Biography
The quiet life of a driver from Kazan, Aleksey Gerasimov, was disrupted by a search of his home in March 2022. So the man found out that he was a defendant in a criminal case on extremism because of his religious beliefs. Later, the court handed him a harsh sentence—6 years in prison.
Aleksey was born in December 1980 in the city of Ust-Kut, Irkutsk Region. He has an elder sister. Their father died.
As a child, Aleksey was fond of swimming and playing the guitar. After school, he trained as a navigation technician, and also received an incomplete higher education with a degree in hydraulic engineering. For some time he worked as a navigator on the Lena River.
Aleksey met his wife Nataliya as a child—they lived in the same yard. They got married in February 2007 and became Jehovah's Witnesses together in December of the same year. Aleksey recalls that he was prompted to devote his life to serving God by studying the Bible and reflecting on how the world around him was thoughtfully and lovingly created.
For some time the family lived in Ust-Kut, then in Skovorodino (Amur Region) and Yakutsk, and later moved to Kazan. Before his imprisonment, Aleksey, like his wife, worked as a personal driver. He also moonlighted as a janitor. She and Nataliya love books, theater, museums and exhibitions. Nataliya is also interested in psychology, as well as the structure and functioning of the brain.
Speaking about his persecution, Aleksey, speaking with his last word in court, noted: "During the entire trial, the prosecution did not indicate anywhere, when, or in the presence of any persons I said or did anything that would charge me with an extremist article." And then he quoted the words of his lawyer: "The purpose of punishment is correction. Why should Gerasimov be punished and what should he improve?"