Name: Yagovitov Boris Yuriyevich
Date of Birth: January 25, 1972
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1.1), 282.2 (2)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility, 285 day in a pre-trial detention, 205 day Under house arrest
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of 5 years of imprisonment with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year 7 months, punishment in the form of imprisonment shall be considered conditional with a probationary period of 3 years

Biography

In early June 2021 the Yagovitovs — Boris and Nataliya — were suddenly stopped by the police. As it turned out, a criminal case was opened against Boris, he was accused of participating in a banned organization and recruiting into the ranks of extremists. He was detained and sent to jail for 2 days.

Boris shares: “I was treated like a dangerous criminal: I was driven in a special vehicle in a confined space, with a small eye for observation. I was very humiliated that in the detention centre I was stripped 3 times for checking, 2 times fingerprinted ”.

Boris was born in 1972 in the city of Kurgan. He has a sister who is 4 years older than him. The children grew up without a father, mother herself was engaged in their upbringing. To provide her family with everything she needed, she had to work hard. After the 8th grade, Boris entered a school at the plant — he wanted to quickly get a profession and help the family financially. During his school years, he was engaged in various sports, and also graduated from a music school in the domra class, so he did not have free time.

After school, Boris received the specialty of an adjuster of numerically controlled machines, as well as a repairman. While studying at the school, he played in a vocal and instrumental ensemble.

Later Boris served in the army, and then worked for 10 years in a carriage depot as a hand-forged blacksmith. At this time, he received a higher education by correspondence with a degree in civil engineer.

In 1995, Boris met Nataliya, in 1996 they got married. The young family was united by a common passion for the Bible. In 1997, they became Jehovah's Witnesses together. A few years later, Boris's mother also became a believer.

Boris says about his faith: “I saw how accurate the Bible is in matters of science, history, and how accurate Bible prophecies are. I saw kind, open, honest people. All this convinced me that I had found the truth. " According to Boris, through the application of Bible teachings in his life, he learned to make his own decisions and take responsibility for them.

After 2006, the family lived in Perm, in Yaroslavl, in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. By the time the criminal prosecution began, the couple had already lived for several years in the village of Solnechniy, Khabarovsk Territory.

In childhood and adolescence, Nataliya went in for sports. She loves making accessories and sewing clothes. Nataliya is a psychologist and teacher of physical education by education. For some time she worked in her specialty in kindergarten and school. Later — in the service sector with part-time employment.

Boris is a jack of all trades. He knows how to fix cars, decorate apartments and repair electronics. He also likes culinary experiments, for many years he has been baking homemade bread according to an old recipe. He likes hiking in the forest and by the river, and plays the guitar in his free time.

The criminal prosecution was an emotional shock for the family. Reading the Bible helps them cope with discouragement, they say, especially the passages that describe the feelings of those facing injustice.

Case History

In June 2021, security forces detained Boris Yagovitov and his wife while walking in a park in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. It turned out that the investigative authorities opened a criminal case against the believer because he is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. His house in the village of Solnechny was searched, after which Yagovitov was interrogated, kept in detention for 2 days, and then placed under house arrest. The key evidence of his guilt is the testimony of the informant Baleichuk, who kept hidden records of meetings for worship and conversations about the Bible. In December 2021, the Yagovitov case went to court. At the first hearing, Judge Pavel Nesterov sent the believer to a pretrial detention center. In February 2022, the case was returned to the prosecutor’s office to remove violations. Four months later, the case was retried. The prosecutor asked that the believer be sentenced to 5 years in a penal colony. In October 2022, the court gave Yagovitov a 5 year suspended sentence with a probationary period of 3 years and restriction of freedom for 1 year and 7 months. The appeal upheld this verdict.
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