In the photo: Sergey and Anastasia Polyakov, Dinara Dyusekeyeva, Gaukhar Bektemirova

In the photo: Sergey and Anastasia Polyakov, Dinara Dyusekeyeva, Gaukhar Bektemirova

In the photo: Sergey and Anastasia Polyakov, Dinara Dyusekeyeva, Gaukhar Bektemirova

Unjust Verdicts

An Omsk court sentenced a 48-year-old Jehovah's Witness to a three-year sentence in a correctional facility. His wife and two other women received a suspended sentence

Omsk Region

On November 30, 2020 Pervomaiskiy District Court of Omsk sentenced Sergey Polyakov to 3 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony, he was taken into custody. Another 3 women were given a suspended sentence by the court: Anastasia Polyakova 2 years 6 months, Gaukhar Bektemirova 2 years and 3 months, Dinara Dyusekeeva 2 years.

The verdict has not entered into force, believers will appeal against it. Sergey Polyakov will wait for the appeal while in jail.

Sergey Polyakov and his wife Anastasia, a radiophysicist and lawyer, led a usual life until June 2018, when a criminal case was initiated against them. About two weeks later, in July, their house was searched, during which Sergei was severely beaten. The spouses were later sent to a detention center where they spent 154 days in solitary confinement - Anastasia was the first woman Jehovah's Witness in the history of modern Russia to be imprisoned for her faith. The couple spent another 91 days under house arrest. On July 13, 2018, they filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights.

The veterinary doctor Dinara Dyusekeeva and her friend Gaukhar Bektemirova were under investigation about a year after the Polyakovs. In the summer of 2019, a case was also filed against them, which was connected to the case of Anastasia and Sergei, and the believers were under obligation to appear.

The women were charged with involvement, while Sergei Polyakov was charged with organizing and financing a banned religious organization. This is how the investigator qualified the fact that the believers talked to others about God and gathered for religious service together.

During the trial, none of the interviewed witnesses confirmed that the defendants had caused them any harm or made threats, although some witnesses criticized the religious views of believers.

Among the evidence of their "guilt" were 20 biblical cartoons and the Bible in different languages. As in other cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, there are no victims in criminal cases against the Polyakovs, Dyusekeeva or Bektemirova.

The defendants themselves, testifying, explained that they "exercised their constitutional right to spread their religious beliefs" because "Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation applies to all believers. They categorically rejected their involvement in extremism.

As Sergey Polyakov stated in his last word, the history of Jehovah's Witnesses persecution in the Soviet Union proved that believers do not threaten society and respect the authorities. His wife Anastasia brought arguments to the judge proving that she and her husband and fellow believers are judged solely for their faith in Jehovah, not for crimes.

"My desire for peace is connected not only with my non-participation in military conflicts, but also with my rejection of violence against other people," Gauhar Bektemirova said. "I am confident in my rightness. My position is shared by many reasonable people around the world," Dinara Dyusekeeva noted in her testimony. On November 10, the believer made a last word in the process, emphasizing: "Neither I nor my friends have committed any crime.

Judge Denis Pershukevich ignored inconsistencies in the case and the arguments of the believers, admitting all 4 defendants guilty of extremism. Sergey Polyakov will have to go to the colony for his faith. The court decided to include 5 months of believer's stay in the pre-trial detention center and 3 months under house arrest as the time served. The sentence did not come into force, the believers will appeal against it.

Russian human rights organizations, as well as the international community, consider the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia to be illegitimate.

Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk

Case History
In 2018, the Polyakovs were arrested in Omsk. During the arrest, Sergei was beaten and forced to wipe his blood off the floor. The couple spent five months in solitary confinement and three months under house arrest. In 2019, the Investigative Committee again searched the houses of believers, and Gaukhar Bektemirova and Dinara Dyusekeyeva became defendants in the case. The court considered the case for almost a year. Evidence of guilt was even sought in cartoons seized during the search. In November 2020, Sergey Polyakov was sentenced to three years in a penal colony, and three women were given suspended sentences: Anastasiya Polyakova—two and a half years; Gaukhar Bektemirova—two years and three months; Dinara Dyusekeyeva—two years. In May 2021, the appeal court upheld the verdict, and in June 2022, this verdict was upheld by the cassation court. In November 2022, Sergei Polyakov was released after serving his full term in a penal colony, and in January 2023, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation partially granted Polyakov’s appeal regarding the term of his sentence.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Omsk Region
Locality:
Omsk
Suspected of:
according to the investigation she participated in religious services, which is interpreted as participating in the activity of an extremist organisation (with reference to the decision of the Russian Supreme Court on the liquidation of all 396 registered organisations of Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Court case number:
11802520007000028
Initiated:
June 20, 2018
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Azov Inter-district Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Omsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-801/2019
Court:
Первомайский районный суд г. Омска
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Денис Першукевич
Case History
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