Name: Derendyaev Maksim Ivanovich
Date of Birth: November 5, 1985
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 226 day in a pre-trial detention, 62 day Under house arrest, 38 day in prison
Current restrictions: detention center
Sentence: punishment in the form of 3 years of imprisonment with serving in a penal colony of general regime, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in a public religious organization for a period of 4 years, with restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year
Currently held in: Detention Center No.1 for Udmurtian Republic
Address for correspondence: Derendyaev Maksim Ivanovich, born 1985, Detention Center No.1 for Udmurtian Republic, Ul. Bazisnaya, 13, Izhevsk, Udmurtian Republic, 426034

Letters of support can be sent by regular mail or through the «zonatelecom».

Note: discussing topics related to criminal prosecution is not allowed in letters; languages other than Russian will not pass.

Biography

The life of Maksim Derendyaev and his wife was divided into before and after, when a criminal case was opened against the believer on charges of extremism. The spouses were searched, Maksim was arrested and he spent almost 3 months in a pre-trial detention center, having lost his job.

Maksim was born in November 1985 in Izhevsk. He is the only child in the family. Parents divorced when the boy was 10 years old.

As a child, Maxim was engaged in ballroom dancing, was fond of aquarism. He often spent summers in the village with his grandparents, where he fished, played football, swam in the river, picked mushrooms and berries in the forest and helped his grandfather in haymaking.

After school, Maxim graduated from the Lyceum, where he received the specialty of an electrician for the repair and maintenance of electrical equipment. For some time he worked in the field of construction, and then as an electrician in the center of tourism and crafts, the agricultural academy, the technical school, from where he was dismissed due to criminal prosecution. Recently, he has been working as an emergency electrician in the housing and communal services sector.

Maxim became interested in Bible teachings with his mother. He liked how warmly believers treat each other, as well as their kindness and responsiveness. In the summer of 2000, she and her mother embarked on the Christian path.

In 2015, Maksim married Tatyana, who shares his views on life. She works as a manicurist, is fond of sewing, drawing, modeling from polymer clay, cooking. Maxim has versatile hobbies: he likes to play table tennis, listen to orchestral music, blues and jazz. He also grows hot peppers at home. The couple love to go hiking in the picturesque places of Russia, read and cook together.

Maksim's relatives and friends are genuinely perplexed by what happened: they know the believer well and are sure that he could not have done anything related to extremism.

Case History

In the spring of 2021, a criminal case was initiated against three believers from Izhevsk for organizing the activity of an extremist organization. The next day, FSB and Investigative Committee officers conducted mass searches in the city and interrogated 14 people. Maksim Derendyaev and Aleksandr Kutin were detained and placed in a pretrial detention center, and Sergey Ashikhmin was banned from certain actions. Kutin was released under house arrest after 15 days, and Derendyaev after 3 months. In February 2022, the case against the three men went to court. It was based, among other things, on the testimony of secret witnesses. In May 2024, the court sentenced the believers to 3 years in a penal colony. In September, the court of appeal upheld the sentence.
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