Suvorkov Yevgeniy

Name: Suvorkov Yevgeniy Anatolyevich
Date of Birth: February 3, 1978
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility, 173 day in a pre-trial detention, 181 day Under house arrest
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 6 years 3 months, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public and religious organizations for 2 years, with restriction of liberty for 1 year, the main punishment is considered suspended with a probationary period of 4 years

Biography

Yevgeniy Suvorkov is one of the Kirov civilians detained after the raid on believers in 2018.

Yevgeniy was born in 1978 in the village of Kumeny (Kirov region) in a large family. Parents worked on the collective farm, they had two sons and three daughters. As a child, Yevgeniy was engaged in chess, hockey, radio engineering, and music. Later, his family moved to the regional center, where he lives to this day. Yevgeniy chose the profession of an electrician after graduating from a technical school.

Yevgeniy is married to Svetlana, who has an adult son from her first marriage. Andrey is a defendant in the same criminal case for believing in God.

In his youth, Yevgeniy became interested in biblical teachings. Therefore, when the draft age came, he asked to replace his military service with an alternative civilian one, in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation. He was able to win lengthy litigation with the draft board.

Yevgeniy went through the courts, defending his right not to take up arms, and since 2021 he had to end up in the dock again—this time to prove that he is not an extremist.

Yevgeniy worked at various enterprises in the city. He said: “Everything I have learned from Jehovah's Witnesses helps me in my family life and in my business life. Working in various fields, from building factories to cleaning companies, I have become convinced that a reputation as a servant of God helps to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts”.

Case History

In October 2018, searches of believers were carried out in Kirov. A criminal case under extremist articles was initiated against seven local residents, five of them were taken into custody, including Polish citizen Andrzej Oniszczuk, who had been in captivity for almost a year. His fellow believers spent 3 to 11 months in jail and another 6 to 9 months under house arrest. The men were included in the Rosfinmonitoring list. One of the accused, Yuriy Geraskov, died of a long illness a week before the trial. In January 2021, court hearings began. In June 2022, the believers were given suspended sentences ranging from 2.5 to 6.5 years. Yuriy Geraskov was also found guilty of extremism, but the criminal case was dismissed due to his death. The appellate court upheld the verdict against the believers.
Timeline
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