Name: Yeliseyev Aleksey Nikolayevich
Date of Birth: February 24, 1983
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility
Sentence: penalty in the form of a fine in the amount of 450,000 rubles

Biography

In July 2021, 14 families of Jehovah's Witnesses were searched in Apatity and Snezhnogorsk (Murmansk region). Aleksey Yeliseyev from Snezhnogorsk was kept in a temporary detention facility for a day, and then placed under recognizance agreement. The believer was accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization.

Alexey was born in the village of Dalniey Zelentsy (Murmansk region) in February 1983. He was the middle of three children in a family. As a child, he often spent time in a nature reserve, where his father worked as an inspector. In his youth, Alexey wrote poetry, learned to play the guitar. Later, he fell in love with fishing in the sea and lakes, riding a bicycle.

After school, Alexey worked as a plumber. After graduating from a technical school in Murmansk, he worked as an electric welder at a shipyard, and more recently in a boiler house.

In 2004, Alexey moved to the neighboring town of Snezhnogorsk, where he met Nadezhda. They got married in 2007. Nadezhda loves to knit, is fond of learning English. The couple love to fish together and relax in nature.

Having learned that the Bible is understandable and explains itself, Alexei became convinced that this book could be trusted. In 2008, together with Nadezhda, he embarked on the Christian path.

The criminal prosecution seriously affected Alexey and Nadezhda. Believers think about the possibility of surveillance and wiretapping of their conversations, which increases stress. Alexey decided not to inform his parents about the criminal case, fearing that this would affect their already poor health.

Case History

In July 2021, FSB officers conducted mass searches in the homes of believers from the Murmansk Region, including Snezhnogorsk. Late in the evening, the law enforcement officers broke into the apartment of Yunona Ilyasova, a mother of three young children and a special education teacher. During the night, a search also took place at the home of Aleksey Yeliseyev. The believers spent 24 hours in a temporary detention center. According to the investigation, Yeliseyev and Ilyasova “organized individual preaching and the discussion of religious literature and its texts” - for this they were accused of organizing the activity of an extremist organization. In August 2022, the case went to court. In May 2023, the believers were sentenced to fines.