In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Aleksandr Polozov and Stepan Shevelev Received a 6-Year Suspended Sentence for Their Peaceful Beliefs

On December 29, 2023, Sergey Kurunin, judge of the Norilskiy City Court gave two local Jehovah's Witnesses, Aleksandr Polozov and Stepan Shevelev a 6-year suspended sentence. According to the prosecution, they entered into a "criminal conspiracy" for studying the Bible.

Their criminal prosecution began back in October 2019, when special police surrounded the camp site, where the believers were relaxing with friends. A criminal case was initiated against Aleksandr Polozov under of Article 282.2(1) of the RFCrC (organizing the activity of an extremist organization), and in May 2021, Stepan Shevelev became the second defendant.

Aleksandr Polozov spent 3 months in a pretrial detention center, and in March 2020 he was included on the Rosfinmonitoring list of terrorists and extremists. Aleksandr is very grateful to his fellow believers for financial assistance after his bank cards were blocked. He was also encouraged by numerous letters: "Some wrote where they had been and what they had seen... Stories of interesting places seemed to push the walls of the prison apart, and I "traveled". Stepan Shevelev said: "Our friends understand that sometimes we need emotional support, and they do everything to encourage us."

In June 2021, the case went to court. In 2022, it was returned to the prosecutor for the absence of corpus delicti. A new trial of the criminal case began in July 2023. Again, the prosecutor was unable to provide evidence of the defendants' guilt. Also, Polozov was credited with words he never said. Despite this, the prosecutor requested 6 years in a penal colony for the believers.

In his final statement, Polozov noted: "I am a Level 5 rescuer for gas emergencies. More than once I risked my life to save the lives of other people and was rewarded for it... My profession does not give me the right to choose whether or not to save a person, based on whether he is a believer or not, whether he is my friend or my enemy. Every life is valuable in the eyes of God, and therefore in mine too. With this in mind, any accusation of extremism against me looks absurd."

Shevelev said: "I have had the opportunity to talk with many religious people, including Muslims and Orthodox priests. But I did not consider any of them to be beneath me. The fact that we have different religious views does not give me the right to judge them. Besides, that would be contrary to my views."

The believers have the right to appeal the verdict in the court of appeal.

In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, five of Jehovah's Witnesses have already been sentenced to prison terms, and in total, more than 30 Jehovah's Witnesses have been subjected to religious persecution in this region.