Four Years Suspended for Faith in God. A Local Jehovah's Witness Sentenced in Gorno-Altaysk

On June 27, 2024, the court sentenced Sergey Petrenko, 45, to 4 years suspended with a probationary period of 3 years. Judge of the Mayminsky District Court Yelena Usoltseva considered attendance at peaceful worship services to be participation in the activities of an extremist organization.

The criminal prosecution of Petrenko began in January 2022, when his house was searched. In July of the same year, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case against the believer, separating the materials from the case of Aleksandr Kalistratov. Sergey Petrenko was accused of participating in the activities of a banned organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and was given a recognizance agreement. In December 2022, his superiors asked him to quit his job due to the fact that he was prosecuted, after which it became more difficult for him to provide for his family.

Petrenko's case was considered in court for a year and a half. During this time, three changes of judge occurred. At the hearing, prosecution witnesses stated that the testimony in the transcripts of their interrogations was distorted. Petrenko himself said in his last plea that, in his opinion, he was in the dock solely because he professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. He added: "People who are not Jehovah's Witnesses—my relatives, neighbors and co-workers—are perplexed that a decent and law-abiding citizen would be the victim of criminal prosecution."

The believer can appeal the court's decision.