Name: Yarchak Dmitriy Aleksandrovich
Date of Birth: February 29, 1984
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of 6 years in prison, the punishment is considered conditional with a probationary period

Biography

Dmitriy Yarchak has been disabled since childhood. In 2020, he was searched and the believer was accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization. He faces up to 10 years in prison just because of his faith in Jehovah God.

Dmitriy was born in Nizhnekamsk in February 1984. He has a younger sister. The mother is retired, the father is already dead.

After graduating from school, Dmitriy received the profession of an accountant-economist, worked in his specialty, including an accountant in a rehabilitation center for disabled children. Most recently he has been working as a sales manager in the telecommunications sector.

From childhood, Dmitriy wanted to know what the Bible says, and in his teens he began to study it. He was impressed by what he learned from this book, especially about the person of God. At the age of 18, Dmitriy decided that he would live according to biblical principles and devoted his life to serving God.

In 2010 Dmitriy married Svetlana. They have many common interests. She shares his views on life and supports her husband in everything.

Dmitriy has good relationships with work colleagues and many friends with whom he loves to spend time.

According to Dmitriy, the criminal prosecution affected the emotional state of the spouses. He says, "Any knock on the door is alarming." Dmitriy's mother and sister, as well as Svetlana's parents, are worried about what happened. They wonder how peaceful believers can be equated with criminals.

Case History

In the fall of 2020, 12 apartments of peaceful believers in Nizhnekamsk were invaded by FSB officers and riot police. The investigation initiated a criminal case under an article for extremism. The grounds were that the security forces “revealed the practices used by the religious organization Jehovah’s Witnesses” - singing religious songs and praying. Since August 2021, Dmitry Yarchak, who suffers from cerebral palsy, as well as Denis Filatov and Stanislav Klyuchnikov have been under recognizance agreement. Their case went to court in January 2022. Several witnesses stated that they gave testimony to the investigator under pressure and threats from the security forces, and one woman reported that the investigator arbitrarily wrote words in the protocol that she did not say. Part of the charge was based on the testimony of a secret witness. In September 2023, the court gave Filatov, Klyuchnikov and Yarchak a 6-year suspended sentence, and in December the appeal upheld this decision.
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