In the City of Asha, Chelyabinsk Region, a Court Gave Vadim Fedorov, the Father of Many Children, a 6-Year Suspended Sentence for His Faith

On April 28, 2023, the Asha City Court of the Chelyabinsk Region gave one of Jehovah's Witnesses, Vadim Fedorov, a 6-year suspended sentence for holding meetings for worship not prohibited by law. Judge Aleksey Rustamshin deemed discussing the Bible to be "organizing the activity of an extremist organization".

Vadim Fedorov, the father of five children, insists on his innocence. In his final statement, he said: “My conscience is clear both before God and before the state. I did nothing wrong for which I could be punished or called an extremist. The prosecution did not prove what they accuse me of ... I try to live according to the norms and commandments that are set out in the Bible, and for me this is sacred”.

In June 2021, while Vadim Fedorov was not there, his home was searched as part of the case against Andrey Perminov. A year later, criminal proceedings also started against Vadim. His home was searched one more time, again in his absence. It turned out that in April 2022, Aleksandr Chepenko, an investigator for especially important cases of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region, initiated a criminal case against a 52-year-old believer on suspicion of extremism. The investigation lasted for about six months. From June 2022, Vadim Fedorov was under a recognizance agreement. He was added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of extremists and his bank accounts were blocked.

The case went to court in October 2022. At the request of the prosecutor, after 2 months it was transferred to another judge, and the proceedings started over. The prosecutor had requested 6.5 years in a penal colony for the believer. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.

Defending his good name, Vadim Fedorov reminded the court of the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of October 28, 2021, according to which the investigation should not initiate criminal cases, searches and arrests only on the basis that a person adheres to the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses.