The Appeal in Nizhny Novgorod Upheld the Sentence of Four Believers. For Their Faith, They Were Fined a Total of More Than 2,000,000 Rubles

 RUSSIA

The Appeal in Nizhny Novgorod Upheld the Sentence of Four Believers. For Their Faith, They Were Fined a Total of More Than 2,000,000 Rubles

August 4, 2023 Nizhny Novgorod Region

On August 3, 2023, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court upheld the conviction of Sergey Malyanov, his daughter Svetlana, as well as Roman Zhivolupov and Oleg Konshin for participating in a friendly evening with fellow believers. The court additionally prohibited believers from holding any positions in religious and public organizations for a period of 2 years and 11 months.

As the main punishment, Sergey was fined 700,000 rubles, Svetlana - 545,000 rubles, Roman - 500,000 rubles, and Oleg - 450,000 rubles.

Speaking before the appeal instance, Roman Zhivolupov noted: "For the entire time that the case was being considered, the prosecution did not give a clear answer, what I violated and where is the direct evidence for this." Sergey Malyanov drew attention to the fact that, spending a friendly evening, they danced, sang children's songs and participated in competitions. The believer was perplexed: “Is the purchase of sausage, cheese, fruit and water for the festive evening the financing of extremist activity? [...] The question arises: what if we again want to rent a room for a party? What then, from the point of view of the prosecution, should I do in order not to fall under criminal prosecution? Get a certificate that this event has nothing to do with the "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" or liquidated local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses? If yes, where can I get it? Or did the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of April 20, 2017, prohibit Jehovah's Witnesses from spending time with friends? Neither from the prosecution, nor from the court of first instance, I never heard an answer”.

Despite the fact that the European Court of Human Rights has acquitted Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, local law enforcers and courts continue to repress believers solely for their religious views.

The case of Malyanova and others in Nizhny Novgorod

Brief history of the case

In July 2019, Jehovah's Witnesses from Nizhny Novgorod underwent mass searches. After that, several believers became defendants in criminal cases under an extremist article. One of them was filed against Sergei Konshin, Sergei Malyanov and his daughter, Svetlana. The believers spent a day in the ITT. Even before these events, the operatives listened in on Malianov's telephone conversations. Later, another defendant appeared in the case - Roman Zhivolupov. The believers were included in the list of Rosfinmonitoring and they took a written undertaking not to leave. In February 2022, the case went to court. The accusation is based on a video recording of a concert program. The investigation considered the party a continuation of the activities of the liquidated religious organization. In April 2023, Nizhny Novgorod residents were sentenced to fines ranging from 450,000 to 700,000 rubles. Later, the Court of Appeal upheld the guilty verdict, toughening the additional part of the punishment - not to hold any positions in religious and public organizations for a period of 2 years and 11 months.

Criminal case

Region:

Nizhny Novgorod Region

Locality:

Nizhny Novgorod

What is suspected:

according to investigators, they held meetings, collected donations for the needs of a religious organization, improved their skills in carrying out missionary activities

Case number:

11901220089000240

Initiated:

July 17, 2019

Current stage of the case:

verdict took effect

Investigating:

Department of Internal Affairs SCH GSU of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod Region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (2), 282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-3/2023

Court of First Instance:

Leninsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod

Judge of the Court of First Instance:

Sergei Glushkov

In the photo: Sergey and Svetlana Malyanova, Oleg Konshin and Roman Zhivolupov with their family members at the courthouse in Nizhny Novgorod. April 2023.