A first individual who served time in prison and was deprived of his citizenship for his faith. Feliks Makhammadiyev left the correctional facility but has not attained freedom

On December 31, 2020, a 36-year-old Jehovah's Witness from Saratov left Penal Colony No. 1 in Orenburg. He was transferred to a deportation center because after his sentence, his Russian citizenship was revoked and he is subject to return to his country of birth. This happened because he was convicted under an "extremist" article for his faith.

After his release from the colony, Feliks Makhammadiev is still behind barbed wire—in the Temporary Detention Center for Foreign Nationals and Stateless Persons, located in the village of Alabaytal (Orenburg Region). The term of his stay here will be determined by the Belyaevskiy District Court, the hearing is scheduled for January 4, 2021.

The believer did not commit any crime. In Mahammadiev's case, studying the Bible and praying to Jehovah God were wrongly interpreted by investigators and courts as organizing the activities of a banned organization (Part 1, Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). He was sentenced to three years in prison. Taking into account the time spent in the detention center, his prison term ended on December 31, 2020. On his admission to the colony, he was severely beaten by guards and emergency hospitalized due to a broken rib and damaged lung.

Detention center for illegal migrants in the village of Alabaytal, Orenburg region

Feliks Makhammadiev moved to Saratov when he was 17 and later obtained Russian citizenship. He started a family with Russian citizen Yevgenia Lagunova and worked as a hairdresser. Some time after the sentence came into force, Makhammadiev learned that the Russian Federation had terminated his passport.

Makhammadiev has a number of illnesses related to intolerance to certain types of food. The violation of his diet negatively affects his health, leading to exhaustion of his body. The rules of the deportation facilities establish that dietary meals are not provided there. The center itself is under quarantine.

Together with Makhammadiev, several of his fellow believers from Saratov were sentenced to prison: Konstantin Bazhenov, Aleksey Budenchuk, Gennady German, Roman Gridasov, and Aleksey Miretskiy. Their prison terms expire in 2021. Courts refused all of them in applications for mitigation of punishment and replacement of the remaining sentence with a fine. Apart from them, four other believers are currently serving their sentences in various colonies.

The vague wording of Russian legislation on extremism has been the subject of criticism by legal scholars and human rights activists both in Russia and abroad. According to experts, the term “extremism” is inapplicable to the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses, and their persecution must be stopped immediately.