The Court of Cassation Upheld the Verdict of Six Believers from Saransk. One Of Them Will Be Released in November

 RUSSIA


The Court of Cassation Upheld the Verdict of Six Believers from Saransk. One Of Them Will Be Released in November

October 18, 2023 Mordovia,   Saratov Region


On October 17, 2023, the First Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Saratov upheld the verdict of six believers from Mordovia. By a court decision, they were sent to a penal colony for terms ranging from two to six years.


Vladimir Atryakhin, Georgiy and Yelena Nikulins, Aleksandr Shevchuk, Aleksandr Korolev and Denis Antonov were accused of extremism and imprisoned for peaceful religious activities. Aleksandr Shevchuk is due to be released from prison in November this year after fully serving his sentence. A criminal case has also been opened against his brother Mikhail on similar charges.


The world community expresses bewilderment in connection with the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Back in 2019, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights appealed to the Russian authorities: "We call on the Russian government to revise the Law on Countering Extremist Activities [...]. We also call on the authorities to drop charges and release all those detained for exercising their rights to freedom of religion."


Case of Shevchuk and Others in Saransk


Brief history of the case


In February 2019, in Saransk, the FSB opened a criminal case against three believers on suspicion of extremism. After massive searches and arrests, Vladimir Atryakhin, the father of two young children, as well as Alexander Shevchuk and Georgy Nikulin were sent to a pre-trial detention center, where they spent from 2 to 5 months. Later, 3 more defendants appeared in the case - Alexander Korolev, Elena Nikulina and Denis Antonov. In May 2021, the case went to trial. At the very first hearing, the judge in the case was changed due to the previous one’s recusal. The defense managed to show the court several times that the declassified witness Vlasov was giving false testimony. However, in August 2022, a guilty verdict was handed down in the case: Atryakhin was sentenced to 6 years, the Nikulin spouses - 4 years and 2 months, and Shevchuk, Korolev and Antonov - 2 years in a general regime colony. The appeal and cassation left the verdict unchanged.


Criminal case


Region:

Mordovia

Locality:

Saransk

What is suspected:

According to investigators, he was engaged in “spreading ideology and faith among residents of the Republic of Mordovia... by conducting conversations in public places and residential premises with residents of the city of Saransk and other settlements,” which is interpreted as “organizing the activities of an extremist organization” (with reference to the decision of the Supreme court of the Russian Federation on the liquidation of all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses)

Criminal case number:

11907890001000003

Initiated:

February 4, 2019

Current stage of the case:

verdict took effect

Investigates:

Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Republic of Mordovia

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (2), 282.2 (1), 282.2 (1.1)

Court case number:

1-13/2022 (1-216/2021)

Court:

Leninsky District Court of Saransk

Judge of the trial court:

Elena Simonova

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