Name: Pogrebnyak Yegor Aleksandrovich
Date of Birth: May 6, 1995
Current status: accused
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility, 141 day Under house arrest
Current restrictions: prohibition of certain actions

Biography

At the age of 27 Yegor Pogrebnyak became a prisoner of conscience. For the believer, Bible discussions with friends resulted in dismissal from work, blocking of accounts and house arrest.

Yegor was born in Vladivostok in May 1995. He has lived in this city ever since. He has an older sister. His father works as a senior mechanic in the merchant fleet and his mother is a housewife. Yegor has liked football since childhood.

After graduating from the Institute of Applied Information Technology, Yegor got a job at the tax office, where he worked as an IT specialist. In his free time, he regularly played football and volleyball with friends.

Yegor often wondered why there is so much injustice around, and why people cannot achieve peace. He found answers to these questions in the Bible. Yegor was impressed by how the Bible explained world events and decided to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Yegor's father does not understand why his son is being prosecuted under an article for extremism even though he does not share his convictions.

Case History

After a series of searches in Vladivostok in March 2023, three Jehovah’s Witnesses were detained and placed in a temporary detention facility. Two days later, Yegor Pogrebnyak was released under house arrest, and Yuriy Byche and Sergey Novoselov were sent to a pre-trial detention center. A criminal case was initiated against the believers under an article for extremism. Later that month, Tatyana Kazakova, Marina Roslova, Alina Tkachenko, Anastasiya Dyldina and Yelena Romanova became defendants in the case. And in December, after new searches, Kirill Chekolaev was arrested and placed in a pretrial detention center. He spent about 5 months in detention, and Novoselov and Byche almost a year. All three were released under a ban on certain actions.