Aleksandr Seredkin

Aleksandr Seredkin

Aleksandr Seredkin

Unjust Verdicts

Court of Appeal in Novosibirsk Upheld The Harsh Sentence Against Pensioner Aleksandr Seredkin - 6 Years in a Penal Colony for His Faith

Novosibirsk Region

On June 16, 2023, the Novosibirsk Regional Court, chaired by Judge Aleksandra Bogdanova, upheld the sentence against 68-year-old Aleksandr Seredkin. The decision of the lower court entered into force.

The believer is still in the detention center; he attended the hearing in the court of appeal via videoconferencing. At the hearing, the prosecutor motioned for the disclosure of documents that were not examined in the court of first instance, but formed the basis of the verdict. According to the defense, this is a gross violation of the law. However, the panel of judges did not satisfy this objection.

In the closing arguments, the lawyer noted that the lower court allowed the substitution of the concepts "organization and participation in the activity of a religious association in connection with the liquidation of extremist activity" and "implementation of the constitutional right to freedom of religion". The defense paid special attention to the fact that Aleksandr's actions belong to the second concept and that they do not constitute a crime, since singing songs and praying are not prohibited by RF law. There are no victims in the criminal case, and nothing prohibited was found in the literature confiscated from Aleksandr.

Addressing the court, the believer stated that he never coordinated a group of his friends, never controlled them, and never gave any instructions. He added that he has always been and remains a law-abiding citizen, obeys the laws of the Bible, which teach love, honesty and kindness, and for his peaceful activities is doomed to a "life" sentence, because when the sentence expires, Aleksandr will be 74 years old.

Dozens of Russian human rights activists consider such an attitude toward the believers " senseless and heartless ".

The Case of Seredkin in Novosibirsk

Case History
The criminal prosecution of Aleksandr Seredkin began in April 2019, when law enforcement officers invaded the homes of peaceful residents. During the searches, law enforcement officers planted banned books. As a result of the raid, the FSB initiated a criminal case for organizing and participating in the activity of an extremist organization against three believers: Aleksandr Seredkin, Valeriy Maletskov and Marina Chaplykina. Later, Seredkin’s case was made into a separate proceeding. The believer was added to the Rosfinmonitoring list, which caused difficulties in receiving his pension. Aleksandr spent a day in a temporary detention facility and 6 months under house arrest. In March 2022, the case went to court. The charge was based on the testimony of a secret witness who feigned an interest in the Bible and collaborated with the FSB. In November of the same year, the believer was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony and placed in a pretrial detention center, and the court of appeal upheld this sentence. A year later, the court of cassation upheld this decision.
Timeline

Persons in case

Seredkin
Aleksandr

Criminal case

Region:
Novosibirsk Region
Locality:
Novosibirsk
Suspected of:
according to the investigation, he "conducted meetings for worship based on the Holy Scriptures (the Bible) with followers of the doctrine... supervised the reading and discussing... of religious literature"
Court case number:
12107500001000044
Initiated:
July 21, 2021
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate of Russia for the Novosibirsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-277/2022
Court of First Instance:
Oktyabrskiy District Court of the City of Novosibirsk
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Yevgeniy Zakharov
Case History
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