A court imposed a large fine on Aleksey Smelov, a resident of Karelia, for believing in Jehovah God

On April 21, 2022, the judge of the Kondopozhskiy city court, Aleksandr Ivanov, found Aleksey Smelov guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization only because of his religious beliefs and sentenced him to a fine of 400 thousand rubles.

The verdict has not yet entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on his complete innocence. Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to impose a fine of 500 thousand rubles on Smelov.

The criminal prosecution of Aleksey Smelov, the father of three children, began in July 2019. The investigation, which lasted a year and five months, was carried out by officers of the Federal Security Service for the Republic of Karelia: the deputy head of the local department, M. V. Golubenko, senior investigator S. V. Grigoriyev, and others. The basis for initiating the case was the report of Lieutenant S. A. Usoltsev, an FSB detective, who pretended to be interested in the Bible and recorded conversations with believers. A week after the initiation of the case, Aleksey, as well as 16 other Jehovah's Witnesses from Petrozavodsk and Kondopoga, were searched. The Smelov’s case went to court on April 5, 2021.

Aleksey has been restricted in his movements for more than 2.5 years, as he is under recognizance agreement. Fellow believers provide great help to him and his family. Helping those who find themselves in similar circumstances helps the spouses to maintain a positive attitude. “Irina and I assisted in buying medicines needed for the brothers who are in penal colonies, we sent them parcels,” says Aleksey.

At the same time as Aleksey Smelov, four believers from Petrozavodsk were subjected to criminal prosecution. Their case is now being heard in the Petrozavodskiy City Court.

Journalist Rahim Gumbatov, speaking about the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses, notes: "It is difficult to understand the logic of the authorities that banned this organization . . . It is interesting that no information about the extremist behavior of members of the organization could be found."