The First Verdct Against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Tver Region — Four Men Given 6 Years in Penal Colony

Jehovah's Witnesses Aleksandr Starikov, Aleksey Kuznetsov, Oleg Katamov and Aleksandr Shchetinin given 6 years in a penal colony for their faith. The different Bible translations taken from them will be destroyed. This decision was made on March 27, 2025, by Yekaterina Vershinina, judge of the Konakovo City Court of the Tver Region.

Before the verdict was announced, the court made the case of Sergey Naumenko into a separate proceeding and suspended it.

In the summer of 2021, the FSB of Russia in the Tver Region initiated a criminal case against Aleksandr Starikov and Sergey Naumenko. Their homes and those of other believers were searched. After the interrogation, the investigator placed them under a recognizance agreement. Two years later, Oleg Katamov, Aleksey Kuznetsov and Aleksandr Shchetinin became defendants. The prosecutor considered discussing the Bible with fellow believers via videoconferencing and talking about Bible teachings with residents of the Konakovo District to be organizing the activity of an extremist organization.

The believers were added to the Rosfinmonitoring list and their bank accounts were blocked. The criminal prosecution made it difficult for Aleksandr Starikov to take care of his seriously ill elderly father. He had to travel to Tver, 450 kilometers from home, to participate in investigative actions and court hearings. During the prosecution, the believer's father died. The trial also made life difficult for Oleg Katamov. He is caring for his wife, who is fighting cancer.

The trial has been going on since October 2023. One of the witnesses for the prosecution was FSB officer Aleksandr Blinov, who had participated in the search. During interrogation, he admitted that he had not heard any extremist statements from the defendants. He also confirmed that the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited in Russia and that they can freely read the Bible, hold meetings and preach.

The defendants, who are aged from 35 to 64, plead not guilty of extremism. Aleksandr Starikov noted: "No people would suffer because I read the Bible on my own or with fellow believers." In his final statement, he said: "My elderly father was very worried about me. Now he is gone. But despite the difficulties, none of us have negative feelings, as we learn to show understanding and love. My conscience is clear. There is no feeling of indignation in response to an unjust accusation. I am sure that the fair and loving judge, Jehovah God, sees and knows everything."

Eric Patterson, executive vice president of the Religious Freedom Institute and former dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University, said, "Russia's continuing persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses as 'extremists' who threaten the country's national security is unfair and unwise. It contributes to an atmosphere of fear and social stagnation."