The Case of Yuskov in Novocheboksarsk

A. Mukhin, senior investigator of the Chuvash Republic, is initiating a criminal case against 85-year-old Yuriy Yuskov under Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (involvement in the activities of an extremist organization). The investigator also hands the believer a search warrant for his home.

Senior Police Lieutenant A. N. Sergeev and four other detectives conduct a search in the home of Yuri Yuskov, which lasts 2.5 hours. Personal records and electronic devices are seized from the believer.

This is the second search in Yuskov's house. The first one took place in November 2020 as part of the case of Vladimir Dutkin and others in Cheboksary.

The investigator chooses a measure of restraint for the believer in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the place.

The case goes to the Novocheboksarsk City Court of the Chuvash Republic, it will be considered by judge Alexander Zubov.

Yuriy Yuskov reads out his attitude to the charges against him. He considers it far-fetched and contradictory: "I have the impression that in order to avoid criminal liability, I must renounce my religious beliefs or stop expressing them. But this is nothing less than discrimination."

Due to the fact that the hearing is planned to interrogate prosecution witnesses, 2 of whom are classified, the prosecutor requests a closed hearing. The judge grants the petition.

The prosecutor asks the court to find the 85-year-old Yuskov guilty of extremism and sentence him to 5 years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 2.5 years. As a mitigating circumstance, the prosecutor mentions the age of the defendant.

13 people come to support the believer. Four people are allowed into the hall. Yuri reads out his written notes. He asks the court to stop his criminal prosecution. Judge Zubov refuses.

"I am proud to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and I will never deny it, no matter what I am threatened," Yuriy Yuskov delivered his final statement.

The Novocheboksarsk City Court, presided over by Aleksandr Zubov, has overturned the suspended sentence of Yuriy Yuskov, 88, and expunged his criminal record.