In Village of Vyselki, Court Sentences Yet Another Woman to Suspended Term for Reading the Bible

On July 4, 2025, Irina Ushakova, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, 50, was given a two-year suspended sentence. Irina has already faced repression—at the age of 16, she had to leave Tajikistan due to harassment on a national basis. Now she has been convicted for her religious beliefs.

The proceedings against Irina have been ongoing since February 2024. The criminal prosecution, however, has determined the life of her family for more than three years: during this time, the Ushakovs went through searches twice, and Vitaliy, the head of the family, ended up in a pre-trial detention center, where he spent 7 months. "I missed his support," Irina recalls. "I struggled to get a meeting with my husband, and it took courage to communicate with the authorities." Shortly before those events, the believer herself underwent a serious operation and a course of radiation therapy.

The Vyselkovskiy District Court has been considering Irina's case since October 2024. The woman was accused of "entering into religious discussions." She outlined her position in court as follows: "I do this because this is the command of Jesus Christ, written in the Bible in the Gospels ... Jesus wants all his followers to preach, which I do."

Irina and her husband Vitaly are very grateful to all caring people for their help. Vitaliy said: "The support was felt even in the smallest things: someone came to the hearing, someone just came to the courthouse to say kind words. Flowers and small gifts were brought to each hearing — all this gave us strength."

In Vyselki, 15 of Jehovah's Witnesses, both men and women, are persecuted for religious reasons.