Court in Izhevsk Toughens Sentence of Two Jehovah's Witnesses from Votkinsk — Believers Sentenced to Six Years in Prison

At the beginning of the year, Sergey Gobozev and Mikhail Potapov received large fines for their faith, but on December 19, 2024, the Supreme Court of the Udmurt Republic imposed a harsher punishment on them - imprisonment. Potapov was arrested in absentia, and Gobozev was detained in the courtroom.

The case was heard in various courts over a period of 3 years and 3 months. The convicts believe that the prosecutor's office has not been able to prove their guilt in organizing the activities of an extremist organization. During the court hearings, witnesses spoke about psychological pressure from investigators, among them Sergey Gobozev's wife, Olga. At the trial, she called part of her testimony fabricated by the investigation.

Searches of believers took place in January 2021. After that, Potapov was sent to a pre-trial detention center for 4 months, and Gobozev was placed under house arrest, later the measure of restraint for both of them was changed to a ban on certain actions. The Votkinsk District Court issued a guilty verdict in their case in March 2024. Even at the first stage of the proceedings, the prosecutor's office sought a real conviction for the believers, but Judge Tamara Makarova imposed large fines on them. The first appeal agreed with this decision, but the court of cassation sent the case back for reconsideration.

Sergey Gobozev became the 34th Jehovah's Witness over the age of 60 to be sentenced to actual imprisonment. In his appeal, he noted: "The court found that in my actions there were 'no calls for extremist or terrorist activities.' Therefore, bringing me to justice under the incriminated article is groundless and contradicts the facts established during the preliminary and judicial investigation." Eight more believers in Udmurtia were prosecuted on similar grounds.