions":["smolensk"],"tags":["search","interrogation","new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The case of Vladimir Filippov and other believers, including Lyudmila Shut, is divided into separate proceedings. They are suspected under various articles: Filippov under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and the others under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shut in Razdolnoye","date":"2019-04-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volno-nadezhdinskoye2/index.html#20190423","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Novosibirsk Region is initiating a criminal case against believers - 65-year-old Alexander Seredkin, 45-year-old Valery Maletskov and 48-year-old Marina Chaplykina under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, Seredkin \"organized meetings and supervised the reading and discussion of literature recognized as extremist.\" Maletskov and Chaplykina are accused of participating in the activities of a banned organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Maletskov and Chaplykina in Novosibirsk","date":"2019-04-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novosibirsk2/index.html#20190419","regions":["novosibirsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Novosibirsk Region initiates a criminal case against Alexandr Seredkin, Valeriy Maletskov and Marina Chaplykina under Parts 1 and 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, Seredkin \"organized meetings and led the reading and discussion of literature recognized as extremist.\" Maletskov and Chaplykina are accused of participating in the activity of a banned organization.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Seredkin in Novosibirsk","date":"2019-04-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novosibirsk7/index.html#20190419","regions":["novosibirsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Early in the morning of April 16, 2019, in Karpinsk (Sverdlovsk region), 6 law enforcement officers came to the house of Alexander and Anastasia Pryanikov with a search. A search was conducted in the apartment and car. Alexander is suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nIn the hands of law enforcement officers was a warrant to search the car of the Pryanikovs, issued by Captain of Justice Vladimir Sudin from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the city of Krasnoturyinsk. The investigator expected to find religious literature in the car, but seized only electronic devices, and not from the car, but from the apartment.\nA criminal case under the article \"participation in the activities of an extremist organization\" (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) against Alexander Pryanikov, as well as a local resident Venera Dulova, was initiated on July 30, 2018. After 2 days, 3 searches were carried out: in the apartment of Venera Dulova, at the dacha of her relatives and in the apartment of the Pryanikovs during their departure. During the interrogation, Venera Dulova, as well as her 18-year-old daughter, were pressured and intimidated with long prison terms. The girl was asked if her parents read religious literature. On the same day, Venera Dulova signed a recognizance not to leave.\nUpon returning home, in August 2018, Alexander Pryanikov came to the investigator and was interrogated as a suspect. In September, he was released on his own recognizance.\nIt is known that the written materials seized from believers in 2018 were sent for examination to the Department of Theology of the Ural Mining University.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2019-04-17T19:51:10+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/04/771/180603_tomsk_obysk2385_0_0_hu_95debb157caa4267.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/04/771/180603_tomsk_obysk2385_0_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/04/771/180603_tomsk_obysk2385_0_0_hu_e49c210e136e2d3f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/04/771/180603_tomsk_obysk2385_0_0_hu_abb6c4b63cdec885.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/04/771.html","regions":["sverdlovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","families","282.2-2"],"title":"Searches and a Criminal Case for Faith in the Sverdlovsk Region","type":"news"},{"body":"Yelena Zaishchuk and six other women aged 61 to 84, namely Nadezhda Anoykina, Lyubov Galaktionova, Naila Kogai, Nadezhda Anoykina, Nina Purga and Raisa Usanova, have been charged with extremism.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Zayshchuk in Vladivostok","date":"2019-04-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok11/index.html#20190417","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On the evening of April 10, 2019, in Abakan, armed law enforcement officers in masks invaded the homes of at least two families of local residents who were suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Late at night, at the end of the searches, 44-year-old Roman Baranovsky was detained.\nAccording to preliminary information, a criminal case was initiated against Roman Baranovsky under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (\"participation in the activities of a liquidated organization\"). His mother, who lives with him, was interrogated.\nLaw enforcers mistakenly mistake citizens' religion for participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Prominent public figures of Russia, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, as well as international organizations - the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - drew attention to this problem. Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with extremism and insist on their complete innocence. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\nUpdate. On April 10, 2019, a criminal case was initiated against Roman Baranovskiy and his mother, 68-year-old Valentina Baranovskaya, under Article 282.2 (1). As part of the case, on the basis of the investigator's order, a total of 4 searches were carried out, Bibles, personal records, electronic devices and various data carriers were seized.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2019-04-11T16:47:44+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/04/746/190206_saransk532_hu_bc35e2b13fcbc919.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/04/746/190206_saransk532_hu_f571588148f19ed3.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/04/746/190206_saransk532_hu_18155fa8c9f9373.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/04/746/190206_saransk532_hu_a34abcc86fea65d6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/04/746.html","regions":["khakassia"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","282.2-2","interrogation","elderly","families","282.2-1"],"title":"Searches and a Criminal Case for Faith in Khakassia","type":"news"},{"body":"Senior investigator of the Investigative Department for the city of Abakan of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Khakassia A.V. Pachuev initiates a criminal case against 44-year-old Baranovsky Roman and his mother Valentina under Article 282.2 Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (\"organization of activities of a banned organization\"). Later, Valentina was commuted to Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (\"participation in the activities of a liquidated organization\").\nArmed law enforcement officers are conducting searches at four addresses. Bibles, personal records, electronic devices and various media are seized from believers.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Baranovskiy in Abakan","date":"2019-04-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/abakan/index.html#20190410","regions":["khakassia"],"tags":["new-case","search","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Lieutenant of Justice, investigator of the FSB of Russia for the Sakhalin Region D. S. Melnikov initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 against Alexander Kozlitin.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kulakovs and Others in Nevelsk","date":"2019-04-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nevelsk3/index.html#20190405","regions":["sakhalin"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"To find Sergey Vladimirovich Skrynnikov guilty under Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and sentenced to a fine in the amount of 350 thousand rubles. Such a decision regarding a peaceful teacher was announced on April 1, 2019 by Gleb Noskov, a judge of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Orel. The case against Sergey Skrynnikov was separated from the criminal case of Dennis Christensen, who had previously been sent to a penal colony for 6 years by the same court.\nThere are no victims or victims in both criminal trials. The criminal prosecution is a direct consequence of the liquidation and prohibition of registered Jehovah's Witnesses organizations. Russian law enforcement officers mistakenly mistake the joint religion of citizens, the right to which has not been abolished, for participation in an extremist organization.\nThe case of Sergey Skrynnikov was initiated by the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Oryol region on February 20, 2018 under the article \"participation in the activities of an extremist organization.\" A written undertaking not to leave was taken from the believer. In May 2018, an inspection was carried out in his house, during which not a single item prohibited by law was found.\nThe court considered the charges of calling for the destruction of the family and non-recognition of the authorities brought by investigators against Sergei Skrynnikov far-fetched.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2019-04-01T10:55:34+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/04/708/dsc_70443440_0_1_hu_4ad5185f24ee53c8.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/04/708/dsc_70443440_0_1.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/04/708/dsc_70443440_0_1_hu_9d30e45ef2402719.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/04/708/dsc_70443440_0_1_hu_e99299ea88ef5ff9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/04/708.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["fine","sentence","282.2-2"],"title":"A court imposed a heavy fine on a second believer in Oryol","type":"news"},{"body":"The First Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Kirov Region initiates criminal proceedings for faith under Articles 282.2 (1), 282.2 (2); According to the investigation, together with others, he conducted worship services, which is interpreted as \"organizing and participating in the activities of an extremist organization\" (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses). Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Andrey Shchepin (born in 1991), Alexander Shamov (born in 1960), Yevgeny Udintsev (born in 1949).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shchepin and Others in Kirov","date":"2019-03-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kirov2/index.html#20190326","regions":["kirov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Agadzhanov, Lyubov Asatryan, Mikhail and Oksana Solntsev, Galina Dergacheva, Viktor Revyakin, Inna Kardakova and Irina Khvostova are charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Puyda and Others in Magadan","date":"2019-03-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/magadan/index.html#20190325","regions":["magadan"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia for the Magadan Region initiates a criminal case under Article 282.2 (2) against believers: Lyubov Asatryan (born in 1951), Irina Khvostova (born in 1992), Oksana Solntseva (born in 1966), Inna Kardakova (born in 1980), Galina Dergacheva (born in 1956), Mikhail Solntsev (born in 1962), Viktor Revyakin (born in 1957) and Sergey Agadzhanov (born in 1957).\nInvestigator Shungayev orders searches of the homes of all new suspects. On the same day, employees come to the homes of believers. All 9 believers are chosen a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Puyda and Others in Magadan","date":"2019-03-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/magadan/index.html#20190320","regions":["magadan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","search","recognizance-agreement"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is initiated against Aleksandr Korolev, which is combined with the case of Shevchuk and others.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shevchuk and Others in Saransk","date":"2019-03-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saransk/index.html#20190320","regions":["mordovia"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Alexander Chepenko initiates criminal case No. 119027500300000002 on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, against unidentified persons from among the residents of Chelyabinsk and the Chelyabinsk region who participated in religious meetings of believers.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Vinogradov in Chelyabinsk","date":"2019-03-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk2/index.html#20190318","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A criminal case is being opened against Denis Antonov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It connects with the case of Shevchuk and others.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shevchuk and Others in Saransk","date":"2019-03-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saransk/index.html#20190314","regions":["mordovia"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Directorate for the city of Dalnerechensk of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory initiates a criminal case for faith under Articles 282.2 (1) and 282.2 (2); According to the investigation, \"conducted conversations aimed at explaining the norms, foundations, rules and restrictions, in order to promote the activities of the banned organization [Jehovah's Witnesses] and took a direct part in the meetings.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Sergeyev and Belosludtsev in Luchegorsk","date":"2019-03-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/luchegorsk/index.html#20190311","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"V. S. Obukhov, investigator of the Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Amur Region, initiates a criminal case for his faith under Article 282.2 (2) against 76-year-old Vasily Reznichenko.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Reznichenko in Zeya","date":"2019-03-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/zeya/index.html#20190311","regions":["amur"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On February 8, 2019, Arkady Koba, a judge of the Khanty-Mansiysk District Court, ordered Andrey Sazonov, a 38-year-old husband and father believed to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses, to be sent to a pre-trial detention center. A few days earlier, on January 31, 2019, the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case against him and other residents of Urai (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug) under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization and participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\nEarlier, on February 6, 2019, mass searches were carried out in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city.\nLaw enforcers mistakenly mistake citizens' religion for participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Prominent public figures of Russia, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, as well as the President of the Russian Federation himself drew attention to this problem. Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with extremism and insist on their complete innocence. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"restriction","date":"2019-02-14T17:11:13+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/02/615/190208_sazonov285_hu_e8d90c04feb7708c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/02/615/190208_sazonov285.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/02/615/190208_sazonov285_hu_8153604e5632f8b3.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/02/615/190208_sazonov285_hu_7644750ad6b1879f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/02/615.html","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"In the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra, the court sent the believer under arrest for 55 days","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Arkhangelsk Region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug initiates a criminal case for faith under Articles 282.2 (1.1), 282.2 (2) against Yevgeny Yakku (born in 1980); according to the investigation, he participated in worship services, which is interpreted as participation and involvement in the activities of an \"extremist organization\" (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses). The case is being investigated by an investigator for especially important cases, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice R. Shagarov.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Yakku in Arkhangelsk","date":"2019-02-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/arkhangelsk2/index.html#20190213","regions":["arkhangelsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1.1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug initiates a criminal case for faith under Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Sergey Loginov, Yevgeniy Fedin, Artur Severinchik, Yevgeniy Kayryak, Vyacheslav Boronos, Artem Kim, Aleksey Plekhov, Savely Gargalyk, Sergey Volosnikov, Igor Trifonov, Viktor Fefilov, Timofey Zhukov, Leonid Rysikov, Igor Kobotov, Vasily Burenescu, Yevgeny Kozak, Igor Petrov, Pavel Romashov and his wife Viola Shepel.\nThe investigation considers peaceful conversations of believers about the Bible and God with friends and other people to be illegal actions.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Loginov and Others in Surgut","date":"2019-02-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/surgut/index.html#20190211","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","families","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Stepan Tkach initiates a criminal case for faith under Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2. Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Yevgeny Kozak, Artur Severinchik, Sergey Loginov, Evgeny Fedin, Yevgeny Kayryak, Vyacheslav Boronos, Artem Kim, Alexey Plekhov, Savely Gargalyk, Sergey Volosnikov, Igor Trifonov, Viktor Fefilov, Timofey Zhukov, Leonid Rysikov, Igor Kobotov, Grigory Ozhiganov, Pavel Romashov, Vasily Burenescu, Viola Shepel, Ilhom Aminzhanov, Igor Petrov.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Khorikov and Others in Surgut","date":"2019-02-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/surgut2/index.html#20190211","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","families","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior Investigator of the Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Kemerovo Region, Major of Justice Efimov M. I. makes a decision to initiate a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Kogut Kh., and to accept it for proceedings. He was prosecuted as a defendant in case No. 1190732000100083.\nKogut Hasan was summoned to the FSB SO to pick up the seized laptop, but as a result he was detained. Protocols of interrogation and detention have been drawn up.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kogut in Beryozovsky","date":"2019-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/beryozovsky/index.html#20190206","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","interrogation"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Department of the FSB of Russia in the Republic of Mordovia, E. V. Makeev, initiates a criminal case for faith under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The suspects are Alexander Shevchuk (born in 1989), Vladimir Atryakhin (born in 1987), Denis Antonov (born in 1976), Elena Nikulina (born in 1968), Alexander Korolev (born in 1978), Georgy Nikulin (born in 1963).\nAccording to the investigation, the believers were engaged in \"spreading ideology and faith among the inhabitants of the Republic of Mordovia ... by conducting conversations in public places and living quarters with residents of the city of Saransk and other settlements\", which investigators interpret as \"organizing the activities of an extremist organization.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shevchuk and Others in Saransk","date":"2019-02-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saransk/index.html#20190204","regions":["mordovia"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra initiates a criminal case for faith under Articles 282.2 (1), 282.2 (2); religious affiliation is interpreted as \"organization and participation in the activities of an extremist organization\" (with reference to the court decision to liquidate the local organization of Jehovah's Witnesses). An innocent victim of law enforcement officers is Andrei Sazonov (born in 1980).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Sazonov in Uray","date":"2019-01-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/uray/index.html#20190131","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra initiates a criminal case for faith under Articles 282.2 (1), 282.2 (2); religious affiliation is interpreted as \"organization and participation in the activities of an extremist organization\" (with reference to the court decision to liquidate the local organization of Jehovah's Witnesses). Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Andrey Sazonov (born in 1980) and Nikolai Makhalichev (born in 1984). Previously, believers noticed spying on themselves from cars with tinted windows, so they even had to file a complaint with the police on the helpline.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Makhalichev in Uray","date":"2019-01-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/uray2/index.html#20190131","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"E. Efimov, senior investigator of the Kemerovo Region Directorate of the FSB, decides to re-charge Britvin with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Levchuk and Britvin in Beryozovsky","date":"2019-01-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/beryozovsky2/index.html#20190129","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Rayman was charged under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Raymans in Kostroma","date":"2018-12-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kostroma2/index.html#20181227","regions":["kostroma"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Valeria Rayman was charged under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigation believes that at least 4 meetings were held at their home for biblical discussions.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Raymans in Kostroma","date":"2018-12-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kostroma2/index.html#20181220","regions":["kostroma"],"tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 12, 2018, the Industrial District Court of Khabarovsk sent to jail 46-year-old Vitaly Zhuk, 48-year-old Nikolai Polevodov and 50-year-old Stanislav Kim, suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The arrests were preceded by an operation with the participation of riot police to capture citizens who had gathered in a café for a friendly non-religious meeting.\nOn November 10, 2018, a friendly meeting was held in a rented café in Khabarovsk, which was attended by about 55 people. The purpose of the meeting was to treat and entertain, it was not religious in nature. Half an hour after the start, at least 30 riot policemen led by FSB investigators suddenly invaded the building, breaking down the doors. The fighters dispersed around the perimeter of the room, ordered everyone to stay in their seats and forbade touching phones and tablets. After that, everyone who was in the café was interrogated (including minors), fingerprinted and photographed, and many had their tablets and phones seized. All this lasted 5 hours. Several men and a woman of retirement age were detained and taken away for searches. On November 12, 2018, Svetlana Telina, judge of the Industrial District Court of Khabarovsk, decided to arrest Vitaliy Zhuk for 2 months. Following him, Stanislav Kim and Nikolai Polevodov were sent to the pre-trial detention center.\nA criminal case under 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was initiated on November 10, 2018 by the Investigative Directorate for the city of Khabarovsk of the Investigative Committee of the Khabarovsk Territory. Vitaliy Zhuk, Stanislav Kim and Nikolay Polevodov are prosecuted under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (\"organization of activities of an extremist community\"), and two women, one of them of retirement age, are prosecuted under Part 2 (\"participation in the activities of an extremist community\"). The proceedings in the case were entrusted to a group of 8 investigators, the investigator for especially important cases D. Shlenchak was appointed its head.\nEarlier, on August 2, 2018, the FSB of Russia in the Khabarovsk Territory conducted searches in at least 4 houses of Khabarovsk residents who are suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. 51-year-old Valery Moskalenko was sent to pre-trial detention center-1 in the Khabarovsk Territory. Law enforcement agencies across the country mistakenly interpret peaceful meetings of believers as \"extremist activity.\" Dozens of human rights activists, as well as the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation , express concern about the growing religious repression.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-11-13T16:53:48+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/11/514/police-034407_0_2_hu_c745ca0ce87593ad.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/11/514/police-034407_0_2.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/11/514/police-034407_0_2_hu_6588ff4e9afd779c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/11/514/police-034407_0_2_hu_3e3030f75d39506f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/11/514.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["leisure-disruption","sizo","interrogation","elderly","282.2-2"],"title":"In Khabarovsk, the disruption of a friendly meeting, searches and new arrests for faith","type":"news"},{"body":"It became known that from September 24 to September 26, 2018, the Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Perm Territory initiated at least 4 more criminal cases against local residents who are suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist community). Earlier in Perm, 2 criminal cases for faith had already been initiated: one is being investigated by the Investigative Committee, the second by the FSB.\nOn May 22, 2018, employees of the Investigative Committee detained Aleksandr Solovyov and his wife at the exit from the train in Perm. After 2 days in the detention center, Solovyov was placed under house arrest. Later, on September 17, 2018, in a number of cities of the Perm Territory, the FSB conducted rolling searches in the homes of citizens. After 3 days of detention in the detention center, Igor Turik and Viktor Kuchkov were placed under house arrest.\nIn total, more than 90 criminal cases for faith have been initiated in 30 regions of Russia. In 30 criminal cases against citizens, a preventive measure related to detention or house arrest has been chosen. Dozens of human rights activists, as well as the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation , express concern about the growing religious repression.\n","category":"trial","date":"2018-10-26T21:25:54+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/10/504/depositphotos_75905113_4_hu_9562793a62681db7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/10/504/depositphotos_75905113_4.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/10/504/depositphotos_75905113_4_hu_5a6a4c97f64aac9f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/10/504/depositphotos_75905113_4_hu_2199880271566a24.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/10/504.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","house-arrest","ivs","search"],"title":"4 more criminal cases for faith in Perm","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 9, 2018, Lyudmila Kuzub, judge of the Leninsky District Court of Smolensk, sent Maria Troshina and Nataliya Sorokina, who live in Sychevka (Smolensk region), to prison. Women are accused of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. According to the judge's decision, women must stay in the Smolensk pre-trial detention center at least until November 19, 2018.\nMaria Troshina and Nataliya Sorokina were detained during mass searches conducted on October 7, 2018 by officers of the FSB Directorate for the Smolensk Region. A criminal case was initiated under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist community). The special services, in fact, deny Smolensk residents the constitutional right to freedom of religion, charging ordinary citizens who have been seen in worshiping Jehovah God with continuing the activities of a religious organization liquidated by the court. On that day, at least 17 citizens, including minors, suffered from the actions of the Smolensk special services. All of them experienced severe stress, were searched, personal belongings were seized.\nThere are now three women in prison in Russia on charges of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses: Maria Troshina, Nataliya Sorokina, and Anastasia Polyakova, who has been in Detention Center No. 1 in the Omsk Region for 104 days (at the time of publication) since her and her husband's arrest on July 4, 2018. Another 4 women spent from 2 to 4 days in temporary detention centers, but later their preventive measure was mitigated. Currently, 14 women believers are under recognizance not to leave or under a ban on certain actions.\nMaria Troshina and Nataliya Sorokina are being held in Detention Center No. 1 in the Smolensk Region.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2018-10-15T22:01:41+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/10/493/sorokina-troshina6110_hu_44c855f621c37b18.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/10/493/sorokina-troshina6110.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/10/493/sorokina-troshina6110_hu_af9eabce823a03cd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/10/493/sorokina-troshina6110_hu_6c88470f4660755f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/10/493.html","regions":["smolensk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","new-case","282.2-2","search"],"title":"Smolensk: 2 more women sent to prison for their faith ","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 7, 2018, officers of the FSB Directorate for the Smolensk Region, together with operatives of the Center for Counteracting Extremism and SOBR fighters, conducted a series of searches in the homes of Smolensk residents suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. In the city of Sychevka (Smolensk region), 2 women did not get in touch for the third day: Natalia Sorokina and Maria Troshina. Presumably, they were arrested, because, according to neighbors, they were taken away in an unknown direction by the officers who conducted the search.\nIt became known that a criminal case was initiated under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist community). According to the interpretation of the Smolensk FSB, unidentified persons continued the activities of the \"Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia\", which was liquidated by the court in 2017. On October 2, 2018, Andrey Lantsov, a judge of the Leninsky District Court of Smolensk, issued permits for searches in the homes of citizens whom the FSB considers to be related to the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nLaw enforcement agencies across the country mistakenly interpret peaceful meetings of believers as \"extremist activity.\" Dozens of human rights activists, as well as the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation , express concern about the growing religious repression. ","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-10-10T17:01:19+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/10/487/depositphotos_75905113_3_hu_9562793a62681db7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/10/487/depositphotos_75905113_3.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/10/487/depositphotos_75905113_3_hu_5a6a4c97f64aac9f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/10/487/depositphotos_75905113_3_hu_2199880271566a24.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/10/487.html","regions":["smolensk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","new-case","282.2-2"],"title":"Two women arrested for their faith in Smolensk region","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kirov Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Articles 282.2 (1), 282.2 (2), 282.3 (1); According to the investigation, \"they organized meetings of followers and members of the said association [of Jehovah's Witnesses] in various apartments in compliance with the actions characteristic of this association, expressed in the joint singing of biblical songs, improving the skills of missionary activity, studying religious literature, the so-called \"Holy Scripture\" (Bible), which is included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials Containing the Doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses.\" Innocent victims of law enforcement officers are: Andrzej Onischuk (born in 1968), Vladimir Korobeynikov (born in 1952), Andrey Suvorkov (born in 1993), Yevgeny Suvorkov (born in 1978), Maxim Khalturin (born in 1974), Yuri Geraskov (born in 1956), Vladimir Vasilyev (born in 1956).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Oniszczuk and Others in Kirov","date":"2018-10-03T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kirov3/index.html#20181003","regions":["kirov"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Perm Territory, Major of Justice S. A. Vodianenko initiates a criminal case for faith under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Valery Petrenko. The reason for the initiation is the report of Abramov's employee on the detection of signs of a crime in the actions of the believer.\nAccording to the investigation, he \"deliberately took an active part in the meeting of the religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses ... which was expressed in the coverage and discussion of issues on topics recommended by higher organizations in the structure of the world organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, discussed with those present the topic: \"What is the kingdom of God?\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Petrenko in Berezniki","date":"2018-09-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/berezniki/index.html#20180926","regions":["perm"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A criminal case is being opened on the participation of two female believers in an organization recognized as extremist in Russia.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Sorokina and Troshina in Sychevka","date":"2018-09-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sychevka/index.html#20180919","regions":["smolensk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On the morning of August 2, 2018, the FSB of Russia in the Khabarovsk Territory conducted searches in at least 4 houses of Khabarovsk residents who are suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. 51-year-old Valery Moskalenko was detained. According to preliminary data, on August 3, 2018, the court chose a measure of restraint in the form of detention.\nSome of the citizens who were searched were taken to the police station, where they were interviewed, fingerprinted and released. Others were sent to the FSB building, where they were interrogated by investigator V.S. Balakirev.\nDuring a search in the house of Valery Moskalenko, his 83-year-old mother, who had a pacemaker installed, became ill and an ambulance was called. At the end of the search, which lasted about 5 hours, Valeriy Moskalenko was taken away. According to the investigators, it is known that a case was opened against him under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). Law enforcement agencies across the country mistakenly interpret peaceful meetings of believers as \"extremist activity.\" Dozens of human rights activists, as well as the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation , express concern about the growing religious repression.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-08-03T17:18:54+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/08/379/depositphotos_21862193_hu_dc77be40404d0772.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/08/379/depositphotos_21862193.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/08/379/depositphotos_21862193_hu_b2617c89503029b0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/08/379/depositphotos_21862193_hu_a991a9524848ca09.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/08/379.html","regions":["khabarovsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","sizo","interrogation","elderly","health-risk","282.2-2","new-case"],"title":"A local resident was arrested in Khabarovsk for his faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 26, 2018, 22-year-old Sergey Rayman was sent to jail in Kostroma. His wife Valeria was chosen as a measure of restraint in the form of a ban on certain actions. The couple are accused of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nOn July 25, 2018, friends found their apartment empty with signs of a burglary on the door. It became known that Sergey and Valeria were sent to a temporary detention center. On the same day, armed riot police raided the homes of at least two other families suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. All computers and tablets, a printer and a Bible were seized from citizens. The search, among others, involved law enforcement officers Kuropatkin and Malinin. Law enforcement officers accompanied their actions with caustic comments regarding religion. The case is being investigated by investigator S. Korchashov, from the Central District Department of Kostroma of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.\nOn July 26, 2018, the Sverdlovsk District Court chose a measure of restraint for Sergey Rayman in the form of 2-month detention. The next day, the court chose a preventive measure for Valeria - in the form of a ban on leaving the house at night, a ban on the Internet, telephone and mail, as well as on communication with \"persons professing the teachings of Jehovah.\" The girl was prosecuted under Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of an extremist organization and participation in the activities of an extremist community) only on the grounds that, according to the investigation, citizens gathered in her house twice to discuss the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2018-08-03T17:17:22+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/08/378/180725_kostroma_vtorzhenie_istochnik_foto_tv_centr38042_0_hu_4854c360ed913aa2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/08/378/180725_kostroma_vtorzhenie_istochnik_foto_tv_centr38042_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/08/378/180725_kostroma_vtorzhenie_istochnik_foto_tv_centr38042_0_hu_3b2a93c103894ca4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/08/378/180725_kostroma_vtorzhenie_istochnik_foto_tv_centr38042_0_hu_192e772d263e87d1.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/08/378.html","regions":["kostroma"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","prohibition-of-actions","families","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"A young man was arrested in Kostroma for his faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Senior investigator-criminalist of the Investigation Department of the FSB of Russia in the Khabarovsk Territory, Senior Lieutenant of Justice D. Pozdnyakov, having considered the report of the crime, decides to initiate a criminal case against Valery Moskalenko on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Polevodov and Kim in Khabarovsk","date":"2018-08-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/khabarovsk/index.html#20180801","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator-criminalist of the Investigation Department of the FSB of Russia in the Khabarovsk Territory, Senior Lieutenant of Justice D. Pozdnyakov, having considered the report of the crime, decides to initiate a criminal case against Valery Moskalenko on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe deputy head of the investigation department of the FSB of Russia in the Khabarovsk Territory, Captain of Justice M. Eremin, entrusts the production to an investigation team headed by a senior investigator-criminalist of the investigative department of the FSB of Russia in the Khabarovsk Territory, Senior Lieutenant of Justice D. Pozdnyakov.\nJudge of the Railway Court of Khabarovsk Svetlana Zherebtsova makes a decision to allow a search of Moskalenko's apartment.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Moskalenko in Khabarovsk","date":"2018-08-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/khabarovsk5/index.html#20180801","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","search"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in Kostroma is initiating criminal proceedings against unidentified persons under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation due to the fact that, according to investigators, \"at least two meetings\" of Jehovah's Witnesses were held in the city in June 2018.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Raymans in Kostroma","date":"2018-07-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kostroma2/index.html#20180724","regions":["kostroma"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"From 7:00 a.m. on July 20, 2018, at least three homes of citizens believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses were searched in Blagoveshchensk. One of them was charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\nThe case is being conducted by the FSB of Russia for the Amur Region, investigator I. Beloglazov. According to the investigator, it became known that as part of the operational preparation of this case, a listening device was installed in the apartment of a married couple for almost six months, as a result, the investigation has a number of details of the personal life of the spouses. Such an unceremonious invasion of privacy, violation of the right to inviolability of the home, personal and family secrets, became possible as part of the brutal persecution unleashed against Jehovah's Witnesses. Law enforcement officers across the country falsely interpret compliance with common religious precepts, such as praying together or reading the Bible, as participation in the activities of an extremist organization. All this was a direct consequence of a miscarriage of justice made by the Supreme Court of Russia and personally by Judge Yuri Ivanenko.\nSearches in the homes of peaceful Blagoveshchensk residents were sanctioned by Oleg Filatov, a judge of the Blagoveshchensk City Court of the Amur Region. Similar criminal cases have been initiated in other Far Eastern regions - in the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, in the Magadan and Jewish Autonomous Regions, and also in Yakutia. Update. According to updated data, on July 20, 2018, 7 searches were conducted in the apartments of believers in Blagoveshchensk.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-07-23T23:12:14+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/07/373/180418_polyarnyy_vylamyvayut_dver3351_0_hu_ef9922f011dd685f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/07/373/180418_polyarnyy_vylamyvayut_dver3351_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/07/373/180418_polyarnyy_vylamyvayut_dver3351_0_hu_9ee4384f48cdbbd9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/07/373/180418_polyarnyy_vylamyvayut_dver3351_0_hu_a56c2aa557bee22e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/07/373.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"In the Amur region, a criminal case for faith was initiated, searches were carried out","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 15, 2018, four groups of law enforcement officers led by Major Alexander Bukov simultaneously broke into the apartments of civilians in Penza just because they allegedly profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Electronics, photographs, documents, and personal records were seized in all apartments. About 40 people were taken to police stations for questioning, leaving the children alone at home.\nSome police officers humiliated and intimidated believers during searches. In one case, a female investigator forced six women to fully undress for a body search.\nAfter interrogations, which lasted well after midnight, criminal cases were opened against four believers under various parts of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – participation in the activities of an extremist organization or organization thereof. Vladimir Alushkin was remanded in custody until September 14, 2018 inclusive. Vladimir Kulyasov, Andrey Magliv and Denis Timoshin were placed under house arrest for the same period.\nLaw enforcement officers across the country mistakenly mistake citizens' joint religion for participation in an extremist organization. Prominent public figures of Russia, as well as the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, have already drawn attention to this problem.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-07-20T15:34:12+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/07/372/180603_tomsk_vylamyvayut_dver3352_0_hu_452b2859e91a6b76.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/07/372/180603_tomsk_vylamyvayut_dver3352_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/07/372/180603_tomsk_vylamyvayut_dver3352_0_hu_f107157da6664010.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/07/372/180603_tomsk_vylamyvayut_dver3352_0_hu_34e9e3ddb05b2843.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/07/372.html","regions":["penza"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","interrogation","personal-inspection","282.2-2","new-case","ivs","house-arrest","sizo"],"title":"Mass Searches and Detentions Took Place in Penza  ","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigation Department of the FSB of Russia in the Kemerovo Region, Senior Lieutenant of Justice E. Suspitsyn, having considered the report of the crime, decides to initiate a criminal case under Part 2. Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Levchuk and Britvin in Beryozovsky","date":"2018-07-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/beryozovsky2/index.html#20180719","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator A. A. Ryazantsev also prosecutes Elena Mikhailova and Aleksey Arkhipov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, interrogates them and takes written undertakings not to leave the place from the believers.\nHe also prosecutes Svetlana Ryzhkova under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of extremist activity). The investigator interrogates the believer and takes from her a written undertaking not to leave the place.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of the Mikhaylovs and Others in Shuya","date":"2018-07-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shuya/index.html#20180709","regions":["ivanovo"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","282.2-1","recognizance-agreement","interrogation"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Polyakov and Anastasia were charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2018-07-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20180705","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 29, 2018, in the city of Oryol, a preliminary investigation of another criminal case for faith was completed - against 55-year-old Orel resident Sergey Skrynnikov. This is the second such criminal case in the city - after the well-known case of the Danish citizen Dennis Christensen, who has been in jail since May 2017.\nThe case of Sergey Skrynnikov was initiated by investigator A. Kompaniets on February 20, 2018 under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). A written undertaking not to leave was taken from the believer.\nOn May 8, 2018, Sergey Skrynnikov was brought in as an accused and interrogated. On the same day, an inspection was carried out in his house, during which not a single object prohibited by law was found. A number of \"evidence\" in his case, such as linguistic, religious, and computer forensics, were separated from the Christensen case.\nThis criminal prosecution is a direct consequence of the liquidation and prohibition of registered Jehovah's Witnesses organizations. Russian law enforcement officers mistakenly mistake the joint religion of citizens, the right to which has not been abolished, for participation in an extremist organization.\nLike Dennis Christensen, Sergey Skrynnikov has never been a member of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses \"Oryol\" and has not participated in its activities.\n","category":"trial","date":"2018-06-06T11:19:59+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/06/342/180606_orel5052_hu_12469a7de97e2d43.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/06/342/180606_orel5052.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/06/342/180606_orel5052_hu_5d573c6be5c39e09.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/06/342/180606_orel5052_hu_ea53136502b1e98c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/06/342.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-2","recognizance-agreement"],"title":"A new criminal case for faith is being investigated in Oryol","type":"news"},{"body":"All four detainees were charged with participation in an extremist organization.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Karimov and Others in Naberezhnye Chelny","date":"2018-06-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/naberezhnyye-chelny/index.html#20180605","regions":["tatarstan"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 27, 2018, in Naberezhnye Chelny (Tatarstan), law enforcement officers raided 10 apartments of local residents who are suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Ilham Karimov, 37, Vladimir Myakushin, 30, and Konstantin Matrashov, 29, were arrested.\nSearches and interrogations in the homes of peaceful believers began on Sunday evening and continued until late at night. Law enforcement officers introduced themselves as employees of the Investigative Committee and the FSB. All electronic devices, mobile phones, and passports were seized from the believers, including 4 men, 10 women (including the elderly) and a child.\nIn the coming days, the issue of the measure of restraint for the detainees should be resolved. It became known that the criminal case was initiated under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization and participation in the activities of an extremist organization). Russian law enforcement officers mistakenly mistake the joint religion of citizens for participation in an extremist organization. This criminal prosecution is a direct consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court of Russia, which on April 20, 2017, liquidated and recognized as \"extremist\" 396 registered religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the country.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-05-30T00:41:13+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/05/332/police-034407_0_3_hu_c745ca0ce87593ad.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/05/332/police-034407_0_3.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/05/332/police-034407_0_3_hu_6588ff4e9afd779c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/05/332/police-034407_0_3_hu_3e3030f75d39506f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/05/332.html","regions":["tatarstan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","interrogation","elderly","minors","new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"title":"Three believers arrested in Tatarstan after mass raids ","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 24, 2018, in Perm, after 2 days of arrest, 48-year-old Jehovah's Witness Alexander Solovyov was released from custody in the courtroom, who was removed from the train and sent to a temporary detention center. The corresponding decision was made by Alexey Ryabov, a judge of the Sverdlovsk District Court of Perm. This decision of the court was relieved by Solovyov's wife and their co-religionists.\nAleksandr Solovyov was charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). This criminal case is a direct consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate and ban the activities of all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Law enforcement officers mistakenly interpret joint confession of religion as participation in an extremist organization.\nThe investigator for especially important cases, A. E. Leontiev, asked the court to choose a measure of restraint in the form of detention in relation to the believer. The investigator was supported by the senior assistant to the prosecutor of the region A. Kostarev. However, the court found it possible to apply a milder measure - in the form of house arrest.\nSolovyov is forbidden to leave the apartment, use the telephone and the Internet, send and receive mail and SMS, communicate with people who are defendants or witnesses in this criminal case.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2018-05-28T17:04:50+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/05/328/gavel3845_1_0_2_hu_ee4422c560bab770.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/05/328/gavel3845_1_0_2.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/05/328/gavel3845_1_0_2_hu_9dfdf8d65845b0c1.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/05/328/gavel3845_1_0_2_hu_12bc36ed50adea43.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/05/328.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["house-arrest","282.2-2"],"title":"A believer in Perm was transferred from a detention center to house arrest","type":"news"},{"body":"In Tatarstan, investigators are opening a criminal case on the participation of several people in the services of Jehovah's Witnesses, considering this to be a continuation of the activities of religious organizations banned in Russia.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Karimov and Others in Naberezhnye Chelny","date":"2018-05-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/naberezhnyye-chelny/index.html#20180525","regions":["tatarstan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Alexander Solovyov has been charged.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Solovyev in Perm","date":"2018-05-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/perm3/index.html#20180523","regions":["perm"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A criminal case is being initiated against Alexander Solovyov and unidentified persons on the territory of Perm for participation in an extremist organization. As stated in the resolution, the reason was \"participation in the activities of a religious association\" after July 17, 2017. On the same day, Aleksandr was detained at the Perm railway station. Throughout the night, searches are carried out in their apartment on the basis of an investigator's order, during which all property documents, electronic devices, storage media, a wi-fi router, photographs, and a collection of Bibles were seized.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Solovyev in Perm","date":"2018-05-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/perm3/index.html#20180522","regions":["perm"],"tags":["new-case","search","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On the morning of May 16, 2018, a series of searches were conducted in the homes of citizens believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses in Orenburg and Buzuluk (Orenburg Region). According to preliminary information, three citizens were detained, three more were taken on their own recognizance. It is known that citizens are prosecuted under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in an extremist organization).\nIt is expected that on May 17, 2018, decisions will be made on the measure of restraint for detainees.\nThis criminal case was a direct consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate and ban the activities of all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Law enforcers mistakenly mistake the joint religion of citizens for participation in an extremist organization.\n","category":"trial","date":"2018-05-17T16:32:33+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/05/316/depositphotos_18573119_2_hu_d5cee966f90916.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/05/316/depositphotos_18573119_2.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/05/316/depositphotos_18573119_2_hu_51a8cf3809faf296.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/05/316/depositphotos_18573119_2_hu_526cdc1b7d7f3266.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/05/316.html","regions":["orenburg"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"title":"Criminal Case for Faith, Searches and Detentions in the Orenburg Region","type":"news"},{"body":"Dmitry Mikhailov, a 40-year-old resident of Shuya (Ivanovo region), who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, was found to be suspected of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and a written undertaking not to leave was taken from him. Early in the morning of April 20, 2018, in the city of Shuya, searches were simultaneously conducted in 4 apartments of citizens who are suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nDuring one of the searches, riot policemen, having invaded the believers, put a gun to the head of their neighbor in the communal apartment, although he did not offer any resistance, and forced this peaceful man to lie on the floor, so that he remained in this position for about 15 minutes. During another search, the man was threatened with handcuffs to prevent him from getting legal advice over the phone. The woman, whose house was searched, could not follow the actions of the operatives, because she had to calm a small child. After the searches, women who exercised their right under Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation during interrogation were intimidated with criminal prosecution. Phones and tablets were taken away from citizens, which in most cases they need for work and everyday affairs. Bank cards and various kinds of documentation were also seized.\nPolice officers participated in the searches, for example, Major Mikhail Konstantinov, senior commissioner of the UEEX for economic crimes, and Lieutenant Colonel Konstantin Konovalov, deputy head of the Center \"E\" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Ivanovo region. One of the believers said that during the interrogation, investigator Aleksandr Ryazanov used insulting characteristics in relation to his religious views.\nThe case of Dmitry Mikhailov was initiated on April 19, 2018 by a senior investigator of the Komsomolsk Interdistrict Investigation Department, seconded to the Investigative Department for the city of Shuya of the Investigative Department for the Ivanovo Region, Captain of Justice Robert Barseghyan. On the same day, Sergey Garber, a judge of the Shuisky City Court, authorized a search of Dmitry Mikhailov's house. The initiation of the criminal case was preceded by operational-search activities that lasted several months, including wiretapping of believers' phones and secret video recording. The criminal case was a direct consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate and ban the activities of all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Law enforcers mistakenly mistake the joint religion of citizens for participation in an extremist organization.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-05-15T15:58:10+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/05/313/mihaylov_dmitriy4875_0_hu_cb8bbc79fc28e15e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/05/313/mihaylov_dmitriy4875_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/05/313/mihaylov_dmitriy4875_0_hu_7df984e635d864c2.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/05/313/mihaylov_dmitriy4875_0_hu_9b4e644f4360b76d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/05/313.html","regions":["ivanovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","recognizance-agreement","minors","interrogation","siloviks-violence","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A Criminal Case for Faith in the Ivanovo Region","type":"news"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region is initiating a criminal case for faith under Articles 282.2 (1), 282.2 (2), 282.3 (1) against Alam Aliyev, Valery Krieger, Sergey Shulyarenko, Dmitry Zagulin and Konstantin Guzev. According to the investigation, together with others, they held worship services, which is interpreted as \"organizing the activities of an extremist organization\" (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Aliyev and Others in Birobidzhan","date":"2018-05-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan10/index.html#20180514","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Articles 282.2 (1), 282.2 (2), 282.3 (1) against local believers. According to the investigation, together with others, they held worship services, which is interpreted as \"organizing the activities of an extremist organization\" (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Guzev in Birobidzhan","date":"2018-05-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan11/index.html#20180514","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Orenburg Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Articles 282.2 (1), 282.2 (2). 7 believers become defendants in the case at once: Alexander Suvorov, Vladimir Kochnev, Vladislav Kolbanov, Pavel Lekontsev, Alexey Matveev, Sergey Logunov and Nikolai Zhugin.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kochnev and Others in Orenburg","date":"2018-05-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/orenburg/index.html#20180514","regions":["orenburg"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Orenburg Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Articles 282.2 (1), 282.2 (2). 7 believers become defendants in the case at once.\n","caseTitle":"Suvorov's case in Orenburg","date":"2018-05-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/orenburg2/index.html#20180514","regions":["orenburg"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Orenburg Region initiates a criminal case for faith under Articles 282.2 (1), 282.2 (2). 7 believers become defendants in the case at once.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Matveev in Orenburg","date":"2018-05-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/orenburg3/index.html#20180514","regions":["orenburg"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Valentin Osadchuk was charged with participation in the activities of an organization banned by a court decision.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Zayshchuk in Vladivostok","date":"2018-04-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok11/index.html#20180427","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Valentin Osadchuk was charged with participation in the activities of an organization banned by a court decision.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Osadchuk and Others in Vladivostok","date":"2018-04-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok3/index.html#20180427","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"One of the followers of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Vladivostok, 42-year-old Valentin Osadchuk, was arrested for two months, until June 20, 2018. He is charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in an extremist organization). On the eve of his arrest, on April 19, 2018, police officers and the FSB conducted searches in the homes of local residents. Women of 66 and 83 years old (!) were involved as suspects under the same article in the criminal case, they were taken on their own recognizance.\nThe criminal case was initiated on April 9, 2018 by an FSB investigator. This was preceded by operational-search activities, including secret video filming. On April 23, 2018, Sergey Olkhovsky, judge of the Frunzensky District Court of Vladivostok, chose a preventive measure in the form of detention against Valentin Osadchuk. On April 27, 2018, the investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Primorsky Territory, Senior Lieutenant of Justice O. A. Tunyk, decided to bring Valentin Osadchuk as an accused.\nThe criminal case was a direct consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate and ban the activities of all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, including the local religious organization in Vladivostok. Law enforcers often mistake the joint religion of citizens for participation in an extremist organization.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2018-04-23T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/05/311/depositphotos_18573119_1_hu_d5cee966f90916.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/05/311/depositphotos_18573119_1.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/05/311/depositphotos_18573119_1_hu_51a8cf3809faf296.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/05/311/depositphotos_18573119_1_hu_526cdc1b7d7f3266.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/05/311.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","282.2-2","search","new-case"],"title":"In Primorye, a civilian was arrested for 2 months for his faith","type":"news"},{"body":"During the mass searches that took place in Ufa on April 10, 2018, one of the local residents, 32-year-old Anatoliy Vilitkevich, was arrested. He is charged under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of an extremist organization) due to the fact that he allegedly professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nOn April 12, 2018, Larisa Mokhova, judge of the Leninsky District Court of Ufa, issued a decision on the election of a preventive measure for Anatoly Vilitkevich in the form of detention until June 2, 2018 inclusive. At the same time, the court ignored a number of legal requirements, for example, it did not indicate in its decision why it was impossible to choose a milder measure, and also did not check the validity of Anatoly Vilitkevich's involvement in the crime imputed to him.\nOn April 16, 2018, Anatoliy Vilitkevich's lawyers filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan against the court's decision to choose a preventive measure in the form of detention. On April 19, 2018, during the appeal hearing in the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan, the decision to detain the believer was upheld.\nThe arrest was a direct consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of April 20, 2017, which imposed a ban on the activities of all registered legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses, including the association in Ufa. The decision of the Supreme Court is appealed to the ECHR as a matter of priority.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2018-04-19T21:11:18+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/04/299/img_33512969_hu_30ba949c5c8a9279.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/04/299/img_33512969.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/04/299/img_33512969_hu_679eab0c5142f06f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/04/299/img_33512969_hu_d00c1d85a8dacd8e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/04/299.html","regions":["bashkortostan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","search","282.2-2","ivs","review","appeal"],"title":"In Bashkiria, a believer was sent to a pre-trial detention center for 52 days","type":"news"},{"body":"The Leninsky MRSO for the city of Ufa initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against unidentified persons.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Vilitkevich in Ufa","date":"2018-04-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ufa/index.html#20180402","regions":["bashkortostan"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator A. Kompaniets initiates a case against Sergey Skrynnikov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Skrynnikov in Oryol","date":"2018-02-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/oryol2/index.html#20180220","regions":["oryol"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Anatoly Chaliapin and Sergey Voikov were released from custody and sentenced to recognizance not to leave due to suspicion of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Voykov and Shalyapin in Belgorod","date":"2018-02-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/belgorod/index.html#20180209","regions":["belgorod"],"tags":["recognizance-agreement","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Belgorod Region is initiating a case under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Voykov and Shalyapin in Belgorod","date":"2018-02-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/belgorod/index.html#20180205","regions":["belgorod"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergiev Posad residents Vyacheslav Stepanov and Andrey Sivak, who have been prosecuted for their religion for 7 years, received letters of apology from the Sergiev Posad City Prosecutor's Office with apologies and an explanation of the procedure for rehabilitation.\nIn the letter, the deputy prosecutor of the city A. K. Sergeev said: \"... On behalf of the state, I officially apologize to you for the moral damage caused to you associated with unjustified criminal prosecution under Article 282 Part 2. [...] You have the right to request written communication of the decision that justifies you to your place of work, study or place of residence. In the event that information about ... the illegal actions applied to you have been published in the press, disseminated on radio, television or other mass media, you have the right to demand that the relevant media make a report on rehabilitation.\nThe Federal Financial Monitoring Service has already informed believers that their names have been excluded from the list of \"persons in respect of whom there is information about their involvement in extremist activities.\"\n","category":"rehab","date":"2017-11-07T12:19:29+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/11/228/serposad-24064_hu_739cd85cc081c642.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/11/228/serposad-24064.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/11/228/serposad-24064_hu_2d1ca31c056b2973.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/11/228/serposad-24064_hu_619204edccb8dd53.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/11/228.html","regions":["moscow_obl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["prosecutor-apology","282.2-2"],"title":"The Prosecutor's Office Made an Official Apology to the Sergiev Posad Elders","type":"news"},{"body":"Today, August 24, 2017, the Moscow Regional Court upheld the acquittal of two Jehovah's Witnesses from Sergiev Posad. Vyacheslav Stepanov and Andrey Sivak are innocent. It took law enforcement agencies and the court more than 7 years to establish this simple truth!\nThe long-term unfair criminal prosecution of these law-abiding citizens was based on a \"Reference\" signed by expert Natalia Kryukova, who on October 11, 2010, after analyzing the video recordings of the sermons they read, declared the presence of extremism in them. Expert Kryukova, among other things, is known for the fact that on the basis of her \"conclusion\" the Bible itself was recognized as extremist material!\nAfter Vyacheslav Stepanov and Andrey Sivak were charged under Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (incitement to hatred or enmity committed by an organized group) on July 16, 2013, these believers were included in the list of \"accomplices of extremism\". As a result, among other things, their accounts were blocked. Andrey Sivak was forced to leave teaching.\nToday's court decision means that Sergiev Posad residents Vyacheslav Stepanov and Andrey Sivak have the right to rehabilitation.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2017-08-24T17:49:52+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/08/208/stepanov_sivak1_1_hu_463c4505d01b907d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/08/208/stepanov_sivak1_1.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/08/208/stepanov_sivak1_1_hu_b2de2d6a387fc576.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/08/208/stepanov_sivak1_1_hu_796b0451b3f002a2.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/08/208.html","regions":["moscow_obl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","282.2-2","studies-violations"],"title":"The Court of Appeal Confirmed the Acquittal of the Sergiev Posad Elders","type":"news"},{"body":"According to investigators, Yermilov, together with Olshevsky, \"anticipating the onset of socially dangerous consequences ... took a direct part in religious events.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Olshevskiy and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2017-08-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk/index.html#20170801","regions":["amur"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Vyacheslav Stepanov and Andrey Sivak are charged under Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Stepanov and Sivak in Sergiyev Posad","date":"2013-07-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sergiyev-posad/index.html#20130716","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["282.2-2"],"type":"timeline"}]