n Krasnodar, the appeal finalized the sentence of six Jehovah's Witnesses from Gukovo: from 6.5 to 7 years in prison for their faith

 RUSSIA


In Krasnodar, the appeal finalized the sentence of six Jehovah's Witnesses from Gukovo: from 6.5 to 7 years in prison for their faith

July 28, 2023 Rostov Region,   Krasnodar Territory,   Lipetsk Region,   Ulyanovsk Region


On July 25, 2023, a panel of judges of the Fourth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction, chaired by Igor Konyaev, upheld the verdict and appeal ruling against six believers from the city of Gukovo. All of them are already serving their terms in the colonies.


Aleksey Gorely, Oleg Shidlovsky, Nikita Moiseev, Aleksey Dyadkin, Vladimir Popov and Yevgeny Razumov were sentenced to 6.5 to 7 years in prison. Such a harsh sentence was handed down to Jehovah's Witnesses by Judge Natalya Batura of the Gukovsky City Court in September 2022. The believers ended up behind bars in August 2020, immediately after investigators opened a criminal case against them and searched their homes.


The appeal upheld the verdict of the court of first instance, and the believers filed a complaint with the court of cassation. It says: “Law enforcement agencies have not established a single fact of illegal activities committed by believers. Even ... [during surveillance] nothing was recorded to assert that ... Jehovah's Witnesses commit or call for illegal acts. Also, not a single person has been identified who suffered from the activities of believers.”


The defense reminded the court of the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, according to which the actions of Jehovah's Witnesses, consisting solely in the exercise of the right to freedom of religion, do not constitute a crime. The court ignored the arguments of the believers and their lawyers.


The estimated date of release from the colony of Oleg Shidlovsky and Alexei Gorely is November 2025, the rest of the believers should be released in May-June 2026.


Case of Moiseev and others in Gukovo


Brief history of the case


In August 2020, the security forces conducted searches in the homes of residents of Gukovo. The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Alexei Dyadkin, Vladimir Popov, Evgeny Razumov, Alexei Gorelov, Nikita Moiseev and Oleg Shidlovsky. Peaceful believers were accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization. The men's crime, according to investigators, is that they "prayed and sang songs to Jehovah God." Since August 2020, all six have been in jail. As it became known later, an infiltrated FSB agent was watching the believers for a long time. In November 2021, the case went to court. The testimonies of interrogated religious scholars confirmed that the men were tried only for peaceful religious activities. In September 2022, the court sentenced Gorely and Shidlovsky to 6.5 years, and the rest of the believers to 7 years in a penal colony. In January 2023, the appeal approved the verdict, and six months later, the cassation instance left it unchanged.


Criminal case


Region:

Rostov Region

Locality:

Gukovo

What is suspected:

according to investigators, “they called meetings of fellow believers, prayed and sang songs to Jehovah God”

Case number:

12002600001000874

Initiated:

August 7, 2020

Current stage of the case:

verdict took effect

Investigating:

SO OVD SU IC of Russia in the Rostov region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2(1)

Case number in court:

1-20/2022 (1-710/2021)

Court:

Gukovsky city court of the Rostov region

Judge:

Natalya Batura


In the photo: Residents of Gukovo, convicted for their faith, communicate via video link with a support group. January 2023

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