A court in Kostroma found 74-year-old Valentina Samus guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization. The pensioner received 6 years probation for her faith

 RUSSIA 

A court in Kostroma found 74-year-old Valentina Samus guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization. The pensioner received 6 years probation for her faith

December 20, 2023 Kostroma region

On December 19, 2023, a court in Kostroma sentenced Valentina Samus to 6 years of probation for talking about the Bible. Judge Maria Zaikina classified the pensioner as a criminal for "familiarizing people with biblical teachings, principles and norms." The believer considers the verdict unjust.

A criminal case against Valentina Samus was initiated in February 2022 by the investigative department of the IC of the Russian Federation for the Kostroma region, and in December she was given a preventive measure in the form of a recognizance not to leave. Valentina told me what has been supporting her all this time: "I received many warm wishes, and some of my co-religionists even dared to come to the court session. Live communication is very encouraging for each other. Videos and postcards with Bible verses are very touching."

The prosecutor asked the elderly woman to be sentenced to 7 years in a penal colony, without presenting a single fact proving that the defendant had harmed anyone. Prosecution witnesses described Samus as a person with whom it is pleasant to communicate. According to them, Valentina did not express calls for violence, overthrow of the constitutional order and disrespect for state authorities.

In her last words, Valentina said: "I am an elderly man, a medical worker and far from law. But during this trial, I realized that I was being held accountable not for committing a crime, but for my religious beliefs, for my peaceful and law-abiding lifestyle, for my sincere desire to selflessly help other people by telling them what I myself learned from the Bible."

"All my life I have been respectful to representatives of different religions, nationalities, ages and professions. Once upon a time, when coming to a call, my main goal was to provide emergency medical care to a person in order to save his life, and he recovered as quickly as possible. Therefore, I have never shown hatred, hostility or violence to anyone. And the Bible has taught me even more — to respect a person's right to choose and his sense of self-worth," Valentina said in court.

The text of the decision of the UN working group on arbitrary detention drew attention to the fact that "the actions of the state [of the Russian Federation] were motivated by a discriminatory goal: to stop the religious practice of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. […] [Such treatment] violates the "duty of the State to maintain neutrality and impartiality" in relation to religious beliefs and practices" (paragraph 47).

The case is Samus in Kostroma

A brief history of the case

In March 2022, four women were searched in Kostroma, the eldest of whom, Valentina Samus, was 72 years old at that time. The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against her under the article on participation in the activities of an extremist organization. In December of the same year, she was charged with organizing this activity. The basis was hidden recordings of worship services and conversations about the Bible, which is not prohibited by law. In March 2023, the case went to court. The prosecutor requested 7 years in prison for the elderly woman. In December, the court handed down a sentence of 6 years probation.

Summary of the case

Region:

Kostroma region

Locality:

Kostroma

What is suspected:

"She organized and took part in a religious meeting — a collective worship service in remote mode through video conferencing, consisting of consistently performed actions: reading prayers to Jehovah God and singing songs from special texts of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, watching videos on religious topics, quoting articles from the religious literature of Jehovah's Witnesses, studying what I have read, practicing the skills of service" (from the decree on involvement as an accused)

Criminal case number:

12202340010000010

Initiated:

February 17, 2022

The current stage of the case:

The appeal

is being investigated by:

SU IC of the Russian Federation for the Kostroma region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-51/2023

Court of first instance:

Dimitrovsky District Court of Kostroma

Judge of the Court of First instance:

Maria Zaikina