Court in Maykop Sentenced Inver Siyukhov to Six Years in Prison for Talking About Jehovah God

On March 7, 2024, Bella Stash, judge of the Maykop City Court of the Republic of Adygea, sentenced one of Jehovah's Witnesses — Inver Siyukhov, 49, — to 6 years in prison in a penal colony. The court equated the exercise of the right to profess one's religion with the organization of the activities of an extremist organization.

In addition, the court deprived the believer of the right to engage in educational activities and activities related to leadership and participation in religious public associations and organizations for a period of four years, and also imposed restriction of liberty for a period of one year after serving the main sentence.

Inver Siyukhov became a defendant in a criminal case in April 2021, when the local department of the Investigative Committee suspected him of organizing the activities of an extremist organization for discussing the Bible and Christian teachings with others, including via instant messengers. At the same time, a series of searches of Jehovah's Witnesses took place in Adygea, Inver ended up behind bars.

At one of the court hearings, Inver Siyukhov commented on his conclusion: "For the almost three-year period of my stay [behind bars] (by the day of sentencing, he had spent 2 years and 10 months in a pre-trial detention center — ed.) I have never been reprimanded or warned. On the contrary, I was set as an example to other cellmates." According to Siyukhov, letters became a special support for him; Cellmates were surprised that encouraging words came even from complete strangers.

The trial of Inver Siyukhov has been going on since October 2021. "It follows from the indictment that I am facing imprisonment only because I simply exercised my right to profess religion," Inver said in court before the verdict was announced.

The prosecutor asked the court to send the believer to a penal colony for 9 years. The prosecution relied on the opinion of the expert R. V. Levinsky, who, as it turned out, did not have the education necessary to conduct a psycholinguistic examination. At one of the hearings, Inver Siyukhov stated: "I believe that the preliminary investigation bodies incorrectly and arbitrarily interpret the decision of the Supreme Court to liquidate legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses. And it is their misinterpretation, and not the alleged crime I committed, that is the reason why I am in the dock today." This opinion regarding the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses for religious activities is shared by human rights activists and the world community.

In Adygea, this is the third conviction against Jehovah's Witnesses.