In Kirov, the Investigator Considered a 70-year-old Witness an Extremist. He Faces up to 10 Years in Prison

On December 13, 2019, in Kirov, 70-year-old Yevgeny Udintsev was charged with organizing an extremist organization. A few months earlier, he and other believers had been searched.

In March 2019, a criminal case was opened against Yevgeny Udintsev under a milder article, when investigators "appointed" him as a member of an organization banned in Russia (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Until December 13, 2019, he had the status of a suspect. Now, after several months of investigation, the investigator for especially important cases, Georgy Malykh, has formulated an accusation against Yevgeny Udintsev under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - organizing the activities of a banned organization. If the court finds the elderly believer guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison. Together with Yevgeny Udintsev, Alexander Shamov and Andrey Shchepin are accused in this criminal case.

The essence of the actions that the security forces considered extremist was reading the Bible, singing songs with fellow believers, including in Udintsev's apartment, and paying utility bills for an empty worship building. This, as in many similar cases, is called in the case file undermining "the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the state" and "religious hatred."

The investigator's decision to toughen the indictment against Udintsev indicates about 60 dates when believers gathered for joint meetings. Probably, all this time, law enforcement officers were watching civilians.

On December 30, 2019, Yevgeny Udintsev was notified of the end of the investigation.

The Udintsev case serves as further evidence that in Russia the statistics of the disclosure of "extremist" criminal cases are largely formed at the expense of harmless believers. Dozens of elderly men and women face criminal prosecution in different regions of the country. In December 2019, residents of Nevinnomyssk (Stavropol Territory) joined this list. In Kirov alone, at least 3 criminal cases against 11 people are being investigated. Five of the defendants are men of retirement age.