Court Refused to Release Seriously Ill Anatoliy Marunov From Colony, His Family Fear for His Life

On July 28, 2025, the Rasskazovskiy District Court of the Tambov Region refused to reduce the sentence of Anatoliy Marunov, one of Jehovah's Witness, 71. "His illnesses make further stay in the colony unbearable due to constant physical suffering," said Marunov's lawyer. "There is a high probability that he will not survive the rest of his term."

The formal reason for the refusal was an oral reprimand (the smallest possible disciplinary sanction in the colony), which the believer was issued 2 weeks after the lawyer applied to the court with a request to replace the punishment. According to the administration of the colony, Marunov incorrectly made an inventory of the contents of the duffel bag; At the same time, he was not told what exactly the discrepancy was. In court, the representative of the colony also could not answer what exactly Anatoliy indicated incorrectly.

Marunov was diagnosed with severe chronic illnesses: he suffered an ischemic stroke, hypertension and heart failure, as well as a prostate tumor. The believer is serving his sentence in penal colony No. 3 in the Tambov region, where, according to the defense, he does not receive the necessary medical care. "Once his temperature rose to 40, but no one reacted," recalls Anatoliy's wife, Alfiya. "The cellmates themselves put him on a stretcher, carried him to the medical unit and demanded that an ambulance be called for him."

The prisoner's family notes that since entering the colony, that is, in about six months, he has lost more than 20 kilograms. "When I saw him, I was scared," Alfiya shared after a meeting with her husband, which took place a few days before the trial for the replacement of punishment. "All in tubes, catheters, bags... This is no longer a person, but a living corpse. He was leaving, a handsome man, and now..." In January, the believer was diagnosed with a cystostomy; This device requires regular replacement due to the risk of atrophy of internal organs, but the terms of its use have long been exceeded.

Marunov needs surgery, but it is technically impossible to carry it out in the Tambov region. The family found a suitable clinic for the believer in Moscow, but the conditions of the standard transfer of prisoners are not suitable for a person in his condition. According to Anatoliy's wife, he may not be able to withstand the road. "I am not asking for mercy," Alfiya wrote in a letter to the administration of the court that decided the fate of the believer, "I am asking for humanity."

International human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The European Court of Human Rights has found the ban on their activities a violation of religious freedom, but criminal cases continue to be initiated. Already 14 believers have died while under investigation. The last of them was Valeriy Bailo, who died in a pre-trial detention center in the spring of 2025.