Khokhlov Vladimir

Name: Khokhlov Vladimir Aleksandrovich
Date of Birth: April 9, 1977
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 315 day in a pre-trial detention
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 1 year 3 months with serving a sentence in a correctional colony of general regime, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of religious organizations for a period of 3 years, with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year; to set off the time of his detention in custody in the term of serving the sentence; to be considered to have served a sentence of deprivation of liberty
Currently held in: Detention Centre No.2 for Bryansk Region

Biography

On October 24, 2019, in Novozybkov, law enforcers threw two believers into a pre-trial detention center just because of their religion. One of them is 42-year-old Vladimir Khokhlov.

Vladimir was born in April 1977 in Novozybkov. He has a younger sister. In his youth, he was seriously fond of soccer and played for the city national team. He graduated from the Agricultural College as a mechanical technician.

After his military service, he worked in the construction industry. Lately, he has been working in the security service at the TB dispensary. In his spare time, he also plays soccer, fishes and plays guitar.

Vladimir has always loved to read, and when a friend advised him to get to know the Bible better, he took up its study with great interest. The new knowledge deeply touched his heart, helped him to abandon bad habits and begin to live according to Christian commandments.

In 2007, Vladimir married Olga. A year later they had a daughter, Anastasiya. In summer the family likes to play volleyball, and in winter to go skating.

At 6:15 a.m. on October 24, 2019 Vladimir was at work when his daughter called and screamed: "Dad, we are being searched!" When he arrived home, he was met by men with automatic rifles, wearing bulletproof vests and masks. There were also three investigators and two witnesses in the apartment. During the search, electronic devices and personal belongings were seized from the family. The operative, having found his daughter's diary, loudly read out the deeply personal experiences described there. Then Vladimir was taken to the investigation committee for questioning, arrested and thrown to jail, where he spent more than 10 months. The believer was only released from detention after his conviction, as he had already served his time in the pre-trial detention facility.

The criminal prosecution had a bad effect on Vladimir's health. Because of stress, he suffered a hypertensive crisis. The relatives sincerely do not understand what crime this honest and decent man was convicted for.

Case History

On September 3, 2020, the Novozybkovsky City Court found Vladimir Khokhlov, Eduard Zhinzhikov, Tatyana Shamsheva and Olga Silaeva guilty of extremist activities and sentenced them to imprisonment for a term of 12 to 15 months, followed by restriction of freedom and a ban on holding leadership positions. Since the believers had already spent about a year behind bars, they were released right in the courtroom. All of them ended up in jail after mass raids by armed security forces in 2019 in the Bryansk region. The security forces considered the usual communication of believers on religious topics to be a “criminal conspiracy”. However, during the court session it turned out that “information and files relevant to the criminal case were not found.” Due to the stress experienced, Vladimir Khokhlov suffered a hypertensive crisis, and Eduard Zhinzhikov and his wife lost an unborn child. In October 2020, the appeal upheld the verdict. In December 2021, this decision was upheld by the Court of Cassation.
Timeline
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