Vladimir Atryakhin, Georgiy Nikulin and Elena Nikulina, Aleksandr Shevchuk, Aleksandr Korolev and Denis Antonov are present at the court of cassation hearing via video conference. October 2023

Vladimir Atryakhin, Georgiy Nikulin and Elena Nikulina, Aleksandr Shevchuk, Aleksandr Korolev and Denis Antonov are present at the court of cassation hearing via video conference. October 2023

Vladimir Atryakhin, Georgiy Nikulin and Elena Nikulina, Aleksandr Shevchuk, Aleksandr Korolev and Denis Antonov are present at the court of cassation hearing via video conference. October 2023

Unjust Verdicts

Court of Cassation Upheld the Verdict Against Six Believers from Saransk. One Of Them Will Be Released in November

Mordovia,   Saratov Region

On October 17, 2023, the First General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation in Saratov upheld the verdict against six believers from Mordovia. By court decision, they were sent to penal colonies for terms ranging from 2 to 6 years.

Vladimir Atryakhin, Georgiy Nikulin and Elena Nikulina, Aleksandr Shevchuk, Aleksandr Korolev and Denis Antonov have been charged with extremism and imprisoned for peaceful religious activity. Aleksandr Shevchuk is due to be released from prison in November this year having fully served his sentence. A criminal case has also been initiated against his brother Mikhail on similar charges.

The world's public opinion is against the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Back in 2019, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights appealed to the Russian authorities: "We call on the Russian government to revise the Law on Counteracting Extremist Activity [...]. We also call on the authorities to drop charges and release all those detained for exercising their rights to freedom of religion."

The Case of Shevchuk and Others in Saransk

Case History
In February 2019, in Saransk, the FSB initiated a criminal case against three believers on suspicion of extremism. After mass searches, Vladimir Atryakhin, father of two young children, as well as Aleksandr Shevchuk and Georgiy Nikulin ended up in a pretrial detention center, where they spent between 2 and 5 months. Later, three more defendants appeared in the case — Aleksandr Korolev, Elena Nikulina and Denis Antonov. The case went to court in May 2021. The defense managed to show the court several times that the unveiled secret witness, Vlasov, was giving false testimony. In August 2022, the believers were convicted: Vladimir Atryakhin was sentenced to 6 years, Georgiy and Yelena Nikulin — 4 years and 2 months, and Aleksandr Shevchuk, Aleksandr Korolev and Denis Antonov — 2 years in a penal colony. The court of appeal upheld the verdict. In November 2023, Shevchuk was released from the penal colony, and in June 2024, Korolev and Antonov were released.
Timeline

Persons in case

Korolev
Aleksandr
Antonov
Denis
Atrуakhin
Vladimir
Nikulin
Georgiy
Nikulina
Elena
Shevchuk
Aleksandr

Criminal case

Region:
Mordovia
Locality:
Saransk
Suspected of:
they "disseminated ideology and belief among the citizens of the Republic of Mordovia... by conducting conversations with citizens of Saransk in public and in residential buildings" which is interpreted as "organising the activity of an extremist organisation"
Court case number:
11907890001000003
Initiated:
February 4, 2019
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate for the Republic of Mordovia
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.2 (1), 282.2 (1.1)
Court case number:
1-13/2022 (1-216/2021)
Court:
Leninskiy District Court of the City of Saransk
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Yelena Simonova
Case History
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