Aleksey and Yelena Kupriyanovs in the court room. September 2023

Aleksey and Yelena Kupriyanovs in the court room. September 2023

Aleksey and Yelena Kupriyanovs in the court room. September 2023

Unjust Verdicts

In Kovrov, A Court Found Aleksey Kupriyanov Guilty of Extremism for Believing in God. He Was Sentenced to a Penal Colony, But the Term Is Considered to Have Already Been Served

Vladimir Region

On September 15, 2023, the Kovrov City Court sentenced local resident Aleksey Kupriyanov to one year in prison and six months of restriction of liberty. Judge, Vyacheslav Kuznetsov, considered the quotation of the Bible as a proof of the believer's guilt of extremism. The term was deemed to have been served during the investigation. Kupriyanov insists on his innocence.

Back in February 2021, during mass searches and interrogations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Kovrov, Aleksey faced persecution on religious grounds. The criminal case was initiated against him in June 2021. D. A. Tyumenev, an investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Vladimir Region, concluded that Kupriyanov continued the activities of the liquidated legal entity (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) by "taking part in religious meetings ... actively participated in the collection of information on the amount of work done... on the implementation of... the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses ... to the masses." Shortly Kupriyanov's home was searched again, after which the believer was detained and then placed in a pre-trial detention center.

The imprisonment lasted about four and a half months. At this time, the believer was forbidden to read the Bible, to pronounce the name of God Jehovah. For some time the letters have not been given to the believer and he was also threatened with the prosecution of his wife and son. From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. he was forced to sit on the cold floor. Also, Kupriyanov's cellmate, former detective V. V. Voskoboynikov, who was convicted for organizing torture, instructed by the pre-trial detention center personnel was putting pressure on the believer to incriminate himself. Because of this, Aleksey began to have health problems, but despite his high fever, he was not transferred to the medical unit. Subsequently, Kupriyanov had to undergo surgery.

Later, the believer was transferred to house arrest for seven months and was allowed to walk for two hours a day. In September 2022, Kupriyanov's case went to court. At the court hearings, prosecution witnesses stated that they had not heard extremist calls from the defendant. FSB officer Bordunov, who conducted operational search activities, said that Kupriyanov participated in the activities of the liquidated legal entity, but did not provide evidence of this and avoided answering most of the questions from the defense.

According to Kupriyanov, he was greatly encouraged by his wife care and fellow believers, who sent encouraging thoughts in their letters to him. Aleksey recalls: "With the help of letters and the Bible I had to supplicate in prayer day and night in order to fight the feeling of worthlessness that they tried to instill in me. It's been like that for few months." According to Aleksey, he was given strength by the opportunity to "comfort other brothers and sisters" with poems that he composed in response to their letters.

In his last plea, Aleksey Kupriyanov said: "The accusation is based only on the fact that I am a believer and that I believe in Jehovah. Your Honor, this is a trial aginst faith!" Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence the believer to four years in penal colony. Considering the clarifications of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of October 28, 2021, Kupriyanov can appeal the verdict to a higher court.

Case of Kupriyanov in Kovrov

Case History
Searches in the house of accountant Aleksey Kupriyanov took place twice - in February and July 2021. The Investigative Committee for the Vladimir Region initiated a criminal case against a believer for “participation in religious meetings.” The entire accusation is based on one quote from the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, spoken by Kupriyanov at a meeting. After Aleksey’s arrest, the health condition of his mother worsened, she is a group II disabled person. The believer, while he was behind the bars, couldn’t care for her anymore. He spent about four and a half months in pre-trial detention. There Aleksey faced inhumane treatment, and his health suffered seriously. In November 2021, Kupriyanov was transferred to house arrest. After another seven months, the court softened his preventive measure to the prohibition of certain actions. In September 2022, the case went to trial. In September 2023, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to prison, but the time was counted as time served during the investigation.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Vladimir Region
Locality:
Carpets
Suspected of:
"took part in religious meetings of the participants of the LRO SI in the city of Kovrov, spoke at them", "collected information on the volume of work done ... work on the introduction of the ideology of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses"
Court case number:
12107170001000017
Initiated:
June 28, 2021
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Branch of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Vladimir Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-21/2023 (1-425/2022)
Court of First Instance:
Ковровский городской суд Владимирской области
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Вячеслав Кузнецов
Case History