Zhelavskaya Olga

Name: Zhelavskaya Olga Pavlovna
Date of Birth: February 19, 1962
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Sentence: punishment in the form of 2 years in prison, the punishment is considered conditional with a probationary period of 2 years

Biography

In August 2021, a criminal case was opened against Olga Zhelavskaya from Chelyabinsk for her faith. In October, the security forces wanted to search her home, but they were prevented by the fact that the believer was in the hospital after suffering covid and a stroke.

Olga was born in February 1962 in the village of Potapovo (Chelyabinsk region) in a large family - she has two older sisters, their brother died.

As a child, Olga was involved in athletics. After graduating from college in the city of Chebarkul (Chelyabinsk region), she worked as a passport officer in the housing and maintenance department. Later, Olga moved to Chelyabinsk, where she worked as a dispatcher of the elevator section.

While studying the Bible, Olga became convinced of the existence of God and in 2012 became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The criminal prosecution had a negative impact on Olga's health and on her life in general, as the believer was fired from her job. Olga's daughter and sisters do not share her religious beliefs. Despite this, the daughter was summoned for questioning by the Investigative Committee.

Case History

Olga Zhelavskaya from Chelyabinsk faced prosecution for her faith in March 2019, when her apartment was searched as part of the case against Vladimir Suvorov. Two years later, investigator Aleksandr Chepenko initiated a criminal case against the believer based on the testimony of the undercover agent Ruzayeva. Zhelavskaya was charged with participating in the activity of an extremist organization. According to the investigation her unlawful actions consisted of inviting guests to her place, praying and singing songs with her friends. In the fall of 2021, while under investigation, the believer suffered from COVID-19 and had a stroke. In August 2022, her case went to court. In April 2023, she was given a 2-year suspended sentence. In June 2023 the court of appeal upheld the verdict.
Timeline
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