Updated: March 28, 2024
Name: Golik Kristina Valentinovna
Date of Birth: April 9, 1992
Current status: Defendant
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Current restrictions: Recognizance agreement

Biography

Kristina Golik turned out to be a defendant in a criminal case for her faith just a month after her husband Dmitriy was sentenced to 7 years in prison on similar charges. Dmitriy was convoyed to Ussuriysk 1,300 kilometers from home, and Kristina was placed under recognizance not to leave.

Kristina is from Transcarpathia (Ukraine), she was born in the village of Russkoye in 1992. Together with her sisters Irina and Karina, Kristina grew up in a family of Jehovah's Witnesses. On the maternal side, girls are believers in the fifth generation, and on the paternal side, in the third. The sisters of Kristina with their husbands and children still live in Ukraine. The whole family shares a love for the Bible, and this, according to Kristina, makes her "happier and more united."

Kristina says: "Since childhood, I was a very naughty child, and my parents had a hard time with me... I liked to run around the field, play games with street children on the street, pick flowers and sing than do my homework." Nevertheless, the parents tried to raise their daughter by reasoning with her with the help of the Bible. Kristina continues: “My parents never forced [me to become Jehovah's Witness] ... I remember my dad wanted to instill in me a love of creation and talked about the qualities of the Creator. He could, lying with me on the grass in the garden for a long time, tell parables, biblical stories, which greatly influenced me. I realized that Jehovah is a loving, caring Father! " At a young age, the girl consciously decided to devote her life to serving God.

After school, Kristina studied at the Uzhgorod Art College as a graphic designer, and also took courses as a layout designer. For a while she worked as a housekeeper.

In 2010, Kristina met Dmitrшy when he came to Ukraine to visit relatives. Two years later, she married him and moved to Blagoveshchensk. There she, together with her husband, began to learn Chinese, and eventually began to teach it. Kristina is also fond of baking, handicrafts, soap making and sewing, she loves to draw and make decorations from polymer clay.

For a while, Kristina and Dmitrшy lived in Vladivostok and Krasnoyarsk. In July 2018, the couple came to Blagoveshchensk to visit their husband's parents, but there they came with a search, Dmitrшy ended up under recognizance not to leave. Because of this, they had to stay in Blagoveshchensk, where Kristina continued to live even after Dmitriy was sentenced.

From the very beginning of the criminal prosecution, the spouses constantly experienced stress due to surveillance, even just an unexpected knock on the door caused anxiety. After Dmitriy was sentenced to imprisonment in a colony, Kristina, in order to visit her husband, each time has to obtain permission from the investigator. She says: “I was preparing for real deadlines, but emotionally it is very difficult to be at a distance with my husband. For nine years of living together, we parted only for ten days, and so we were together all the time. I miss him very much, and absurd accusations against my husband and me take a lot of time and energy. " Stress took its toll on Kristina’s health. Yet she and her husband try to maintain a positive outlook on their circumstances.

The consequences of criminal prosecution of a married couple are also felt by their relatives. Father Dmitry's chronic illness worsened due to stress, and new ones appeared. Dmitry's parents spent many sleepless nights, and the cruel sentence added to the experience.

Case History

In July 2021, Kristina Golik, Valentina Ermilova, Ekaterina Olshevskaya and Maria Portnyagina became defendants in a criminal case for believing in Jehovah God. Peaceful women from Blagoveshchensk were accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. A month earlier, Kristina Golik’s husband, Dmitry, was sentenced to 7 years in prison for talking about God. The husbands of two other women, Anton Olshevsky and Sergey Ermilov , were under investigation at the time. The case against the women was initiated by the investigator of the SO of the FSB in the Amur Region Obukhov. He claimed that they committed unlawful acts, “wanting the onset of socially dangerous consequences” - this is how he called the participation of believers in discussions of biblical topics. All four were placed on recognizance not to leave. In May 2023, the case went to court.