Krasnodar Court Sentenced Vladimir Skachidub, a Believer with a Disability, to Four Years in Prison for Talking About the Bible

On October 11, 2021, Olga Marchenko, judge of the Pavlovskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, found Vladimir Skachidub, a 59-year-old Jehovah's Witness, guilty of extremism. For peaceful convictions, he was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in a general regime colony. The believer is taken into custody.

Addressing the last word before the announcement of the verdict to the court, Vladimir said: “Your honor, no matter what decision you make, my conscience is clear. I did not do any harm either against people or against the state. And in the eyes of God I will come out of here justified. " The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.

On April 29, 2020, the security forces searched the house of the Skachidub family and 8 other residents of the Krasnodar villages of Pavlovskaya and Kholmskaya. Almost 2 months later, officers of the FSB of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory opened a criminal case against Vladimir Skachidub. He was accused of peaceful talks about the Bible with fellow believers, which the investigation considered "dangerous for society and the state."

The investigative department of the FSB of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory investigated the case against the believer for six months. On December 17, 2020, the case was sent to court. During the hearing, the prosecution was unable to present a single evidence of the believer's dangerous acts and not a single victim.

Vladimir Skachidub is a disabled person of the III group, and his wife, Galina, is a disabled person of the II group. The criminal prosecution worsened the health of the spouses. For more than a year, Vladimir Skachidub was under recognizance agreement. After the verdict was announced, the believer was handcuffed. Until the appeal decision, Vladimir will be detained in a pre-trial detention center.

In total, 11 criminal cases were initiated in the Krasnodar Territory against 16 believers. Five of them have already been convicted and received real prison terms. The most severe punishment — 7.5 years in a colony — was received by a 63-year-old resident of the village of Kholmskaya, Alexandr Ivshin. “It seems that some judges in the Krasnodar Territory show particular hatred towards Jehovah's Witnesses. In many other Russian regions, believers are given suspended sentences for the same actions — Bible discussions and joint prayers. Although such verdicts are also unjust, at least people are not deprived of their freedom and do not risk losing the remnants of their health in the dungeons, ” — says Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Foreign and Russian jurists are outraged by the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. In a joint statement, Russian human rights activists note: "If society does not protect Jehovah's Witnesses, if they are not restored to their rights, this will mean that anyone can be declared an extremist."