Court in Votkinsk Fined Local Jehovah's Witnesses Sergey Gobozev and Mikhail Potapov Large Amounts

On February 25, 2024, Tamara Makarova, judge of the Votkinsk District Court of the Udmurt Republic, found Mikhail Potapov and Sergey Gobozev guilty of extremist activities and sentenced them to fines.

Sergey Gobozov will have to pay 450,000 rubles for the peaceful confession of his faith, Mikhail Potapov — 400,000 rubles. The prosecutor requested a real term of imprisonment of 6 years and 6 months for both believers. They do not agree with the verdict and can appeal it.

The case has been considered in court for 2.5 years, since September 2021.

"Extremism is nothing more than a vivid expression of evil and moral baseness," Mikhail Potapov told the court in his final statement. "So when I read my indictment, which uses the expressions 'violent change of foundations,' 'violation of integrity,' 'undermining security,' 'incitement to hatred,' I got goosebumps from these terrible words. It wouldn't have occurred to me ... to commit such acts."

A similar idea was expressed by Sergey Gobozev in his speech: "In my entire life I have not committed any violations. I am a simple pensioner who honestly deserved the title of 'Veteran of Labor' for my conscientious work for the benefit of the state. And today I am being prosecuted for a crime against the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state." He adds: "The prosecution is trying to tarnish my good, well-deserved reputation without evidence. There are no victims in the case, and I did not cause any harm to the state. As a believer, extremism in all its manifestations is alien to me."

The case was launched in January 2021, when the homes of Gobozev and Potapov were searched. Sergey was detained in the hospital, where he brought his wife to the reception. The believers were interrogated, after which Potapov was sent to detention, where he spent almost 4 months, and Gobozev was placed under house arrest for the same period. Later, the measure of restraint for believers was replaced with a ban on certain actions.

This is not the only criminal case against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Republic of Udmurtia. Five more believers are awaiting a court decision.