The Case of Meleshko in Kholmskaya
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April 7, 2021
At 6:30 a.m., three armed men in special gear, four employees of the Investigative Committee and two witnesses come to Vasiliy and Zoya Meleshko to conduct a search. According to the 60-year-old believer, the security forces explain that "all this is happening on the initiative of the Ministry of Justice from Moscow."
A laptop, mobile phones, Bibles, personal savings are seized from the spouses, claiming that these are "donations", and notebooks, as well as an unsent letter to believers who are serving time for their beliefs, including Aleksandr Ivshin.
Vasiliy is brought for interrogation to the Investigative Committee of the city of Abinsk in a black car without license plates. After the interrogation, the security forces take two photographs of the believer: one against the background of the former building for religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses, and the second at home at the table in order to "film the crime scene."
A written undertaking not to leave was taken from the believer.
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April 12, 2021
L. G. Galustyants, investigator of the Investigative Directorate for the Abinsk District of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory, officially prosecutes Vasily Meleshko as a defendant under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. He is charged with participating in "religiously teaching and preaching" and of "conducting and listening to lectures based on religious literature ... entered into conversations and religious discussions with other participants, participated in collective discussions of religious books."
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June 24, 2021
The prosecutor of the Abinsk district, I. V. Kosolapov, approves the indictment against Vasily Meleshko. It partially contains the results of a comprehensive psychological and religious examination dated May 31, 2021, according to which the content of the conversation between Vasily Meleshko and Alexander Ivshin, his co-religionist from Kholmskaya, can be attributed to "religious topics, and in particular to the service of Jehovah God."
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July 26, 2021
The case is submitted to the Abinsk District Court of the Krasnodar Territory for consideration by Judge Mikhail Ostashevskiy.
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August 10, 2021
Judge Mikhail Ostashevskiy asks the believer questions about whether he considers himself to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses and whether he took part in their activities, to which Meleshko replies in the affirmative. However, the accused does not admit that any crime has been committed, despite the advice of a lawyer to plead guilty. At the very first hearing in the case, the court reaches the stage of debate of the parties.
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August 11, 2021
Judge of the Abinsk District Court of the Krasnodar Territory Mikhail Ostashevsky is considering a criminal case against Vasily Meleshko and sentences him to 3 years in a general regime colony for talking about the Bible. The believer is taken into custody in the courtroom and taken to the pre-trial detention center in Novorossiysk.
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September 1, 2021
Vasiliya Meleshko is leaving pre-trial detention center No. 3 in Novorossiysk. He is moved to the place of serving his sentence.
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September 24, 2021
Vasily Meleshko leaves the Kursk pre-trial detention center No. 1 and goes to Belgorod.
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October 2, 2021
The lawyer visits Vasily Meleshko in pre-trial detention center No. 3 in the Belgorod region. Vasily feels fine, but has rapidly lost weight. His cellmates treat him and his beliefs with respect. Vasily receives letters from different countries with a slight delay.
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October 7, 2021
The appellate court dismissed Vasily Meleshko's appeal. The verdict of the first instance shall enter into force.
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November 14, 2021
There is information that Vasily Meleshko has been transferred from pre-trial detention center No. 3 in the Belgorod region. The destination is unknown.
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December 23, 2021
It becomes known that Vasily Meleshko is in correctional colony No. 11 in the village of Akhtarsky, where he was taken to serve his sentence. Another Jehovah's Witness, Oleg Danilov, is being held in the same colony and was sentenced to a similar punishment for his faith.
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January 12, 2022
The Disciplinary Commission of Correctional Colony No. 11 in the Krasnodar Territory issues two decisions on the placement of a believer in a punishment cell (SHIZO). The reasons for such a severe disciplinary sanction are currently unknown.
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January 19, 2022
The lawyer visits Vasily Meleshko, convicted for his faith, in the colony. The believer tries not to lose heart, despite his health problems: he may have an operation on his collarbone in the hospital of the Federal Penitentiary Service due to the exacerbation of an old injury.
Meleshko has a Bible. He can call his family.
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June 14, 2022
The Fourth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction (Krasnodar) rejects the cassation claims of Vasily Meleshko and approves the accusatory decisions of the lower courts. The believer remains in the colony for his faith.
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June 17, 2022
61-year-old Vasiliy Meleshko has been held in the PKT (cell-type room) since June 2, 2022.
Vasily is worried about his state of health. In January, when he was in the medical unit, he was fed once a day for a week. Against this background, his pancreas became inflamed, and no treatment is provided in this regard. The necessary operation on the collarbone also did not take place.
Meleshko has no conflicts with prisoners. The believer has a Bible, but the letters arrive with a great delay and, obviously, not all.
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July 24, 2022
It becomes known that Vasily Meleshko is undergoing a medical examination at the branch of the Regional Hospital No. 2 in the village. Tlustenhabl. This institution is located on the territory of IK-1 in the Republic of Adygea.
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September 5, 2022
It becomes known that Vasily Meleshko was transferred to pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Krasnodar Territory.
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September 8, 2022
Vasyl Meleshko is again placed in Penal Colony No. 11.
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November 18, 2022
The lawyer visits Vasily in the colony. The believer appears cheerful, despite the fact that he is still kept in strict conditions. Meleshko says that after getting up, 30 prisoners are taken to a room where they sit all day on chairs placed along the wall and watch TV. For meals, they are transferred to the next room. Vasily does not complain about food. Due to the repair of the heating system, it is cold in the unit. Every day, prisoners are taken out for an hour and a half walk. The believer applied for his desire to work in the colony.
Meleshko's relations with his cellmates and administration are good. Medications, in particular painkillers, are given to him at oral request - at times he experiences severe back pain.
Vasily says that when he was in the hospital in Tlyustenkhabl, he had an X-ray of his leg, not his collarbone, in which he had a knitting needle. The attending physician refused to perform the operation, citing the lack of a special device for the extraction of metal structures. Vasiliy received dental care, but he still needs the help of an orthopedic dentist.
The believer has a Bible. He receives correspondence with a delay and in parts. At the stage in the Belgorod pre-trial detention center, he received 200 letters at once, including from Venezuela. Meleshko has already had a long-term date with his wife and a short-term date with his son.
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May 5, 2023
Vasily feels good and is not discouraged. He still needs to see the dentist. The attitude of the cellmates and the administration is good. Phone calls to Vasily are not allowed. Once every two weeks, he receives letters from friends.
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May 29, 2023
The believer spends a week in the hospital. He manages to get timely help, he feels better.
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August 4, 2023
It becomes known that Vasily Meleshko was placed in a punishment cell for 15 days. SHIZO is a punishment cell on the territory of the colony, where the strictest conditions of detention are established. The existence of such penalties may prevent a prisoner from being released on parole or having his sentence commuted.
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August 18, 2023
Vasiliy Meleshko is in the process of being transferred to a penal colony located in the village of Dvubratskoye, Krasnodar Territory, where he will continue to serve his sentence.
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August 31, 2023
Vasiliy Meleshko arrives at correctional colony No. 6, located in the village of Dvubratskoye (Krasnodar Territory).
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March 6, 2024
It becomes known that Vasiliy Meleshko is in correctional colony No. 11 in the village of Akhtarsky, Krasnodar Territory. During the transfer, he caught a bad cold.
Upon arrival at the colony, the believer is confined to a cell-type cell, a cell with a stricter regime of detention, where freedom of movement is significantly restricted.
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April 2, 2024
Vasiliy Meleshko was twice sent to the punishment cell, each time for 15 days. He is now serving his second term. In general, the believer feels alert, but feels a lack of physical activity and experiences shortness of breath.
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May 23, 2024
At the request of the correctional colony, judge Nadezhda Kuchukova imposed administrative supervision on Vasiliy Meleshko. In addition to the restrictions imposed earlier, the believer is forbidden to leave the Abinsk district without the permission of the internal affairs bodies. In addition, the man is obliged to come to the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs 4 times a month and cannot be outside the house from 22:00 to 6:00. These restrictions will be in effect for the next 3 years.
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July 12, 2024