In Pskov, the Third Appeal Decision Reduced the Term of Imprisonment for Aleksey Khabarov in the Penal Colony by 2 Months

On December 20, 2023, a panel of judges of the Pskov Regional Court, chaired by Dmitriy Kazantsev, slightly changed the sentence of Aleksey Khabarov: the fact that the believer handed a Bible to a woman was excluded from the verdict. Khabarov will serve his sentence of 2 years and 4 months in a penal colony.

In his appeal, Aleksey Khabarov stated: "I did not engage in extremist or other illegal activity. I lead a peaceful life, respect authority, and obey the law because I am a believer. The display of hatred, enmity and violence is incompatible with my views. I respect members of other religions and nationalities. I was convicted only for my faith in God."

The reputation of peaceful believers suffers due to the criminal prosecution. Aleksey Khabarov put it this way: "By their actions, the state authorities present me and my fellow believers in a bad light before society, contribute to the spread of prejudice and form the idea that Jehovah's Witnesses are a 'dangerous and dubious sect.' Such abusive, unlawful and grossly disproportionate actions cannot be justified in a democratic society."

At the moment, the believer is in pretrial detention center No.2 in the Pskov Region in the city of Velikiye Luki and later he will be transferred to a penal colony.