A Primorye Court Sentenced Two Jehovah's Witnesses to a 6-Year Suspended Sentence for Talking About God

On January 31, 2022, Judge of the Pozharsky District Court of Primorsky Krai, Yevgeny Stefanyuk, found 66-year-old Sergey Sergeyev and 57-year-old Yuriy Belosludtsev from Luchegorsk guilty of extremism for talking about God and sentenced both to a suspended sentence of 5 years.

Sergey Sergeyev said before the verdict: “I have never had a desire to harm someone ... I am accused of committing a serious crime, not because I did something bad or harmed someone, but because I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses."

Yuriy Belosludtsev also pleaded not guilty: “I have nothing to do with extremism, as it contradicts the biblical principles on the basis of which I try to build my life. And there is not the slightest hint of extremism in the case file.”

The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.

Yuriy and Sergey were detained during mass searches and interrogations in Luchegorsk in March 2019. The local branch of the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case against them, accusing them of participation (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and involvement in the activities of an extremist organization (part 1.1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). One of the key witnesses in the case is FSB officer Prokhor Vasin, who secretly filmed conversations with believers. According to him, their extremism consisted in discussing the Bible with him. The intelligence officer did not report any real crimes. There are no victims in the case. Nevertheless, the prosecutor asked to send Belosludtsev to a colony for 5.5, and Sergeyev - for 5 years in a colony.

Believers have already had to spend half a year in a pre-trial detention center, then another almost 5 months under house arrest and more than a year under house arrest.

In total, in Primorsky Territory, criminal cases for faith were initiated against 39 people: 20 men and 19 women, some of whom are elderly.

Human rights activists unanimously condemn the repression of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that the decisions of Russian courts to liquidate the legal organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses do not prohibit their beliefs or restrict their right to gather for worship.