Unjust Verdicts

The Cassation Court in Kemerovo Did Not Change the Sentence Imposed on Yevgeniy Korotun From Seversk—Seven Years in Prison for His Religion

Tomsk Region

On March 16, 2023, the Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction definitively upheld the conviction of Yevgeniy Korotun, who is one of Jehovah's Witnesses. In January 2022, he was sentenced to seven years in prison, and in May of the same year, this decision was upheld by the  appellate court.

Yevgeniy, a 52-year-old pensioner and father of a young child, has been behind bars for a total of about two and a half years. Now he is serving his sentence in a penal colony in Nizhny Tagil.

“Korotun and his family, along with several other Christian families, peacefully gathered at their home, read the Bible, prayed, and sang religious songs,” stated Yevgeniy’s lawyer. “This became the basis for the criminal prosecution of the believer.”

The European Court in its 7 June 2022 decision  on the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia expresses its position as follows: “The respondent State must take all necessary measures to secure the discontinuation of all pending criminal proceedings against Jehovah's Witnesses, including by reference to the recently amended guidance by the Supreme Court of Russia and release all of Jehovah's Witnesses who have been deprived of their liberty.” (§ 285)

Korotun case in Seversk

Case History
In July 2020, in Seversk, officers of the Investigative Committee and the FSB raided Yevgeniy Korotun’s apartment. During a long search, Yevgeniy’s wife and their nine-year-old son were kept in the stairway. A day earlier, a criminal case was initiated against the believer. Yevgeniy spent two days in a temporary detention center and 54 days under house arrest, after which he was sent to a pre-trial detention center. He was accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization because he held peaceful worship services. The basis for the accusation was hidden audio and video recordings made by Kira Klisheva and Yelena Studenova, an officer of the Russian National Guard. Both women feigned an interest in the Bible. At the end of March 2021, the case went to the city court. In January 2022, the court sentenced the believer to seven years in prison. The appellate and cassation courts upheld this decision. The believer is serving his sentence in a penal colony in Nizhny Tagil.
Timeline

Persons in case

Korotun
Yevgeniy

Criminal case

Region:
Tomsk Region
Locality:
Seversk
Court case number:
12002690003000070
Initiated:
July 13, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department for the Closed Administrative Territory of the City of Seversk of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Tomsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-5/2022 (1-183/2021)
Court:
Seversk City Court of the Tomsk Region
Judge:
Svetlana Chebotareva
Case History
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