[{"body":"The premises where the believer is located are cold, despite heating. Hot water is available only in the shower, which cannot be used daily.\nCommunication with the outside world is limited: phone calls are allowed twice a month, there is no video communication. There have been no visits from his wife so far. Since his arrival, Valeriy has received about 200 letters. He has the New Testament and the Psalms.\nSoon the believer will start working in the canteen.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Klokov in Barnaul","date":"2025-11-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/barnaul4.html#20251105","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["life-in-prison","letters","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 19, Yaroslav Kalin was taken for examination of his injured knee to the Regional Tuberculosis Hospital No 1 in Krasnoyarsk. Relatives are worried because since then they have had no contact with him.\nSince July, Kalin has been in acute pain, but an operation has only been tentatively scheduled for January 2026.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Martynov and Others in Irkutsk","date":"2025-09-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/irkutsk.html#20250927","regions":["irkutsk"],"tags":["life-in-prison","medical-rights","health-risk","prison-treatment"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 9, when Yaroslav Kalin was doing electrical work at the medical unit, he dislocated his knee — this is a recurrence of a previous injury (meniscus tear). They administered painkillers, gave him crutches and he was temporarily released from work.\nA consultation with a traumatologist in a Krasnoyarsk hospital was scheduled for August 15. However, the day before, he was told that the trip was canceled, since he was not on the list. A new appointment was made for September 19.\nDespite the joint still being out of place, Yaroslav continues to work through pain — he has to carry heavy loads, climb stairs and work on stepladders. They allowed Kalin's relatives to give him a walking cane.\nYaroslav is permitted to make phone calls only once a week or less, while other prisoners can do so every day. The problem with receiving letters remains — only a few are given to the believer.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Martynov and Others in Irkutsk","date":"2025-09-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/irkutsk.html#20250910","regions":["irkutsk"],"tags":["life-in-prison","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Mikhail Mikelov, senior investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Stavropol Territory, refuses to initiate a criminal case against Sergey Pokrovskiy, deputy head of penal colony No. 7, who created torturous conditions for Anna Safronova because of her refusal to wear the Saint George's ribbon.\nThere are incompatible testimonies in the investigator's decision. According to the day guard and another prisoner, no one isolated Safronova, and Pokrovskiy was not even present at the morning checks. However, Pokrovskiy himself claims that he personally decided to isolate her and escorted her to the punishment cell \"to comply with procedure.\"\nAnna believes that the actions of Pokrovskiy and his subordinates — \"illegal detention in the observation room... in inhumane conditions\" — caused her physical and emotional harm.\nDuring those events, an ambulance was called for Anna. According to the lawyer, the team examined the victim, \"gave pills to lower blood pressure and reduce tachycardia... recorded severe swelling of the legs in the ankle area... burst capillaries.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Safronova in Astrakhan","date":"2025-08-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/astrakhan2.html#20250815","regions":["astrakhan"],"tags":["life-in-prison","torture-conditions","health-risk","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"For more than six months, Dmitriy has not been able to solve the problem with a bad tooth. In addition, he recently had a serious viral disease. Relatives and friends are concerned about the state of health of the believer.\nDmitriy considers living conditions in the barracks acceptable: it is warm there, there is hot water. Relations between prisoners are respectful. At the moment, the believer works as a cleaner of adjacent territories.\nThe believer still does not receive letters, including from relatives. Dmitriy is supported by the fact that he and his wife can call regularly.\nThe administration of the colony thanked the believer several times, but there is no information about this in the personal file.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Barmakin in Vladivostok","date":"2025-08-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok2.html#20250814","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["life-in-prison","medical-rights","letters"],"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_597ba511a4afa125.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/04/281310/image_hu_dea12d387bf97df5.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/04/281310/image_hu_a7a24925925bcd3f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/04/281310/image_hu_735e447b4f4f23e1.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":"On March 20, 2025, 67-year-old retired police officer, Valeriy Baylo, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, died in the hospital of Novorossiysk shortly after being rushed there from the pretrial detention center. Valeriy waited almost a year in the detention center for his sentence to enter into force, and during all this time he tried to get medical help.\nIn July 2024, the court sentenced Valeriy to 2.5 years in a penal colony, deeming peaceful conversations about the Bible via video link to be extremism.\nThe believer suffered from a gastrointestinal tract illness and stage 2-3 osteoarthritis of the knee. He also needed urgent dental care: in the detention center, the only tooth with which he could chew food became inflamed. Prison food caused digestive problems, so he ate very little, mostly only drinking water. Valeriy also walked with difficulty and needed surgery: in 2018, he was attacked by dogs, after which his completely torn knee ligaments were sewn back together; but over time, his kneecap needed replacing.\nValeriy appealed to the prosecutor\u0026#39;s office of the Krasnodar Territory, the regional Commissioner for Human Rights, the head of the medical unit No. 23 of Krasnodar and the head of the pretrial detention center. As a result, the member of staff of the prosecutor\u0026#39;s office supervising correctional institutions, together with the detention center officer, expressed annoyance with the complaints of the believer and threatened him with physical violence and harsher conditions while serving his sentence.\nOn March 21, Valeriy Baylo's lawyer filed a claim against the head of the investigative department of Novorossiysk about the crime committed. \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 regarding failure to provide him with medical care,\u0026quot; said the lawyer. The claim lists numerous facts of ignoring Valeriy Baylo\u0026#39;s complaints about his health. On March 7, the lawyer appealed to the Prosecutor General\u0026#39;s Office of the Russian Federation with a complaint about the failure to provide medical care to his client and the misuse of funds when trying to provide it. There is still no response to this complaint.\nThe death of Valeriy Baylo is the 13th case of death in the context of the criminal prosecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses since the start of present day persecution. Three women and ten men aged 51 to 90 died before their good name was restored. Some believers are at risk in prison due to poor health. For example, Andrey Vlasov, a disabled person, urgently needs surgical intervention by a neurosurgeon, otherwise he is at risk of ischemic stroke of the spinal cord and complete paralysis of the limbs. Adam Svarichevskiy, another disabled person, has difficulty obtaining medical care and medication, while they periodcally make his conditions of detention in the penal colony worse. Boris Andreyev, 72, and Anatoliy Marunov, 71, who were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, remain behind bars. The first needs to be examined due to suspected cancer, the second is scheduled for surgery at the end of March 2025.\n","category":"crime","date":"2025-03-20T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/03/240907/image_hu_c83e45bfff64f06b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/03/240907/image_hu_cf60bd8fa460552e.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/03/240907/image_hu_2d0625ae941500f1.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/03/240907/image_hu_1d3bdd7d4066698.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/03/240907.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["died","medical-rights","elderly"],"title":"In Kuban Elderly Jehovah's Witness Dies in Detention Center — He Was Denied Medical Care for Almost a Year","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 7, 2024, Natalya Korotneva, judge of the Shadrinskiy District Court of the Kurgan Region, sentenced 68-year-old Aleksandr Lubin, a disabled person, to a fine of 500,000 rubles. The criminal trial in this case took three years.\nThe prosecutor requested a suspended sentence of 7 years for the believer with a 4-year probation period. Aleksandr does not admit guilt – in his opinion, the investigation wrongfully deemed jointly worshipping God to be continuing the activity of a banned legal entity. The believer may appeal the verdict in the higher courts.\nIn July 2021, 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, initiated a criminal case against Aleksandr Lubin. Then, armed law enforcement officers broke into the home of the elderly disabled couple. Distressed by the search, Tatyana, Aleksandr\u0026#39;s wife, suffered a fourth stroke — she lost the use of her legs and ability to speak. The believer was charged with organizing extremist activity and taken for interrogation to the investigative committee, and then placed in a pretrial detention center for 2 months.\nWhen deciding to detain the believer, Yevgeniy Kolesov, judge of the Kurgan City Court, did not take into account his disability and the danger to his health and life presented by the detention conditions, although the defense had provided all the necessary medical documents. Aleksandr Lubin has a serious vascular disease, hypertension, as well as polyarthritis – a severe autoimmune disease. Due to constant pain in the hip joints, he can hardly move; as prescribed by his doctors, he must use an oxygen cylinder for 16 hours a day, which is not possible in custody.\nThe defense filed a complaint with the ECHR about the detention of the believer. The European Court sent an inquiry to the RF Prosecutor General\u0026#39;s Office. The lawyers also appealed to the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Kurgan Region, Boris Shalyutin, and he initiated an urgent inspection. After that, Aleksandr Lubin was sent to the hospital for a medical examination, which established that his state of health did not allow him to be kept in custody. Eventually, after 1.5 months of detention, the court decided to release the elderly believer from the pretrial detention center under a ban on certain actions.\nAddressing the court, Aleksandr expressed his view of the case as follows: \u0026quot;The charges brought against me are purely based on a preconceived idea about Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. This approach toward my fellow believers was also prevalent during Nazi Germany, when thousands of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses were thrown into prisons and concentration camps, hundreds were executed, and thousands died from inhumane treatment. Anyone who was identified as one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, regardless of age, was immediately taken into custody. I do not want Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses to be treated with the same prejudice in the Kurgan Region.\u0026quot;\nAlmost all Russian law enforcement agencies are engaged in the persecution of elderly believers: the FSB, the Prosecutor\u0026#39;s Office, the Investigative Committee, the National Guard, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the OMON and the SOBR.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-10-07T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/10/080902/image_hu_f0921c3785576532.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/10/080902/image_hu_5d305edb57effad7.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/10/080902/image_hu_4dc6b9575b24ec4d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/10/080902/image_hu_e95a32971b1dcb2f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/10/080902.html","regions":["kurgan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1","disability","elderly","medical-rights","health-risk","torture-conditions","echr"],"title":"Another Victim of Persecution of Disabled Believers: Court Declared Seriously Ill Pensioner Aleksandr Lubin as Extremist","type":"news"},{"body":"The issue of dental prosthetics for Bailo is still unresolved, since there are no such specialists in the pre-trial detention center. He continues to suffer from toothache and stomach pain, which is why he is losing weight. Due to the lack of movement and lack of walks, Valeriy's knee became inflamed.\nThe believer has the New Testament. He receives parcels regularly, letters arrive, but less often than before.\nValeriy was transferred to another cell, where there are 4 more people besides him. The believer's relationship with them is normal.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Baylo in Kholmskaya","date":"2024-09-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya7.html#20240927","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["sizo","health-risk","medical-rights","prison-treatment","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The medical and sanitary unit of the Federal Penitentiary Service insists that there are no problems with providing the necessary assistance to Valery Bailo, despite the order of the prosecutor's office to eliminate violations of the legislation on the provision of medical services.\nIn the letter of the prosecutor's office to the medical unit, it is noted that \"within the framework of the inspection, the facts of untimely and incomplete provision of medical care to V. S. Bailo in connection with his diseases were revealed.\"\nIn response, the medical unit states that during the examination upon arrival, \"the presence of chronic diseases was denied, medical documents confirming a history of chronic diseases were attached to the patient's medical record ... I didn't get involved.\" It is also stated that the believer \"does not need emergency, urgent dental or other assistance.\"\nHowever, Valeriy Bailo still needs medical attention. He has been suffering from toothache since April 2024, complains of stomach pain and needs knee surgery.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Baylo in Kholmskaya","date":"2024-08-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya7.html#20240821","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["complaints","health-risk","medical-rights","prison-treatment","elderly","sizo"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Nikolai's living conditions are tolerable, but it can be difficult for him to call his relatives, as in the evenings there is a large queue at the phone. Vasiliev tries to maintain a positive attitude and supports emotional health with the right daily regimen. The believer is waiting to receive the necessary medicines. In his spare time, he teaches English to several prisoners. He has a Bible. Letters arrive regularly.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Polosenko and Others in Samara","date":"2024-08-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/samara.html#20240821","regions":["samara"],"tags":["life-in-prison","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The testimony of a prosecution witness, who did not appear in court because she left the country, is being voiced. At the same time, the prosecutor omits what characterizes Jehovah's Witnesses positively. It turns out that the same witness gave similar testimony in 2019 in the case of another believer from Kursk, Andrei Andreev.\nDmitriy Chausov asks the court to allow him to undergo a medical examination due to health problems. The judge refuses, arguing that the defendant does not have a doctor's report, and offers to take care of his health after the end of the trial.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kupriyanskiy and Others in Kursk","date":"2024-08-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kursk2.html#20240805","regions":["kursk"],"tags":["first-instance","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Valeriy Bailo, 66, still complains of toothache and stomach pain. After repeated statements, he managed to get an appointment with a dentist, who, after examination, concluded that the man needed dental treatment and prosthetics. Since there were no materials for this in the pre-trial detention center, the dentist recommended that the prisoner be released from custody and undergo treatment at large. Due to an acute toothache, Valeriy eats only liquid food in the pre-trial detention center. He continues to regularly appeal to the administration of the pre-trial detention facility with requests for medical assistance, but his statements remain unanswered.\nThe lawyer believes that such an attitude towards Valery Bailo on the part of the administration of the pre-trial detention center endangers his life and health. He filed complaints with the Public Monitoring Commission, the Prosecutor's Office for Supervision of the Federal Penitentiary Service and the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Krasnodar Territory, S. V. Myshak. Two of these complaints are forwarded to the Federal Penitentiary Service for consideration.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Baylo in Kholmskaya","date":"2024-07-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya7.html#20240723","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["sizo","elderly","medical-rights","health-risk","torture-conditions","prison-treatment","complaints"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Vladimir Fomin's health in the pre-trial detention center is deteriorating. He does not receive the necessary medicines, because of this, his chronic diseases have worsened.\nTwo more people are kept in the cell where the believer is located. He has a bed, but the sanitary condition of the bedding is unsatisfactory.\nHis wife gave Vladimir a parcel, but he did not receive it. Letters arrive, but irregularly. The administration of the pre-trial detention center promises to establish regular delivery of correspondence. Vladimir can take walks and read the Bible.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Fomin in Cherkessk","date":"2024-06-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk4.html#20240614","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["medical-rights","health-risk","sizo","letters","disability"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Valery was transferred from the special unit to a brighter and more spacious cell, in which he is held with two previously convicted prisoners. He regularly receives letters, but not all of his answers are sent to the addressees.\nThe believer continues to experience health problems. He wrote several applications requesting a medical examination, but all of them remain unanswered at the moment. He still needs knee surgery.\nA believer is not given a Bible from the library of the pre-trial detention center. At his request, his acquaintances sent him the Holy Scriptures in the Synodal translation, but the book was placed in the warehouse of the pre-trial detention center. The believer is waiting for it to be given to him.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Baylo in Kholmskaya","date":"2024-05-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya7.html#20240517","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["sizo","prison-treatment","letters","health-risk","medical-rights","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Dmitry Chausov, who is being held in a pre-trial detention center, is experiencing certain difficulties due to his illness. In the fall, he spent 1 month in the hospital. He is also more likely to suffer from headaches. The mother-in-law could not give him medicines, as she was told that the pre-trial detention center had everything she needed. However, they were never given to Dmitry.\nThe believer maintains a positive attitude and does not lose heart. He receives many letters of support.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kupriyanskiy and Others in Kursk","date":"2024-02-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kursk2.html#20240209","regions":["kursk"],"tags":["sizo","prison-treatment","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In 2023, the number of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses criminally prosecuted for their faith reached almost 800, and the number of searches exceeded 2,000. Cases are fabricated against the elderly, women and the disabled. More than a quarter of all prosecuted are persons over 60 years of age. By the end of the year, there were already six Jehovah’s Witness women in penal colonies. The tendency to prosecute entire families has increased. The length of imprisonment requested by prosecutors has reached 10 years. Statistics and details are included in this article. The Year in Numbers As of December 25, 2023, the total number of homes of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses searched is 2,058. In 2023, law enforcement officers raided 183 addresses, 43 people were detained, 15 of whom have been or are still in pretrial detention. During the year, Russian courts issued rulings regarding 147 Jehovah’s Witnesses, 47 of whom were sentenced to imprisonment for a cumulative term of more than 257 years (the previous year 44 people were sentenced to a cumulative term of 244 years in penal colonies). Thirty-three people received sentences in penal colonies of 6 years or more. Of these, the longest term of 8 years in a penal colony was given to Dmitriy Barmakin, whose story will be discussed below. On December 22, 2023, the court sentenced Aleksandr Rumyantsev from Moscow to 7.5 years in penal colony (Sean Pike, a citizen of Guyana, and Eduard Sviridov from Moscow, are in the same case and were sentenced to 7 and 6.5 years in a penal colony, respectively). Astrakhan residents Rinat Kiramov, Sergey Korolev and Sergey Kosyanenko, as well as Aleksandr Skvortsov from Taganrog and Evgeniy Bushev from Chelyabinsk received 7 years of imprisonment. In the Bushev case, it took the court just five sessions to conclude that talking about a Bible topic is such a serious crime. Later, it turned out that an officer of the National Guard had participated in the conversation, pretending to be interested in the Bible. On December 19, 2023, a court in Novosibirsk sentenced Marina Chaplykina to 4 years in a penal colony. She became the sixth woman from among Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses to receive a prison sentence for their faith.\nEight of Jehovah’s Witnesses were released from prison this past year. Seventy-nine people remain in penal colonies.\n\"The believers trials do not end with being released from the penal colony,\" explains Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses. \"The believers continue to serve additional punishments. For example, during a period appointed by the court, they cannot leave their place of residence. An electronic tracking bracelet is put on the ankle of some for many months, by which the authorities track the location of the person. This device must not be removed. After serving their sentences many are forbidden from working in certain areas, such as education.\"\nThe total number of criminal cases initiated against believers since 2017 has reached 376. The defendants amount to 789 people; 444 believers were convicted, 141 of whom received imprisonment. In all cases, there are no victims, actual crimes or evidence of illegal actions. The cases are initiated for ordinary religious activities: praying, reading the Bible, singing religious songs, etc. Most of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who are prosecuted for their faith are included in the list of extremists and terrorists maintained by the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring). The state imposes a number of serious economic restrictions on those who are listed on it; for example, their bank accounts are blocked, which makes it difficult to receive salaries, pensions and complete other transactions. At the time of publication of this article, there are 521 believers on the list, 72 of whom were added to the list in 2023.\nTerms are Breaking Records In Magadan, the case of 13 believers, including Ivan Puyda, the son and grandson of Jehovah’s Witnesses who had been repressed under Soviet rule, reached its conclusion. Now he too could receive a lengthy sentence – 10 years. That is how much the prosecutor requested in the closing arguments on November 24, 2023.\nIf Puyda gets 10 years in prison, it will be a unprecedented record in the cases of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses. Currently, the maximum term in a penal colony is 8 years, and five believers are serving this: Aleksey Berchuk, Rustam Diarov, Yevgeniy Ivanov and Sergey Klikunov.\nOn December 4, 2023, in Irkutsk, the prosecutor requested terms ranging from 3 to 7 years for a group of nine Jehovah’s Witnesses, the longest for Yaroslav Kalin, Nikolay Martynov, Aleksey Solnechny and Sergey Kosteyev. Yaroslav Kalin also comes from a family of those repressed for their faith. Kalin’s lawyer said: \"My client is being tried for the same thing for which his parents were exiled to Siberia, more than 70 years ago.\" Ironically, Kalin’s parents have been officially exonerated, but their son is now being tried for the same \"crime\".\nNew Regions In 2023, the territory affected by prosecutions has expanded. In February, the first searches in the Leningrad Region took place in the cities of Kingisepp and Slantsy, five people were detained and a criminal case was initiated. On April 4, 2023, searches were carried out for the first time in St. Petersburg.\nAt the end of February, searches in at least three addresses took place in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia. Kishta Tutinova, 62, was detained, and after 2 days behind bars she was placed under house arrest.\nIn total, Jehovah’s Witnesses are already being prosecuted in 74 regions of the Russian Federation.\nVladimir Piskarev, Vladimir Melnik and Artur Putintsev were kept in a cage during their trial in Oryol Aleksandr Skortsov and Valeriy Tibiy did not lose heart despite unjust prosecution Konstantin Sannikov in the so-called \u0026#34;aquarium\u0026#34; — an enclosure where usually especially dangerous criminals are held during the trial During the announcement of the verdict, the bailiff handcuffs the seriously ill Vladimir Balabkin Sergey Klimov with his wife immediately after his release from the penal colony Defendants in the case of Tchaikovsky and others in Moscow are taken into custody after the verdict is announced Aleksandr Nikolayev with his wife and daughters after his release from the penal colony Convicted residents of Gukovo communicate via video call from the pretrial detention center with the group of supporters that came to the cassation hearing On the day of Yuriy Savelyev’s release from the penal colony, he was met by a large group of supporters Rustam Seidkuliev’s wife and friends are taking pictures with him after his release from the penal colony in Saratov From left to right: Sergey Kosyanenko, Rinat Kiramov and Sergey Korolev behind bars in the courtroom Muscovites Anatoliy Marunov, Sergey Tolokonnikov and Roman Mareyev were sentenced to long terms for their faith In Surgut, friends came to the courthouse to support their convicted fellow believers, on the day of the verdict. Outdoor temperature was -29°C Marina married Sergey Shulyarenko, convicted for his faith, right in the penal colony Prosecution of the Elderly and Disabled Almost 26% of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been prosecuted for their faith since 2017 (205 people) are over 60 years old. Criminal cases were initiated against 17 believers in this category in 2023. The oldest of them is 85 years old (the youngest is 19 years old).\nLaw enforcement officers and judges are not troubled by the age, serious illnesses or disabilities of those they accuse. So, on September 13 of this year, a court in the Amur Region sentenced Vladimir Balabkin, 71, suffering from cancer, to 4 years in a penal colony (the prosecutor had requested 2.5 times longer). Immediately after the verdict, he was taken into custody. About three months later, on December 19, 2023, the court of appeal replaced the sentence with a a 1-year suspended sentence, and the believer was released.\nOn September 14, 2023, the Maykop City Court sent 68-year-old Nikolay Voishchev to a penal colony. Even before his arrest, he was diagnosed with a tumor that required immediate treatment. While in prison he is not receiving the adequate medical care he still needs.\nIn the Novosibirsk Region, Andrey Vlasov, a 54-year-old disabled person, continues to serve his sentence for his faith. He suffers from serious illnesses, including deforming arthrosis of both hip joints, which makes it impossible for him to take care of himself. But both the court of appeal and the court of cassation upheld the guilty verdict.\nRepression of Entire Families By the end of the year, more than 70 families in 35 regions of the Russian Federation had become easy prey for law enforcement officers, for whom this is often an easy way to improve their performance and move up the career ladder. In some cases, the husband and wife were sent to prison at the same time, for example, Yelena and Georgiy Nikulin from Saransk. Both received more than 4 years in a penal colony.\n\"Other family members who are not under investigation are also subjected to direct or indirect pressure. After the searches, the security forces interrogate them, threaten to imprison them or a relative if they do not begin to give the investigation the testimony requested against their relative and fellow believers. Simply put, they are invited to become secret agents, to conduct covert audio and video recordings of how believers discuss Bible teachings, pray and sing religious songs together, in order to later call it \"the activity of a banned religious organization,\" says Yaroslav Sivulskiy. \"Another form of indirect pressure on relatives is denying visits to imprisoned family members.\"\nReversal of Acquittals One of the significant trends of 2023 was canceling the acquittals of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This happened on July 6, 2023, with the case of Aleksandr Pryanikov and Venera and Darya Dulova; the case reached the Supreme Court, which overturned the acquittal, although before that the Sverdlovsk Regional Court had twice overturned the guilty verdicts.\nIn the case of Ivan Sorokin and Andrey Zhukov in Yugorsk, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region, the acquittal was overturned on November 20, 2023.\nDmitriy Barmakin from Vladivostok became the first Russian Jehovah’s Witness to be acquitted in a criminal case for his faith on November 22, 2021. This decision lasted only until April 27, 2023, when the same court, the Pervorechensky District Court of Vladivostok, sentenced the believer to 8 years in a penal colony. However, later, on August 8, 2023, the Primorsky Regional Court overturned this decision and sent the case for review.\nAleksey Khabarov from Porkhov, Pskov Region, who was initially acquitted, was sentenced at the third trial on October 25, 2023, to 2 years and 6 months in a penal colony. The court of appeal reduced the term by only 2 months.\nThe Supreme Court Does Not Comply With Its Own Judgement It seems paradoxical that acquittals of Jehovah’s Witnesses are consistently overturned by the Supreme Court, whose position is that meeting for worship in itself cannot be considered a crime (in the cases of Jehovah’s Witnesses, this is the only corpus delicti). On October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court published a ruling stating: \"If a court adopts a decision, which enters into force, to liquidate or ban the activity of a public or religious association or other organization regarding extremist activity, subsequent actions of persons that are not related to the continuation or resumption of the activity of the relevant extremist organization and consist solely in exercising their right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, including through individual or joint practice of religion, meetings for worship or other religious rites and ceremonies, in themselves, if they do not contain signs of extremism, do not constitute a crime\" (emphasis added).\nHowever, in practice, some judges of the Supreme Court do not consider it necessary to follow this position. They simply repeat the prosecution’s narrative that any collective practice of worship by Jehovah’s Witnesses is \"extremist.\"\nIn total, the Supreme Court has already overturned two acquittals of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In addition to the above-mentioned case of Pryanikov and the Dulovs, a similar decision was made on December 15, 2022 in the case of the Bazhenovs and Vera Zolotova.\nJudgments of the European Court of Human Rights On January 31, 2023, the European Court of Human Rights considered seven applications by Jehovah’s Witnesses from Russia relating to events from 2010 to 2014. In all of them, the court sided with the applicants and ordered Russia to pay compensation in the amount of 345,773 euros and another 5,000 euros as legal costs.\nThis is the second judgement of the ECHR in the case of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses in the last 2 years. In the summer of 2022, the ECHR also exonerated believers in a larger lawsuit related to the illegal liquidation of all legal entities of the Witnesses and the seizure of their property. The total amount of compensation under this decision exceeds 63 million euros.\nAlas, so far the decisions of the ECHR have no visible impact on the practice of the Russian law enforcement system. The Russian authorities are in no hurry to pay compensation to exonerated believers, and continue to sentence them to long prison terms.\nExactly on the day of the decision of the ECHR, June 7, 2022, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted laws under an accelerated procedure, according to which ECHR judgments issued after March 15, 2022 are not enforceable in Russia.\n\u0026quot;The Case of the Eighteen\u0026quot; in Surgut: Faith is a Crime, Torture is Heroism In 2023, a high-profile case in Surgut approached its conclusion, which received wide publicity because the believers were tortured. The case against 18 men and one woman from Surgut, including a man whom the investigation mistakenly mistook for one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, has been dragging on since February 2019. Seven defendants went through severe torture during interrogation, and one of them, Timofey Zhukov, was forcibly placed in a psychiatric hospital and later obtained compensation for this. The torture in Surgut was widely covered in the Russian media; the believers met with the Human Rights Ombudsman for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region and employees of the offices of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Russian Federation and conferences were held with the participation of human rights defenders.\nIn November 2023, the prosecutor requested harsh terms for the believers \u0026ndash; up to 9.5 years in a penal colony (for Sergey Loginov). On December 5, 2023, all the defendants in the Surgut case were given suspended sentences ranging from 4 to 7 years. Sergey Loginov and Timofey Zhukov were given the longest sentences of 7 years.\nAt the same time, not a single criminal case has been initiated for the torture of the believers. Moreover, later the head of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee, where Jehovah’s Witnesses were tortured, Vladimir Yermolaev and his subordinate Sergey Bogoderov received awards, and the soldiers of the National Guard of Russia who participated in the operation were rewarded.\n\"Have They Succeeded in Intimidating Jehovah’s Witnesses?\" Sergei Ivanenko, Ph.D. in Philosophy, a religious scholar who attended as an expert at 14 judicial trials against Jehovah’s Witnesses in different regions of Russia, writes his impressions in his book \"The People Who Are Steadfast in Persecution\" published in 2023: \"Jehovah’s Witnesses... consider it their religious responsibility to preach Christianity to law enforcement officials, judges, and also to prisoners... Have they succeeded in intimidating Jehovah’s Witnesses? No, they have not. They continue to preach, to help each other, and to support prisoners of conscience. According to the believers, persecution strengthens their faith in Jehovah, and strong faith brings inner peace... Those who know the history of Jehovah's Witnesses understand that they have endured the most severe persecution and have not forsaken their faith. Nor does persecution in today's Russia frighten them.\"\n","category":"analytics","date":"2023-12-27T13:08:20+02:00","duration":"1:56","image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/12/271308/image2_hu_e38a963e82eee57c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/12/271308/image2_hu_f05078c240c9332.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/12/271308/image2_hu_6f9f491ec5427ce6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/12/271308/image2_hu_90ad95b565763f7c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/12/271308.html","regions":[],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","elderly","disability","video","rosfinmonitoring","medical-rights","siloviks-violence","torture","international","supreme-court","echr","international-community","expert-conclusions","fabrications","statistics","analytics","review"],"title":"Jehovah’s Witnesses Under the Yoke of Repression — 2023 Overview","type":"video"},{"body":"Boris Andreev is returned to SIZO-2 in Ussuriysk. Earlier, a believer with suspected cancer was transferred to SIZO-1 in Vladivostok for a medical examination, which, however, was never carried out.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Andreyev and Others in Yaroslavskiy","date":"2023-10-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/yaroslavskiy.html#20231016","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["transfer","medical-rights","prison-treatment"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In the barracks where Leonid Druzhinin is kept, there is no heating yet. The man fell ill and went to the medical unit for medicine. The health worker refused to give him medicine, arguing that he first needed a flu shot, which, however, could not be done while he was sick.\nAccording to the rules of the colony, Druzhinin's personal medicines are stored in the medical unit, they are also not issued. Among these medicines are inhalers, which Leonid needed due to his chronic illness.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Druzhinin and Bitusov in Zeya","date":"2023-10-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/zeya3.html#20231004","regions":["amur"],"tags":["life-in-prison","medical-rights","prison-treatment"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Viktor is held in strict conditions of detention. He maintains a positive attitude. The state of health is satisfactory, but a visit to a private dentist is required, since the colony does not provide the necessary treatment. The believer wrote an application for transfer to Kerch (Crimea), closer to his place of residence, but was refused.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Stashevskiy in Sevastopol","date":"2023-09-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sevastopol.html#20230904","regions":["crimea"],"tags":["life-in-prison","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Dmitry Chausov has a serious chronic illness that requires constant use of prescription drugs. He cannot get them in the pre-trial detention center. Because of this, his disease progresses. Dmitry's wife Oksana is under house arrest, so she does not have the opportunity to go to the doctor and take a prescription.\nDmitriy is kept in a cell designed for 6 people, with two other prisoners. He has the ability to read the Bible.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kupriyanskiy and Others in Kursk","date":"2023-08-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kursk2.html#20230831","regions":["kursk"],"tags":["sizo","house-arrest","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"During the prosecutor's check in the pre-trial detention center, Lyubov Galitsyna is visited by a representative of the Ministry of Health. The doctor listens to the believer's complaints about her illness and conducts an on-site examination that is accessible to the conditions of the pre-trial detention center.\nThe inspectors note that Lyubov maintains order in the cell.\nThe members of the commission are surprised by the large number of correspondence and parcels that the believer receives. On that day, she received 90 letters.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yeritsyan and Others in Novocherkassk","date":"2023-08-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novocherkassk.html#20230815","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["sizo","elderly","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The lawyer receives written permission from the administration of the pre-trial detention center for doctors to visit Lyubov Galitsyna. However, the staff of the pre-trial detention center does not allow the endocrinologist who came for a consultation.\nThe believer is taken for consultation to the regional hospital of the Federal Penitentiary Service, but even there she does not receive medical advice.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yeritsyan and Others in Novocherkassk","date":"2023-08-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novocherkassk.html#20230807","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["sizo","elderly","health-risk","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lyubov Galitsyna's health condition is deteriorating, but for a long time she has not been able to receive proper treatment in the pre-trial detention center. In addition to the fact that she suffers from diabetes, hypertension, has problems with hearing and vision, she has a new symptom: her leg began to go numb.\nThe lawyer applied for the admission of doctors (therapist and endocrinologist) to the territory of the pre-trial detention center, providing documents confirming their qualifications, as well as a contract for the provision of medical services, but received an oral refusal from the administration of the detention center, motivated by the fact that it was necessary to obtain permission from the investigator, although the law does not oblige to do so. After receiving permission from the investigator to examine Lyubov, a doctor arrived at the pre-trial detention center, but the staff did not let him see the arrested woman.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yeritsyan and Others in Novocherkassk","date":"2023-08-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novocherkassk.html#20230802","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["sizo","elderly","health-risk","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Boris Andreev, 71, suspects a serious, life-threatening illness, but investigator E.V. Piskun refuses to soften his preventive measure or transfer him to another pre-trial detention center, where he could undergo urgent examination and treatment. Alexandra Andreyeva, Boris's wife, filed a corresponding petition after receiving the results of her husband's tests, but the investigator refused to satisfy the request.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Andreyev and Others in Yaroslavskiy","date":"2023-07-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/yaroslavskiy.html#20230714","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["medical-rights","health-risk"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Viktor Chernov is experiencing difficulties due to the restrictions imposed on him: he cannot receive timely medical care. The believer suffers from a number of serious diseases, including diabetes mellitus and a tumor in the abdominal cavity, he recently injured his knee. To receive proper treatment, he needs to travel outside the village, but the investigator does not always satisfy Victor's requests. Complaints about these actions are also rejected. Chernov's health is deteriorating. In addition, visits to doctors and treatment are expensive, but since Viktor was included in the Rosfinmonitoring list, all his bank cards are blocked, and he is unable to work.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Chernov in Tavrichanka","date":"2023-05-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tavrichanka2.html#20230508","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["prohibition-of-actions","medical-rights","rosfinmonitoring"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"It becomes known that in February, Nikolai Voishchev was examined in the regional hospital for a number of serious diseases, he was prescribed treatment. He must take some medications constantly, but he does not receive proper treatment in the pre-trial detention center.\nThe cell in which Voishchev is kept is overcrowded.\nNicholas has not been given letters since his imprisonment, but in March he received 250 pieces at once. In total, he has already received more than 400 letters and is grateful to friends and family for their support.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Voishchev in Maykop","date":"2023-04-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/adygeya.html#20230417","regions":["adygea"],"tags":["sizo","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Igor Zhmyrev is being held in a 6-bed cell. Due to his poor health, Igor needs regular medication. Other prisoners smoke constantly, because of this, the believer's allergy to tobacco smoke has worsened. Zhmyrev twice wrote applications asking to be transferred to a non-smoking cell, but he never received a response. Although Igor receives many letters, they are not given to him.\nKirill Khabrik, once in jail, fell ill, but soon recovered. In general, his condition is normal. He is being held in a large cell for 60 people. The believer receives letters of support.\n","caseTitle":"Case in Kingisepp","date":"2023-03-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kingisepp.html#20230327","regions":["leningrad_obl"],"tags":["sizo","medical-rights","letters"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Another 38 people are being held in the barracks with Oleksandr Shevchuk. The believer has not yet been given the necessary medicines (he suffers from a serious chronic illness).\nDue to the need for ophthalmic treatment, Shevchuk is temporarily transferred to a medical institution in the village of Barashevo.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shevchuk and Others in Saransk","date":"2023-03-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saransk.html#20230313","regions":["mordovia"],"tags":["life-in-prison","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The lawyer visits Lyubov Galitsyna in the pre-trial detention center. The believer has a cheerful spirit. She is determined to continue to defend her innocence in court.\nLyubov began to receive regular letters of support from friends and fellow believers. There were no letters for a month, but then 400 pieces were brought at once. She does not have time to answer everyone, as letters come in 30-40 pieces every two days.\nIn connection with the deteriorating state of health, the believer appealed to the head of the pre-trial detention center with a request for a medical examination. However, she was told that her illnesses did not prevent her from being held in detention \"unless diabetes leads to gangrene.\" Lyubov received her second vaccination against covid so that her relatives would be allowed to visit her. In spite of everything, she is not discouraged and is grateful to everyone who comes to court to support and encourage her.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yeritsyan and Others in Novocherkassk","date":"2023-02-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novocherkassk.html#20230208","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["sizo","letters","elderly","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 17, 2023, the Maykop City Court refused to release from custody Nikolay Voishchev, a 67-year-old Jehovah's Witness from Maykop, where he has been held for more than 3 months only because of his faith as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. He will stay in the detention center for at least another six months, despite his being diagnosed with an illness.\nThe judge ignored Nikolay's age, as well as the need for urgent re-diagnosis and emergency treatment, even though the defense provided the court with all the necessary medical documents. According to the treatment plan, the believer should have had a tumor assessed back in October. But instead, the believer is forced to be in a cramped cold cell without proper medical care, while his illness worsens.\nIn a recent decision, the ECHR ordered Russia to “take all necessary measures to secure the discontinuation of all pending criminal proceedings against Jehovah’s Witnesses ... and release of all Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been deprived of their liberty” (§ 290).\n","category":"prison","date":"2023-01-31T16:14:25+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/colony_hu_c2b28719edd885d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/colony_hu_38bd1b5dc83c6ac1.jpg","webp":"/news/common/colony_hu_df00b1ae947e1957.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/colony_hu_b73e300069781d0a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/01/311614.html","regions":["adygea"],"subtitle":"Behind Bars Nikolay Voishchev cannot receive proper treatment","tags":["elderly","sizo","medical-rights","health-risk","282.2-1"],"title":"The Court Keeps an Elderly Believer From Maykop in a Detention Center for Months.","type":"news"},{"body":"At the court session, the appeals of lawyers against the decision of the Novocherkassk City Court of the Rostov Region to extend the period of detention of Lyubov Galitsyna in the pre-trial detention center are considered.\nThe defense emphasizes the fact of a procedural violation: the decision to prosecute as an accused was made by the investigator in the absence of authority. Points to the inaction of the investigator: \"In the Rostov region, under this article, this is the only case when a 66-year-old woman is in custody. This is an excessively harsh measure of restraint.\" Focuses the court's attention on the serious chronic illnesses of the accused and on the fact that the investigator unreasonably refused to satisfy the petition for the appointment of a medical examination to establish the state of health.\nLyubov Galitsina in her speech draws attention to the fact that she never had any intention to hide, because, after returning from vacation, she personally appeared before the investigator for interrogation. She also says that she has no desire or ability to put pressure on witnesses in the case, since she does not know them. The believer explains that in the pre-trial detention center her health is deteriorating greatly, her eyesight and hearing are falling, and her chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension have worsened.\nThe court rejects the appeals, but excludes the word \"inclusive\" from the operative part of the decision to detain the accused until February 10, 2023.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yeritsyan and Others in Novocherkassk","date":"2023-01-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novocherkassk.html#20230118","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["appeal","sizo","elderly","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The lawyer asks the court to transfer the accused to house arrest due to his deteriorating state of health. The defendant says that in the summer of last year he began to undergo examination in the oncology dispensary. \"The doctor prescribed the treatment and prescribed an in-depth examination after another three months. But I never finished it because of my detention,\" Voishchev said. \"While in jail, I applied to consult a doctor, but my request was not granted.\"\nNevertheless, the judge extends the period of detention in the pre-trial detention center for six months.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Voishchev in Maykop","date":"2023-01-11T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/adygeya.html#20230111","regions":["adygea"],"tags":["first-instance","sizo","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"During a visit to the lawyer, it turns out that Nikolai is the fifth prisoner in a four-bed cell. One of the cellmates gave up his bed to the believer, while he sleeps on the floor. Nikolay says that the attitude on the part of the administration of the institution is normal, but it is cold in the pre-trial detention center, thin blankets.\nIn his youth, Nicholas suffered two serious head injuries, and against the background of what is happening, he often has headaches. In addition, the believer is struggling with the disease, but after being transferred from the temporary detention facility to the pre-trial detention center, he was left without the necessary medicines. In this regard, Voishchev appeals to the administration of the pre-trial detention center with an application for a medical examination.\nDespite the difficulties, Nicholas tries not to lose his presence of mind: \"In my life there were many trials, now also imprisonment. And I know it takes some time to get used to the new situation.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Voishchev in Maykop","date":"2022-10-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/adygeya.html#20221025","regions":["adygea"],"tags":["sizo","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On July 26, 2022, a panel of judges of the Kemerovo Regional Court, chaired by Larisa Korneva, denied 53-year-old Andrey Vlasov from Prokopievsk his appeal against conviction for faith. The verdict of the lower court has entered into force.\nDespite this, the believer still insists on his innocence. He has the right to appeal the verdict in the cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.\nIn May 2022, the judge of the Central District Court of Prokopyevsk, Pavel Kotykhov, found Andrey Vlasov guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist community and sentenced him to 7 years in prison.\nDespite the fact that Andrey Vlasov has Degree II disability and cannot do much without the help of his wife, the state prosecutor requested for him 8.5 years of imprisonment. A physically disabled person had to spend two days on temporary detention and a year and 10 months under house arrest. Although he never violated the detention regime, the court repeatedly extended his preventive measure and restricted his access to medical treatment.\nThe criminal case against Andrey Vlasov was initiated on July 2, 2020 by Ivan Sablin, investigator with the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Kemerovo Region — Kuzbass. The investigation went on for almost a year. In June 2021, the Vlasov case was submitted to the Central District Court of the city of Prokopyevsk.\nCurrently, 13 Jehovah's Witnesses are being persecuted for their faith in the Kemerovo region. Three of them received suspended sentences. Sergey Britvin and Vadim Levchuk have already been released from the penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-07-26T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/07/271423/image_hu_d6e815cf74686ee.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/07/271423/image_hu_eb1cfe411cecd527.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/07/271423/image_hu_5b6c456d95daa98.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/07/271423/image_hu_826de62db1207da6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/07/271423.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","disability","medical-rights","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1"],"title":"A Kemerovo Appeals Court Upheld Andrey Vlasov's Sentence: a Seven-Year Imprisonment for His Faith in God","type":"news"},{"body":"The lawyer visits Sergey Lyulin in the pre-trial detention center. The believer says that at first he was kept in a cell with 15 prisoners, many of whom smoked and used foul language. Because of the noise, it was hard to sleep at night. In August, Sergey suffered from COVID-19.\nLater, the believer was transferred to a special unit. He is now being held in a double cell. Conditions and well-being are satisfactory, goes for walks. Another prisoner is being held in the cell together with Sergey. The believer receives letters of support and responds to them - he manages to write 4 letters a day.\nAccording to defense lawyer Taras Kuzio, during each trial, the believer asks to be allowed to take short walks to visit the pharmacy and shop. However, the judge continues to refuse his request.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kuzo and others in Yalta","date":"2021-09-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/yalta2.html#20210910","regions":["crimea"],"tags":["sizo","medical-rights","letters"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A lawyer visits a believer in a pre-trial detention center. It turns out that Sergey Skudaev is still not receiving any medical care. The authorities of the medical unit and the pre-trial detention center do not respond to the believer's written requests to conduct an examination, taking into account the consequences of covid, as well as to deal with the procedure for conducting the examination.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Skudaev in Kurgan","date":"2021-09-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan.html#20210906","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["sizo","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Skudaev is informed of a positive test result for covid. He suffers from cough and chest pain, has a high fever and has no sense of smell or taste. He is isolated from other prisoners, but no medical treatment is provided.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Skudaev in Kurgan","date":"2021-08-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan.html#20210823","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["sizo","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Judge of the Kurgan City Court Yevgeny Kolesov chooses Lubin a measure of restraint in the form of detention for a period of 2 months - until September 13.\nNeither the investigator nor the court take into account that the believer has a group II disability. According to the submitted medical certificates, Lubin's detention in the pre-trial detention center poses a real danger to his health and life.\nSince 2018, he has been in need of planned hospitalization. So, in 2020, the believer was treated in a hospital 8 times, and the next planned hospitalization should take place in August 2021. According to the doctors' prescription, Alexander must use an oxygen cylinder for 16 hours a day, which is impossible in an isolation ward. The requirements for prisoners and the daily routine in the pre-trial detention center are an unbearable burden for the believer, since due to constant pain in the hip joints, he can hardly move.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Lubin in Shadrinsk","date":"2021-07-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk.html#20210716","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["sizo","disability","elderly","medical-rights","health-risk"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"After the examination of Vladimir Piskarev in the regional hospital, it turns out that he suffered a stroke. According to eyewitnesses, Vladimir is experiencing tremors and is so weak that during a break in one of the court hearings he could not even hold a glass of water in his hand. Despite the detected stroke and problems with hypertension, the medical examination in the pre-trial detention center cannot be completed for 4 months. Given the state of health of Vladimir Piskaryov, staying in the pre-trial detention center poses a real threat to the life of the believer.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Piskarev and Others in Oryol","date":"2021-06-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/oryol3.html#20210624","regions":["oryol"],"tags":["medical-rights","health-risk","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The lawyer visits Yuriy Usanov in the pre-trial detention center. He is kept in a 3-bed cell with prisoners who constantly smoke and use foul language. Nevertheless, Yuriy had good relations with his cellmates, as well as with the staff of the pre-trial detention center.\nIt is not easy for a believer to be separated from his bride, with whom they have a wedding scheduled for July 17. \"I would like to see her at least for a while,\" he complains. The head of the pre-trial detention center has not yet given permission for the wedding. Visits are also prohibited, with reference to the fact that Irina is being held in the case as a witness.\nIn the pre-trial detention center, Yuriy's chronic inflammation of the hearing organs worsened, which is aggravated by the fact that the window in the cell does not close tightly. Requests for medical help were initially ignored, and only after repeated appeals was he given medicine.\nNevertheless, the emotional state of the believer is good thanks to reading the Bible and letters from friends from different countries.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Usanov and Morozov in Tayga","date":"2021-05-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tayga.html#20210524","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["sizo","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"After complaints, including those addressed to the head of pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Oryol region, Colonel of Internal Service Yuri Afanasyev, representatives of the administration of the institution reported that they handed over to the believer the medicines brought by his wife. However, he needs the qualified help of a cardiologist. There is no corresponding specialist in the medical unit.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Piskarev and Others in Oryol","date":"2021-01-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/oryol3.html#20210121","regions":["oryol"],"tags":["medical-rights","health-risk","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"It becomes known that the administration of pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Oryol region does not allow 64-year-old Vladimir Piskarev to receive the medicines he needs, which were given to him by his family. His cellmates repeatedly saved his life during severe attacks of hypertension. Employees of the pre-trial detention center do nothing. The family sends complaints to various authorities.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Piskarev and Others in Oryol","date":"2021-01-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/oryol3.html#20210119","regions":["oryol"],"tags":["medical-rights","health-risk","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The management of SIZO-2 ignores Yuriy's complaints about the rapid loss of vision, without even recording the facts of the appeal. Considering that the believer has not received proper medical care before, he has not been able to receive the necessary treatment for almost 9 months, during which he has been in custody.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Nikiforov and Others in Chekhov","date":"2020-11-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chekhov.html#20201126","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["sizo","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Yuriy Krutyakov is transferred to the FKU SIZO-2 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in Moscow, the so-called \"Butyrka\" (Address: 45 Novoslobodskaya Street, Moscow, Russia, 127055). In addition to Yuri, 20 other people are being held in the cell.\nRecently, Yuriy's eyesight has deteriorated sharply. In fact, he goes blind. However, numerous appeals about proper medical examination and treatment, which Yuri sent to the management of SIZO-7, where he was held until his transfer to a new place, remained unanswered. Yuriy hopes that the administration and employees of the medical unit of SIZO-2 will be able to ensure his right to treatment.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Nikiforov and Others in Chekhov","date":"2020-10-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chekhov.html#20201017","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["sizo","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"25 May 2020 marks exactly three years since the Danish citizen who lives in Oryol Dennis Christensen was taken into custody. Dennis' health has deteriorated during his imprisonment. Now the prison administration is not giving him any medication and is trying to prevent him from being released.\nDennis Christensen became the first Jehovah's Witness in modern Russia to be sentenced to real imprisonment for his faith. Immediately after his arrest, Christensen was imprisoned in the Oryol pre-trial detention center, where he was kept for about two years. In February 2019, the court sentenced Dennis to 6 years in prison. Three months later, the appellate court upheld this decision. After the verdict came into force, Dennis was transferred to colony No. 3 in the city of Lgov (Kursk region).\nDuring his imprisonment, Dennis began to have health problems. Already in prison, he suffered pneumonia, the effects of which he still feels. According to the lawyer, Christensen's medical record was recently \"lost\", and without it, Dennis is refused treatment. Due to the \"absence of superiors at the workplace,\" the believer is not given the medicines that his wife Irina sends him, although the dispensing of medicines is not in charge of the colony authorities, but of the hospital doctor.\n\"The medical documents \"disappeared\" after the defense petitioned for the recovery of medical records from the colony, which is suing the prosecutor for the fact that he declared the penalties imposed on Christensen illegal. We notified the prosecutor about this strange disappearance, \"explained one of Dennis Christensen's lawyers.\nIn the meantime, the administration of the colony puts pressure on the believer, it keeps a diary in which it writes down untrue conclusions about Christensen's personality and behavior. Although Dennis has never been convicted before and the current prison term was assigned to him not for specific crimes, but for his faith, his characterization states that he \"flaunts a criminal past\", plans to \"deal with\" representatives of the authorities, the court and \"accomplices\" after his release. Such fictions sound absurd to anyone who knows Christensen and Jehovah's Witnesses in general.\n\"Recently, the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Kursk region, Vladimir Nazarov, came to the colony, Dennis complained to him, but he only supported the position of his subordinates,\" the lawyer said.\nIn June 2017, Dennis Christensen filed an appeal against his arrest with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Later, the Kingdom of Denmark entered the case of Christensen v. Russia as a 3rd person. It is known that the complaint has passed the communication stage. Representatives of the Danish Embassy in Moscow regularly visit Christensen in the colony, the previous such visit took place on March 11, 2020.\nDue to the coronavirus pandemic, Dennis' wife, Irina Christensen, cannot get to the colony to meet her husband. Nevertheless, they communicate regularly on the phone.\nAccording to Irina, during his imprisonment, Dennis had to adapt to different conditions, but now they are tolerable. \"There are mice, cockroaches, mosquitoes and many other insects in the colony. I send cockroach traps and adhesive fly tape to my husband in a package. And he is friends with mice, \"says Dennis's wife with a smile.\nPostcards that Dennis Christensen sent to his wife Irina from the colony According to Irina, Dennis writes a lot, sometimes he receives 100 letters a day. \"For the last month, he has not received letters in foreign languages, since there is no censor who knows foreign languages in the colony,\" she says.\nTo date, Christensen has served almost 4 years out of 6 appointed by the court - according to the Criminal Code, 1 day of detention in a pre-trial detention center is equal to 1.5 days in a colony. A year ago, he had the right to mitigation of punishment, petitioned for it, but the court rejected three petitions for bureaucratic reasons. While the believer is waiting for a decision on the fourth, the administration of the colony issues unjustified reprimands that are designed to prevent him from being released. It even went as far as tossing a knife. If the court does not commute Dennis Christensen's sentence, he will not be released until May 25, 2022.\n\"Russian Human Rights Defenders\" and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom recognized Dennis Christensen as a prisoner of conscience, and the European Union called on his release \"immediately and unconditionally.\" The same was demanded from the Russian authorities at the UN.\n","category":"prison","date":"2020-05-25T08:38:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/05/14/image_hu_bc54e80fb9db4525.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/05/14/image_hu_ce4e143f52cb2fce.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/05/14/image_hu_f1573d6ffeae5378.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/05/14/image_hu_bec062e00f84b268.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/05/14.html","regions":["oryol","kursk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["health-risk","life-in-prison","torture-conditions","medical-rights","complaints"],"title":"Mice, Pneumonia and Unreasonable Penalties: How Dennis Christensen, a Prisoner of Conscience, is Serving His Sentence Three Years After His Arrest","type":"news"},{"body":"Nikolay Kuzichkin leaves the pre-trial detention center in an extremely weakened state, barely able to stand on his feet. He will continue to await trial under house arrest in Sochi. He is forbidden to correspond and contact with other people. The mitigation of the measure of restraint will allow the believer to undergo high-quality examination and treatment, which was excluded in the isolation ward.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kuzichkin and Popov in Sochi","date":"2020-04-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sochi.html#20200422","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["house-arrest","medical-rights","health-risk"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"According to the results of the inspection conducted by the Prosecutor's Office of the Krasnodar Territory, the facts are confirmed that the believer was not provided with timely medical assistance in the Armavir pre-trial detention center No. 2, and there were also violations during his escort.\nThe prosecutor makes a submission to the head of the medical unit on the violations identified, including the failure to provide information on the merits of the issue.\nBack in December 2019, Kuzichkin's lawyer sent a statement about the failure to provide him with medical assistance, to which he did not receive a specific answer. At the end of December 2019, Kuzichkin nevertheless underwent a medical examination, but the doctors of the Clinical Oncology Center No. 1 of Krasnodar came to the conclusion that Kuzichkin's diseases are not included in the \"list of diseases that prevent detention.\"\nNikolay Kuzichkin is transferred from the pre-trial detention center in Armavir to a temporary detention center in Sochi. On February 24, the term of arrest of the believer expires. Up to and including this date, a hearing should be held in the Sochi District Court on the further measure of restraint for Kuzichkin.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kuzichkin and Popov in Sochi","date":"2020-02-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sochi.html#20200217","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["medical-rights","health-risk","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 22, 2020, a court in Sochi left 68-year-old Nikolai Kuzichkin in custody until February 24. This happened despite the fact that in the pre-trial detention center Nikolay is deprived of the opportunity to receive high-quality treatment, his condition is critical.\nBefore the hearing, Nikolay's friends and acquaintances, about 70 people, including young people, gathered at the courtroom. They came to support their fellow believer, despite the rainy, cold weather. However, the hearings were held behind closed doors.\nAt the same time, as one of those present at the hearing said, the court staff somewhat softened their attitude towards the listeners of the trial. \"The court workers did not drive us away with rude teams from the fence, at which we crowded in order to see up close and support the prisoner during the escort. But this is what they usually did to us in previous courts,\" said one of the eyewitnesses.\nThe audience supported Nikolay with applause.\nAccording to a source close to Nikolai's family, the investigator in charge of the case in which Kuzichkin and others are involved also softened his attitude.\n\"When an elderly woman with epilepsy scolded him a little for summoning him for questioning, he replied to her with something like: 'It wasn't exactly me who called you. There are other interested people.\" After the interrogation, he helped her stand up and led her arm into the corridor, \"says an acquaintance of the Kuzichkins.\nPiano tuner Nikolai Kuzichkin has been languishing in jail for more than three months. All this time, his condition worsens.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2020-01-28T07:54:05+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/01/43/image_hu_9d4b5dad4ed45cba.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/01/43/image_hu_9da1fb7dead630e4.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/01/43/image_hu_9fe95c6962ad9f0a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/01/43/image_hu_cb2160f29fdb8d97.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/01/43.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","elderly","health-risk","medical-rights"],"title":"The Court in Sochi Left 68-Year-Old Nikolay Kuzichkin in Jail. About 70 People Came to Support the Believer","type":"news"},{"body":"68-year-old Nikolay Kuzichkin is suspected of cancer in several organs and a number of serious chronic diseases. The diagnoses were partially made even before the arrest, but the doctors of the Armavir pre-trial detention center No. 2 do not conduct a full examination and treatment, putting Nikolai's life in danger.\nAn elderly piano tuner was detained on October 10, 2019 during a large-scale raid by security forces in Sochi and its environs. Nikolay is suspected of extremism on the grounds that he adheres to the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses, although this is not prohibited.\nAfter the arrest of a non-smoker, a seriously ill Kuzichkin was put in a cell with smokers. This alone violates Article 33 of the Federal Law \"On the Detention of Suspects and Accused of Committing Crimes\".\nInitially, there were not enough beds in the cell, so the detainees were forced to sleep in turns - there were only 10 beds for 18 people.\nAfter numerous complaints, including from strangers but not indifferent people, the conditions of Nikolay's detention improved. \"At least there are enough beds for everyone,\" says Nikolai's lawyer.\nHowever, in the pre-trial detention center, Kuzichkin cannot receive the treatment he underwent before his arrest. For many years, Nicholas successfully restrained the development of diseases with the help of traditional medicine. Now he has been deprived of this opportunity. As a result, Nikolay's condition began to deteriorate sharply, he lost more than 20 kilograms in weight. Those who saw Nicholas during the court hearings say that he lost a lot of weight, his voice weakened, and his speech became confused.\nAt the end of October, Kuzichkin appealed to the head of the Armavir pre-trial detention center, Maxim Tereshchenko, with a request for a medical examination, but was refused. According to Tereshchenko, Kuzichkin's illnesses are not included in the \"list of diseases that impede detention.\"\nLater, Nikolai Kuzichkin was still examined, but superficial. At the end of December, the doctors of the Clinical Oncology Center No. 1 of Krasnodar gave the same answer as Tereshchenko.\nAt the same time, Kuzichkin's illnesses are contained in the \"List of serious diseases that impede detention\", section \"Diseases of the endocrine system\".\nAccording to Kuzichkin's lawyer, his condition is accompanied by numerous symptoms of cancer.\n\"The doctors of the Krasnodar cancer center were supposed to conduct an in-depth examination, but this was not done,\" says the lawyer.\nKuzichkin's friends and relatives try to support him, regularly passing food to the pre-trial detention center. Previously, Nikolay could not be seen even during the court hearings in Sochi, because they were held behind closed doors. On December 30, 2019, the Krasnodar Regional Court concluded that this procedure for the administration of justice was illegal, but still left Kuzichkin in custody.\nIn this situation, the victim is not only Nikolai, but also his wife Olga, who herself has a disability. She does not share her husband's religious beliefs, but his criminal prosecution deprived the woman of a breadwinner - only Nikolai worked in the family, despite his age.\nReligious repressions in Russia lead to the fact that entire families suffer because of \"extremist\" cases, and a whole layer of elderly believers accused of extremism is also created.\n","category":"prison","date":"2020-01-15T16:05:05+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/01/3/image_hu_5f30caf46f38fb52.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/01/3/image_hu_2b6fd43c343d8f67.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/01/3/image_hu_aee93eee81ab2c86.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/01/3/image_hu_cc3dc1fc2c468645.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/01/3.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","health-risk","medical-rights","elderly"],"title":"Management of the Armavir Pre-Trial Detention Center Is Slow to Treat an Elderly Believer. The Life of Nikolay Kuzichkin Is in Jeopardy","type":"news"},{"body":"Among the hundreds of respectable citizens against whom criminal cases have been unjustly initiated, there are entire families - married couples, parents and children. Below are a few examples of how false accusations separate loved ones, breaking their destinies.\n\"In prison, he sings songs instead of radio\"\nIn July 2018, security forces with machine guns at the ready broke into the apartment of the spouses Vladimir and Tatyana Alushkin in the Penza region and searched it. Vladimir was arrested. He spent 3 days in a temporary detention facility, 181 days in a pre-trial detention center and 333 days under house arrest. For almost a year and a half, he was physically unable to take care of his family.\nOn December 13, 2019, the court sentenced both spouses: he was sentenced to 6 years in prison, and she was given a 2-year suspended sentence. Vladimir was taken into custody in the courtroom. Separation again, now for years.\nTatyana, despite the harsh realities, does not lose heart and actively supports those who find themselves in a similar situation.\n\"I was on a date,\" she says. - Volodya has already received some e-mails (we are talking about letters that are sent to Vladimir Alushkin in prison). Thank you all so much! He prays for everyone. He sits alone. The sound of the radio has the ability to remove itself, instead of it sings our songs. Calm and joyful.\"\nLife in a pre-trial detention center is under attack\nHusband and wife from the Kursk region Artem and Alevtina Bagratyan have been in jail since October 16, 2019. In the dungeons of the detention center, Alevtina immediately caught a cold. Artem's health problems have reached a critical level. According to the lawyer, there is a threat to life.\n\"In the pre-trial detention center, Artem is not allowed to take the medicines he was taking before his arrest. In the isolation ward, he is given analogues that are ineffective. They also do not provide a special diet,\" his lawyer said.\nIn addition, the criminal prosecution deprived the spouses of their livelihood. Alevtina's mother needs constant help. The woman is very worried about her daughter and son-in-law.\n\"I felt my husband smell like prison\"\nDmitriy and Elena Barmakin, a family from Primorsky Krai, also had to face the hardships of persecution for their faith. Dmitriy spent 447 days in the pre-trial detention center, some of them in solitary confinement in a damp basement.\nAbout two months after Dmitry's arrest, Rosfinmonitoring blocked Yelena's bank cards. She could not get a permanent job because of the criminal proceedings - she could be summoned to court or for interrogation at any time. Moreover, a criminal case was initiated against Elena herself.\nAfter Dmitry was transferred to house arrest, the couple are together again. It is possible that temporarily, since the courts on the merits are ahead.\nHere's how Elena describes the first hours after separation:\n\"I just didn't expect such a result! For a year and two months, I got used to the fact that he was constantly left in custody ... And when Dima was released right in the courtroom, it was, of course, a shock! I didn't even know how to rejoice... My girlfriends immediately began to cry, and I just froze with surprise. Complete prostration! And when we came to the apartment, I felt the smell of prison from my husband for some time.\nDmitry admits that the imprisonment greatly influenced him. \"A lot has happened in the 15 months that I spent in jail,\" he says. \"The long separation has changed us, and now we have to get to know each other again.\"\n\"I'm afraid to be at home alone\"\nGeorgy and Elena Nikulin live in Mordovia. After his arrest, the head of the family spent 147 days in a pre-trial detention center. A specialist with 9 professions, just like his wife, cannot get a job today due to criminal prosecution. The family does not have enough money for food and basic household items. Persecution for his faith undermined George's physical health. The arrest and interrogation by the FSB caused deep psychological trauma to Yelena. \"Now I'm afraid to be at home alone,\" she admits.\nEarly in the morning, masked men broke into the apartment of Sergey and Anastasia Polyakov in the Omsk region, knocking out the front door. Sergei was beaten and then taken away. Anastasia was also arrested and sent to a pre-trial detention center, where she spent 154 days. Anastasia became the first woman in recent history to be imprisoned only for her religious beliefs.\nThe two spouses then spent another 91 days under house arrest. Now Sergey and Anatasiya are under recognizance not to leave.\nAlexander and Galina Parkov from the Rostov region have been separated for more than six months - Alexander is in a pre-trial detention center. Criminal cases have been initiated against both. Galina, who is still free, had to quit her job, her bank card, to which her salary was transferred, was blocked. A woman is interrupted by odd jobs in order to support herself and support her husband.\nThe persecution of the couple had a negative impact on other family members as well. Due to stress and worries, Alexander's pregnant daughter began to have health complications.\nValeria and Sergey Rayman from the Kostroma region are the youngest couple who face 10 years in prison, despite the return of the criminal case to the prosecutor's office.\nMikhail and Oksana Solntsev became hostages of criminal cases in the Magadan region. In Taganrog, Oksana is waiting for sick parents who have no one to take care of. But she is under recognizance not to leave. Due to a similar measure of restraint, Mikhail is constrained in the ability to work and provide for his family.\n\"I became afraid of every knock on the door\"\nVenera and Daria Dulov faced persecution for their beliefs in the Sverdlovsk region. Venera is hearing impaired, and her daughter Daria is the youngest \"prisoner of conscience\" - a student. After searches conducted by law enforcement officers in the apartment and at the family's dacha, the girl is in a stressful state.\n\"I became afraid of every knock on the door,\" says Dasha, \"I stopped keeping a diary, writing poetry and even taking notes on my phone. It seems to me that uninvited guests will come again and take it all away.\nKonstantin and Snezhana Bazhenov, residents of the Kamchatka Territory, were detained during a raid in front of their minor daughter Elizaveta. Both spouses are now under recognizance not to leave and are forced to deal with the consequences of stress in their daughter.\nAt least 18 families are prosecuted for religious reasons. Among them are married couples - Mikhail and Elena Popov (Kamchatka Territory), Sergey and Natalia Mysin (Ulyanovsk Region), Vitaly and Tatyana Zhuk (Khabarovsk Territory), as well as Vilen and his son Arsen Avanesov (Rostov Region ), Sergey Kulakov together with his son Dmitry (Sakhalin Region), Valentina and Roman Baranovsky (mother and son, Khakassia), Sergey and Svetlana Malyanov (father and daughter, Nizhny Novgorod region). In some cases, law enforcement officers act with excessive harshness in relation to minor children. So, in July 2019 in Kaluga, during the arrest of Roman Makhnev, his 15-year-old daughter was put barefoot on the street by the security forces. For a long time Dasha stood in the rain. During the search, the security forces planted publications from the Federal List of Extremist Materials under the girl's bed. In this case, the child did not become a defendant in the criminal case, but her father was sent to a pre-trial detention center.\n","category":"analytics","date":"2020-01-06T15:48:50+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/01/1539/semi_montazhnaya_oblast_1_0_hu_40930dbf7dc4b197.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/01/1539/semi_montazhnaya_oblast_1_0_hu_32b5f416b693c9bf.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/01/1539/semi_montazhnaya_oblast_1_0_hu_49e1dc6bb6a02bfe.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/01/1539/semi_montazhnaya_oblast_1_0_hu_a03587ca1a52c169.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/01/1539.html","regions":[],"subtitle":null,"tags":["analytics","review","families","liberty-deprivation","sizo","health-risk","medical-rights"],"title":"Relatives with the smell of prison: in Russia, whole families are judged for their beliefs","type":"news"},{"body":"A court hearing on the measure of restraint for Bagratyan. He becomes ill right during the trial. Artem calls an ambulance. Despite the defendant's well-being, Judge Pozdnyakova extends his arrest until March 11, 2020\n","caseTitle":"Case of Andreyev and Others in Kursk","date":"2019-12-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kursk.html#20191227","regions":["kursk"],"tags":["sizo","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The lawyer visits Artem Bagratyan in the pre-trial detention center. His condition is depressing. Doctors forbid him to take effective medicines, prescribing ineffective analogues.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Andreyev and Others in Kursk","date":"2019-12-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kursk.html#20191226","regions":["kursk"],"tags":["sizo","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Close to the critical state of health of Nikolai Kuzichkin is a law-abiding, previously unconvicted piano tuner. Lack of treatment for life-threatening diseases has already led him to lose 24 kilograms in just a month and a half. He was arrested during a raid on believers on October 10, 2019.\nOn November 14, 2019, Nikolay Kuzichkin told his lawyer: \"The management of the Armavir pre-trial detention center No. 2 and the head of the medical unit Sidelnikov refused my numerous applications requesting my medical examination and treatment. At the same time, Sidelnikov verbally explained to me that, according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, he does not have the right to send me for medical examination and treatment. [...] I believe that I, as a sick person, do not receive medical care. All this is inhuman treatment and torture.\"\nEarlier, on October 30, Nikolai Kuzichkin's lawyer appealed to the head of the Armavir pre-trial detention center, Maxim Tereshchenko, with a request for a medical examination. After a week of deliberation, on November 6, Maksim Tereshchenko rejected the petition, citing the fact that Kuzichkin's condition did not fit the \"list of diseases that impede detention.\"\nNikolay Kuzichkin, 68, is the oldest of 40 Jehovah's Witnesses currently held in prison for their faith. The decision to send him, as well as Vyacheslav Popov, to prison for his faith was made by 35-year-old judge Nikolai Shevelev, a native of the village of Krasnaya Polyana (Sochi). Before that, on October 10, 2019, in Sochi, from the Lazarevskoye microdistrict up to the village of Krasnaya Polyana in the mountains and the village of Veseloye near the border with Abkhazia, a total of 36 searches were carried out in one day.\nOn November 20, 2019, the term of detention of Nikolay Kuzichkin was extended by Judge Martynenko for another 1 month, until December 24, 2019.\nLetters of support to the believer can be sent to: Kuzichkin Nikolay Nikolaevich, born in 1951, FKU SIZO-2 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Krasnodar Territory, Pugachev str., 32, Armavir, Krasnodar Territory, Russia, 352909.\nCorrespondence can be sent by regular mail or through the FSIN-letter system.\n","category":"discrimination","date":"2019-11-26T11:10:36+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/11/1408/bezymyannyy-1_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_5f30caf46f38fb52.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/11/1408/bezymyannyy-1_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_2b6fd43c343d8f67.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/11/1408/bezymyannyy-1_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_aee93eee81ab2c86.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/11/1408/bezymyannyy-1_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_cc3dc1fc2c468645.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/11/1408.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","elderly","health-risk","medical-rights","prison-treatment"],"title":"The health of a 68-year-old believer from Sochi has deteriorated to a threatening state in the Armavir pre-trial detention center","type":"news"},{"body":"Kuzichkin's lawyer appeals to the head of the pre-trial detention center, Maxim Tereshchenko, with a request for his medical examination. After a week of deliberation, Tereshchenko rejects the petition. The head of the medical unit, Sidelnikov, also refuses Kuzichkin medical examination and treatment, referring to the Constitution of the Russian Federation.\nKuzichkin's health is rapidly deteriorating due to the conditions of his detention.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kuzichkin and Popov in Sochi","date":"2019-10-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sochi.html#20191030","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["medical-rights","health-risk","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Dennis Christensen, who is serving time for his faith in Lgov Penal Colony No. 3, has been battling pneumonia for the past month. He was in the hospital of the Correctional Colony No. 2, the conditions in which leave much to be desired. As of October 29, 2019, he is feeling better and has been placed in colony No. 3.\nChristensen's health problems began in June, when he sought medical help because of severe pain in his left shoulder. Dennis was not provided with timely assistance due to the fact that the surgeon and neurologist of the prison hospital were on vacation, and the attending physician refused him the opportunity to invite a doctor from a paid clinic.\nIn September, Dennis contracted pneumonia caused by regular prolonged hypothermia. By the time of the onset of night frosts, the prisoners of colony No. 3 were not given warm clothes, while Christensen, along with other convicts, was taken to the daily formation by 8 am in light uniforms and summer sandals. Such constructions lasted for an hour and a half twice a day.\nOn September 25, Dennis, with pneumonia, was transferred to colony No. 2, which has a hospital. There he was given more than 70 injections of antibiotics, as well as prescribed antibiotics in the form of tablets.\nOn October 17, Christensen reported that it was still cold in the hospital where he was staying and that he could use one thin blanket that he had to keep warm. There is no enhanced nutrition in the hospital, and it was difficult for Dennis, in his weakened state, to get to the dining room in a building without an elevator. He was forced to eat mainly what he bought at a local store. All this did not contribute to recovery.\nEarlier it was reported about unsanitary conditions in colony No. 3, as well as about the moral pressure that is exerted on Dennis Christensen. Nevertheless, he maintains a positive attitude that attracts the attention of those around him.\n","category":"prison","date":"2019-10-29T17:08:55+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1305/kristensen699_0_hu_eac35c7656fefa9d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1305/kristensen699_0_hu_8083243805887236.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1305/kristensen699_0_hu_dadaedbb83b6c3f0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1305/kristensen699_0_hu_a6c25a5196923215.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/10/1305.html","regions":["kursk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["prison-treatment","health-risk","medical-rights","torture-conditions","life-in-prison","transfer"],"title":"In the colony, Dennis Christensen suffered pneumonia. Recovery is slow due to poor living conditions","type":"news"}]